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






2. 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






3. 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






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






5. The making of collectively binding decisions






6. Force + Legitimacy






7. 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






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






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






10. 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.






11. Charismatic - Rational-legal - Traditional/patrimonial






12. 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






13. 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.






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






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






16. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






17. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






18. 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.






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






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






21. 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)






22. 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






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






24. 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






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






26. Shared sets of meanings






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






28. 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?






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






30. 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






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. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






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






34. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






35. Concentration vs. dispersal of power


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






37. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






38. 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.






39. 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






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






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






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






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






44. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






45. 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






46. Basically - density and quality of civil society






47. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






48. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






49. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






50. 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