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






2. 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






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






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






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






6. 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






7. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






8. 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






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






10. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






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






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






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






14. 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.






15. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






16. Force + Legitimacy






17. 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






18. 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






19. 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.






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






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






22. 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.






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






24. 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






25. 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?






26. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






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






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






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






31. 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






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






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






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






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






36. Concentration vs. dispersal of power

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37. 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






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






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






40. Charismatic - Rational-legal - Traditional/patrimonial






41. 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






42. 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






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






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






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






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






47. 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






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






49. Efficiency vs. representativeness

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