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






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






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






4. 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






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






6. The making of collectively binding decisions






7. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






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






9. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






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






11. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






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






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






14. 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.






15. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






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






17. 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






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






19. Charismatic - Rational-legal - Traditional/patrimonial






20. 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






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






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






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






24. 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?






25. Shared sets of meanings






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






27. Concentration vs. dispersal of power


28. 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)






29. 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






30. 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






31. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






32. 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.






33. Basically - density and quality of civil society






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






35. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






42. 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.






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






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






45. Efficiency vs. representativeness


46. 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






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






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






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






50. 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