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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. 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






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






3. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






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






5. A government with a one house legislature.






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






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. A basic plan that outlines the structure and functions of the national government. Clearly rooted in Western political thought - it sets limits on government and protects both property and individual rights.






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






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






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






12. 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






13. Concentration vs. dispersal of power


14. 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)






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






16. 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






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






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






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






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






21. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






22. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






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






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






25. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






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






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






28. Efficiency vs. representativeness


29. 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.






30. The making of collectively binding decisions






31. Force + Legitimacy






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






33. 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.






34. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






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






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






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






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






39. 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






40. 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?






41. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






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






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






44. 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






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






46. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






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






48. 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.






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






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