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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. 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






2. 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.






3. Efficiency vs. representativeness


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






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






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






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






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






9. 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






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






11. 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






12. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






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






14. 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






15. A government with a one house legislature.






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






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






18. 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.






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






20. 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






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






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






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






24. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






25. 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'






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






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






28. Shared sets of meanings






29. 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






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






31. 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






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






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






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






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






36. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






37. 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






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






39. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






40. 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.






41. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






42. 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.






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






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






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






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






47. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






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






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






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