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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. 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)






2. Concentration vs. dispersal of power


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






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






5. 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






6. Force + Legitimacy






7. Basically - density and quality of civil society






8. 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






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






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






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






12. 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?






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






14. 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.






15. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






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






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






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






20. 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.






21. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






22. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






23. Shared sets of meanings






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






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






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






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






28. 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'






29. 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






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






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






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






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






34. 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






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






36. A government with a one house legislature.






37. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






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






39. 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.






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






41. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






42. 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






43. 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






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






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






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






47. 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.






48. 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






49. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






50. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy