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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 political system controlled by rulers who deny popular participation in government






2. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






3. Basically - density and quality of civil society






4. Charismatic - Rational-legal - Traditional/patrimonial






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






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






7. 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






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






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






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






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






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






13. 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






14. 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?






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






16. 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.






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






18. 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






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






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






21. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






22. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






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






24. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






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






26. 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






27. 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






28. 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'






29. Efficiency vs. representativeness


30. 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.






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






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






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. The making of collectively binding decisions






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






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






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






38. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






39. 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






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






41. Think of this as 'gender as cause'. Gender roles change and/or mix of women in politics changes; what is the consequence? Key finding: having more women in public office changes the policy agenda - i.e. - more focus on women's issues






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






43. Shared sets of meanings






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






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






46. A government with a one house legislature.






47. 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






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






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






50. 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