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Test your basic knowledge |
CLEP Political Science
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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. 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.
Why States/Governments
Politics
Formula for allocating seats according to vote
Political Identity
2. 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.
Culture
Patronage
Participation
Constitution
3. 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
Contestation
Unicameral Legislature
Consolidation
Regime type
4. 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
Sovereignty
Bases of legitimacy/authority in non-democratic regimes
Social Movements
Unicameral Legislature
5. 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
Comparative Government
Participation
Politics
Why States/Governments
6. A formal document that sets up the basic rules of the political game
Civic Engagement
Significance of Collective action problem
Patronage
Constitution
7. Regime where the rulers are accountable to the ruled.
Politics
Communism
Democracy
Qualitative method
8. A political organization that primarily uses lobbying - Currency/instrument: money - information - numbers
Conservatism
Authority
Interest Groups
Patronage
9. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions
Political Violence
Types and examples of non-democratic regimes
Political Identity
Contestation
10. Basically - density and quality of civil society
Madison's dilemma
International Relations
Civic Engagement
Party System
11. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.
Consensual
During what century did political science emerge as a systemic study? Where?
Liberalism
Disadvantages of Social Movements
12. 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
Why States/Governments
Social Movements: Causes
Criticisms of Rational Choice
Socialism
13. Number of Parties 2 - Constitutional Review: Judicial Review - Number of chambers: bicameral - Federalism: Federal
Consensual
Politics
political equality
Culture
14. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements
Collective action problem: Solutions
Contestation
Political Science
Three types of Political Organization
15. The use of force by states or non-state actors to achieve political goals
Culture
Political Violence
Consolidation
Qualitative method
16. 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
Qualitative method
Gender as a Category
Criticisms of Rational Choice
Consensual
17. Shared sets of meanings
Subfields of Political Science
Culture
Three types of Political Organization
Madison's dilemma
18. Describes the principal characteristics of what has been studied.
Primordialism
Terrorism
Interest Groups
Observational/Evidential
19. 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
Bureaucracy
Lijphart's majoritarian vs. consensual
Collective action problem: causes
Criticisms of Rational Choice
20. 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'
Bases of legitimacy/authority in non-democratic regimes
Advantages of Social Movements
Terrorism
Revolution
21. About agency: we deserve freedom and need to be held meaningfully accountable
Consolidation
(Civil) Society
Classic Liberal Argument
Constitution
22. The rules about making the rules - often embodied in a constitution.
Contestation
Subfields of Political Science
Regime type
Types and examples of non-democratic regimes
23. equality in political decision making: one vote per person - with all votes counted equally
Empirical Knowledge
Identity
political equality
Social Movements
24. The organized study of government and politics. It borrows from the related disciplines of history - philosophy - sociology - economics - and law.
Political Science
Politics
Democracy
Party System
25. 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.
Liberalism
Consolidation
Political Theory
Criticisms of Rational Choice
26. A political system controlled by rulers who deny popular participation in government
Criticisms of Rational Choice
Science
Authoritarianism
Quantitative
27. 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
Revolution
Observational/Evidential
Gender as a Category
Conservatism
28. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions
Political Science
Contestation
Rational Choice (Individual Level)
Political Identity
29. 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
Theories
Totalitarianism
Terrorism
District Magnitude
30. Territorial monopoly over the legitimate use of force. Refers to the government + the people + the territory ('the country')
State
District Magnitude
classic Liberalism
Regime type
31. 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.
Gender as a Process
Consolidation
Political Violence
Interest Groups
32. State of nature (collective action problem) - Hobbes' solution: the social contract
Social Movements: Causes
political equality
Why States/Governments
Theories
33. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.
Criticisms of Rational Choice
Observational Laws
Solidarity
Politics
34. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy
Totalitarianism
International Relations
State Strength
Political Factors of Strong States
35. Analyzing the data that has been collected and offering plausible general principles that can be drawn from what has been observed.
Politics
Bureaucracy
Utilitarian Justification
Theories
36. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance
Social Movements: Causes
Solidarity
International Relations
Criticisms of Rational Choice
37. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations
Significance of Collective action problem
Revolution
Utilitarian Justification
Science
38. 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
Non-democratic regimes
Threshold
Economics
Criticisms of Rational Choice
39. Comparative Politics - International Relations - American Politics - (normative) theory or Political Philosophy
Disadvantages of Social Movements
Subfields of Political Science
Why States/Governments
Constitution
40. 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?
Fascism
Conservatism
Participation
Regime type
41. No or low citizen accountability ('subjects' rather than 'citizens') - Reciprocal relationship between leader and selectorate - Totalitarianism vs. authoritarianism
Majoritarian
Non-democratic regimes
Political Identity
Sovereignty
42. 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)
Political Theory
Unicameral Legislature
Significance of Collective action problem
Utilitarian Justification
43. 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
(Civil) Society
Revolution
Conservatism
Liberalism
44. An identity-based community - where the identity is strong enough that we think we should probably be sovereign...
Nation
Identity
Regime type
Collective action problem: Solutions
45. The set of relationships among parties in a country - Often categorized by the effective number of parties.
Identity
Party System
Participation
(Civil) Society
46. Concentration vs. dispersal of power
47. Number of Parties 2 - Constitutional Review: Parliamentary supremacy - Number of chambers: Unicameral/weak bicameral - Federalism: Unitary
Sovereignty
Majoritarian
Political Party
Authority
48. 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
Bureaucracy
Comparative Government
(Civil) Society
Method of Inference
49. 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
Primordialism
Transition
Classic Liberal Argument
Solidarity
50. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations
political equality
Politics
(Civil) Society
Civic Engagement