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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. A government with a one house legislature.






2. Situation where all fully qualified citizens have an equal say






3. 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.






4. Charismatic - Rational-legal - Traditional/patrimonial






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






6. The making of collectively binding decisions






7. Concentration vs. dispersal of power


8. Territorial monopoly over the legitimate use of force. Refers to the government + the people + the territory ('the country')






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






10. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






11. Monarchies - Single-party regimes - Military regimes - Oligarchies - Theocracies - Personalistic regimes






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






13. A civil war (...) in which one party is the state - the insurgents win - the insurgents have a lot of popular support - and the insurgents implement 'wholesale political change'






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






15. Historical origins. A reaction to liberalism - Central assumption: 'The highest good of society [is] the maintenance of ordered community and of common values' (p. 28) One of the 3 big idealogies






16. A consideration of how nations interact with each other within the frameworks of law - diplomacy - and international organizations such as the United Nations.






17. Ideology An ideology that seeks the active reshaping of minds of individuals and believes this can/must be done by force - Coercive mobilization - No social or political pluralism






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






19. 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.






20. In social movements - rational choice and culture come together - Culture: the sense of a righteous - popular will that has been subverted ('framing'/'grievance') - Motivates collective action - But also determines the choice of organization and tact






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






22. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






23. Public administration (civil service). All (non-military) government workers not elected to their posts - but hired (United States beginning in 1880s)






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






25. Process tracing through case studies. Requires a well-developed theory and minute examination ('process tracing')






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






27. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






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






29. Comparative Politics - International Relations - American Politics - (normative) theory or Political Philosophy






30. 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






31. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






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






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






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






35. Process or moment of changing from one regime type to another Ex: Arab Springs (Causes: cultural or economice - or military culture) - (int'l factors: U.S. foreign policy - Soviet foreign policy - Changes to Catholic doctrine - EU accession - Globali






36. 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






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






38. Shared sets of meanings






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






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






41. Shorter-lived - Slightly less repressive - Ideology not so clear - In favor of capitalism - though with state involvement - Based more on Social Darwinism/racism/nationlsm - Conservatism run amok?






42. 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






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






44. Basically - synonymous for statistical method - Large numbers of observational data - 'Control' for confounding factors






45. 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






46. Individual rationality does not always lead to collective rationality - Walking on the grass - Policy implementation is problematic - Voting; protests; interest groups; etc. are underprovided (Olson's point)






47. An identity-based community - where the identity is strong enough that we think we should probably be sovereign...






48. Describes the principal characteristics of what has been studied.






49. Efficiency vs. representativeness


50. 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