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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. Basically - density and quality of civil society






2. 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






3. 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.






4. 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'






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






6. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






7. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






8. Force + Legitimacy






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






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






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






12. 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






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






14. 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.






15. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






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






17. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






18. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






19. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






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






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






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






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






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






25. 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






26. Concentration vs. dispersal of power

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27. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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. 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.






36. 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.






37. Shared sets of meanings






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






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






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






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






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






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






44. 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






45. 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






46. The making of collectively binding decisions






47. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






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






49. 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






50. Charismatic - Rational-legal - Traditional/patrimonial