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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. 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






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






3. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






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






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






6. 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






7. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






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






9. Concentration vs. dispersal of power


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






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






12. 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






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






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






15. 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'






16. Force + Legitimacy






17. 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?






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






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






20. 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.






21. The making of collectively binding decisions






22. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






23. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






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






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






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






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






28. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






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






30. A government with a one house legislature.






31. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






32. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






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






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






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






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






38. Basically - density and quality of civil society






39. 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






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






41. Efficiency vs. representativeness


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






43. 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






44. 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






45. 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.






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






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






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






49. 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.






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