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CLEP Political Science

Subjects : clep, political-science
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
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  • 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. 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






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






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






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






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






6. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






7. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






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






9. 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)






10. 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






11. Force + Legitimacy






12. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






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






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






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






16. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






17. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






26. 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






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






28. 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.






29. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






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






31. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






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






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






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






35. Shared sets of meanings






36. Efficiency vs. representativeness

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37. 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.






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






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






41. 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






42. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






43. 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






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






45. 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






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






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






48. 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






49. 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.






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?