Test your basic knowledge |

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. Situation where all fully qualified citizens have an equal say






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






3. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






4. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






5. 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






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






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






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






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






10. A government with a one house legislature.






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






12. 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






13. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






14. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






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






16. 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






17. Force + Legitimacy






18. Basically - density and quality of civil society






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






20. 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.






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






22. 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






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






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






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






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






27. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






28. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






29. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






30. 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?






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






32. Charismatic - Rational-legal - Traditional/patrimonial






33. 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






34. 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






35. Shared sets of meanings






36. 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'






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






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






39. 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






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






41. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






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






43. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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