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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. Political violence by non-state actors against civilian targets






2. 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






3. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






4. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






5. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






6. 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






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






8. 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






9. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






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






11. 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






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






13. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






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






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






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






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






18. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






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






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






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






22. Force + Legitimacy






23. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






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






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






26. 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.






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






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






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






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






31. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






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






33. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






34. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






35. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






36. A government with a one house legislature.






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






38. 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






39. 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






40. 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.






41. 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






42. 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.






43. 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)






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






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






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






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






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






50. 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