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






3. 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






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






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






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






7. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






8. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






9. 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.






10. 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






11. 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'






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






13. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






14. 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






15. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






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






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






18. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






19. 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






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






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






22. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






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






24. 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






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 system controlled by rulers who deny popular participation in government






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






28. 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






29. 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






30. Efficiency vs. representativeness

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/html/basicversity.com/show_quiz.php on line 183


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






32. 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






33. Charismatic - Rational-legal - Traditional/patrimonial






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






35. 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)






36. Concentration vs. dispersal of power

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/html/basicversity.com/show_quiz.php on line 183


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






38. Basically - density and quality of civil society






39. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






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






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






42. A government with a one house legislature.






43. 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






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






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






46. 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.






47. Shared sets of meanings






48. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






49. 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






50. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.