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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. Force + Legitimacy






2. 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






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






4. 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






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






6. 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






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






8. A government with a one house legislature.






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






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. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






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






13. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






14. 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.






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






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






17. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






18. 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?






19. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






20. 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)






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






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






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






24. 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.






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






26. Concentration vs. dispersal of power

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






28. 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






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






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






31. Basically - density and quality of civil society






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






39. The making of collectively binding decisions






40. Charismatic - Rational-legal - Traditional/patrimonial






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






42. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






43. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






44. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






45. 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.






46. 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






47. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






48. Number of Parties 2 - Constitutional Review: Judicial Review - Number of chambers: bicameral - Federalism: Federal






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






50. monopoly over the legitimate use of force