Test your basic knowledge |

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 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.






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






3. 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






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






5. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






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






7. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






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






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






10. Concentration vs. dispersal of power


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






12. 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






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






14. 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.






15. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






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






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






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






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






20. 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






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






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






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






24. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






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






26. Energy or righteous zeal wins large numbers of participants - Nimble in framing issues and changing tactics






27. Shared sets of meanings






28. Identities are malleable - and anything can become politicized. Struggles to explain fundamental patterns in political identity or their grasp on our souls. Can't really explain which identities become politicized either






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






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






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






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






33. 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






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






35. 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.






36. 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.






37. 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'






38. 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.






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






40. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






41. Basically - density and quality of civil society






42. A systematic study of the structures of two or more political systems (such as those of Britain and the People's Republic of China) to achieve an understanding of how different societies manage the realities of governing. Also considered are politica






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






44. Force + Legitimacy






45. 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






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






47. 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






48. 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)






49. Charismatic - Rational-legal - Traditional/patrimonial






50. Tactics An organization that seeks to influence government through 'contentious' or 'disruptive' politics - Currency/instrument: show of force - numbers - brinkmanship - Organization A (non-hierarchical) network of organizations and individuals worki