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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. 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






2. 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?






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. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






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






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






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






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






9. 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.






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






11. Force + Legitimacy






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






13. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






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






15. 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'






16. 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






17. 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






18. The identities that can become political are those formed very early in life or perhaps vaguely racial/genetic. Struggles to explain (rapid) cultural change - or which identities become politicized






19. 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






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






21. Charismatic - Rational-legal - Traditional/patrimonial






22. A government with a one house legislature.






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






24. A basic plan that outlines the structure and functions of the national government. Clearly rooted in Western political thought - it sets limits on government and protects both property and individual rights.






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






33. 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.






34. 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)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






42. 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






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






44. State of nature (collective action problem) - Hobbes' solution: the social contract






45. Efficiency vs. representativeness


46. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






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






48. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






49. 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.






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