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. 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.






2. 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






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






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






5. 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?






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






7. 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






8. Shared sets of meanings






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






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






11. 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






12. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






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






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






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






16. 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






17. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






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






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






20. 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.






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






22. Concentration vs. dispersal of power


23. 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'






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






25. 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






26. 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






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






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






29. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






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






31. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






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






33. 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)






34. 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






35. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






36. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






37. 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.






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






39. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






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






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






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






43. 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






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






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






46. 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.






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






48. 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






49. The making of collectively binding decisions






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