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






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






3. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






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






5. 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.






6. 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






7. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






8. The making of collectively binding decisions






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






10. 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






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






12. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






13. 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






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






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






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






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






18. 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






19. 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






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






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






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






23. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






24. 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.






25. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






26. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






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






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






29. A government with a one house legislature.






30. 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?






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






32. 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.






33. 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






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






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






36. Force + Legitimacy






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






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






40. 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






41. 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.






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






43. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






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






45. 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






46. 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






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






48. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






49. 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'






50. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements