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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. 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






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






3. A government with a one house legislature.






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






5. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






6. Shared sets of meanings






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






8. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






9. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






15. 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.






16. 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'






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






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






19. 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






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






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






22. 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






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






24. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






25. 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.






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






27. 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.






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






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






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






32. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






33. 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?






34. Concentration vs. dispersal of power

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35. 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






36. 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






37. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






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






39. 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)






40. 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






41. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






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






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






44. Force + Legitimacy






45. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






46. 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






47. 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






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






49. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






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