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






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






3. Basically - density and quality of civil society






4. Force + Legitimacy






5. 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






6. 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






7. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






8. Charismatic - Rational-legal - Traditional/patrimonial






9. 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






10. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






11. it works better in the long run - less risk/variability






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






13. 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






14. 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






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






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






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






18. 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






19. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






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






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






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






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






24. 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






25. 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?






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






27. 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.






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






29. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






30. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






31. 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






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






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






34. 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






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






36. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






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






38. A government with a one house legislature.






39. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






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






41. 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)






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






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






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






45. 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'






46. 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






47. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






48. Efficiency vs. representativeness

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






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