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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. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






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






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






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






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






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






7. 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






8. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






9. 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.






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






11. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






12. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






13. 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






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






15. 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?






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






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






18. 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.






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






20. 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






21. 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.






22. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy






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






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






25. 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






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






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






28. A government with a one house legislature.






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






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






31. Force + Legitimacy






32. 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






33. Shared sets of meanings






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






35. 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






36. 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






37. 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






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






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






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






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






42. Concentration vs. dispersal of power

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






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






45. 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






46. 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.






47. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






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






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. Efficiency vs. representativeness

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