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






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






3. Shared sets of meanings






4. Concentration vs. dispersal of power


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






6. 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.






7. 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.






8. 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






9. You see a puzzle - You come up with a potential explanation (a 'theory') - You test it with evidence (data drawn from the 5 senses) - You share the results with others and get their feedback - Repeat steps 2 through 4 until you publish






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






11. 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)






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






13. 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?






14. 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






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






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






17. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






18. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






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






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






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






22. 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






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






24. 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






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






26. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






27. 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.






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






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






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






31. 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






32. 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






33. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






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






35. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






36. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






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






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






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






40. Charismatic - Rational-legal - Traditional/patrimonial






41. Efficiency vs. representativeness


42. 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






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






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






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






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






47. 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






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






49. Basically - density and quality of civil society






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