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CLEP Political Science

Subjects : clep, political-science
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Monarchies - Single-party regimes - Military regimes - Oligarchies - Theocracies - Personalistic regimes






2. Efficiency vs. representativeness

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3. Historical origins. Failure of liberalism to address shortcomings of capitalist industrialization; Marx - Central assumption: All persons are of equal value - but they cannot develop themselves alone






4. Number of Parties 2 - Constitutional Review: Judicial Review - Number of chambers: bicameral - Federalism: Federal






5. A consciously derived - coherent set of beliefs that offers a comprehensive political program






6. Warfare and military technology - Economic: development of trade and manufacturing and new financial/fiscal instruments - Cultural: Enlightenment - (There are also Environmental/geographic factors)






7. it works better in the long run - less risk/variability






8. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






9. A formal document that sets up the basic rules of the political game






10. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






11. America's two ideologies (Liberal and Conservative) are two versions of classic liberalism






12. Political violence by non-state actors against civilian targets






13. when you must get a minimum percent of votes to have your votes count or (sometimes) to retain your party registration






14. Analyzing the data that has been collected and offering plausible general principles that can be drawn from what has been observed.






15. No or low citizen accountability ('subjects' rather than 'citizens') - Reciprocal relationship between leader and selectorate - Totalitarianism vs. authoritarianism






16. Think of this as 'gender as cause'. Gender roles change and/or mix of women in politics changes; what is the consequence? Key finding: having more women in public office changes the policy agenda - i.e. - more focus on women's issues






17. equality in political decision making: one vote per person - with all votes counted equally






18. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






19. Situation of stability - no party has incentive and ability to undermine the regime (Causes: cultural or economice - or military culture) - (Int'l Factors: U.S. foreign policy - Soviet foreign policy - Changes to Catholic doctrine - EU accession - G






20. The use of force by states or non-state actors to achieve political goals






21. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






22. The making of collectively binding decisions






23. Hard to amass resources (money and information) - Short-lived - The dilemma of formalization






24. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






25. Concentration vs. dispersal of power

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26. The set of relationships among parties in a country - Often categorized by the effective number of parties.






27. The rules about making the rules - often embodied in a constitution.






28. A political organization that primarily uses lobbying - Currency/instrument: money - information - numbers






29. About agency: we deserve freedom and need to be held meaningfully accountable






30. Public vs. private goods - Non-exclusivity. The owner can't deny access - Inexhaustability. The good is never used up - Jointness of supply. Its existence depends on our combined contribution; truly 'collective' - Free riding. We generally fail to co






31. Long-lived - Extreme lack of social pluralism - Well-defined ideology - Against capitalism - Based on Marxist arguments about class solidarity - economic determinism - Socialism run amok?






32. Utility: self-interest - but what constitutes self-interest? Material self-interest? Economics - Politics. Example: vote maximization - The gospel Failures of rationality - Really incomplete information & satisfaction - Intransitivity and other cogni






33. Historical origins. A response to the old feudal order and the rise of modern capitalism - 'The highest good of society [is] the ability of the members of that society to develop their individual capacities to the fullest extent' (p. 26) One of the 3






34. A historical exploration of the major contributions to political thought from the ancient Greeks to the contemporary theorists. It also involves the philosophical and speculative consideration of the political world.






35. Number of Parties 2 - Constitutional Review: Parliamentary supremacy - Number of chambers: Unicameral/weak bicameral - Federalism: Unitary






36. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






37. Think of this as gender as outcome; what factors - esp. political ones - lead to changes in gender roles? Key finding: politics does matter - especially who has an organized voice. Formal rules - number/identity of parties - etc.






38. A subset of culture - based on our ability to attach labels to ourselves and others - or to define ourselves in terms of the groups we belong to - Some political examples: Partisan identity - Class identity - Ethnic identity - National identity






39. Regime where the rulers are accountable to the ruled.






40. A non-meritocratic system in which jobs and contracts are distributed according to partisan support - (The U.S. 'spoils system' of the 19th century')






41. The organized study of government and politics. It borrows from the related disciplines of history - philosophy - sociology - economics - and law.






42. The mathematical formula used to allocate the seats according to the vote - Plurality or 'first-past-the-post' - various PR formulas - such as D'Hondt - largest remainders - St. Lague - etc.






43. A political system controlled by rulers who deny popular participation in government






44. Basically - density and quality of civil society






45. Utility maximization - Preferences: Comparability/Completeness - Transitivity - Probability - Incomplete information and uncertainty about future - Mathematical modeling






46. Selective incentives - Small group size - Social (solidary) incentives - Homogeneity - Others? Duty and altruism? Love?






47. (Voluntary) allocation (production and distribution) of goods and services






48. You see a puzzle - You come up with a potential explanation (a 'theory') - You test it with evidence (data drawn from the 5 senses) - You share the results with others and get their feedback - Repeat steps 2 through 4 until you publish






49. An organization that seeks elective office - Currency/instrument: votes






50. Compiling a body of data based on direct observation that can be utilized both to explain what has been observed and to form valid generalizations.