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






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






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






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






5. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






6. 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






7. The making of collectively binding decisions






8. 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






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






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






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






12. 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?






13. 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






14. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






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






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






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






18. 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.






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






20. 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






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






22. 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






23. 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.






24. Force + Legitimacy






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






26. 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






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






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






29. Shared sets of meanings






30. 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






31. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






32. Charismatic - Rational-legal - Traditional/patrimonial






33. 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






34. 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)






35. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






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






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






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






39. Efficiency vs. representativeness


40. 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






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






42. 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






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






44. 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






45. Utility maximization - Preferences: Comparability/Completeness - Transitivity - Probability - Incomplete information and uncertainty about future - Mathematical modeling






46. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






47. 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






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






49. Concentration vs. dispersal of power


50. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy