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






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






3. Force + Legitimacy






4. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






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






6. 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






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






8. 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.






9. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






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






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






12. 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






13. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






14. Basically - density and quality of civil society






15. Concentration vs. dispersal of power

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






17. 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






18. 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






19. 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'






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






21. 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






22. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






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






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






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






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






27. 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.






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






29. A government with a one house legislature.






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






31. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






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






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






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






35. 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






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






37. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






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






39. Shared sets of meanings






40. 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






41. 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.






42. The making of collectively binding decisions






43. 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






44. 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






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






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






47. 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






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






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






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