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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. 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






2. 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






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






4. The making of collectively binding decisions






5. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






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






7. Efficiency vs. representativeness


8. Shared sets of meanings






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






10. Any identity that significantly shapes our political decisions






11. Compiling a body of data based on direct observation that can be utilized both to explain what has been observed and to form valid generalizations.






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






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






14. A government with a one house legislature.






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






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






17. 19th - in the United States and Western Europe.






18. 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






19. Political parties - Interest groups - Social movements






20. 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






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






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






23. 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






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






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






26. All voluntary associations/all secondary associations






27. Basically - density and quality of civil society






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






29. monopoly over the legitimate use of force






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






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.






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






33. 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.






34. 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






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






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






37. 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






38. 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.






39. 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)






40. 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






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






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






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






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






46. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






47. Force + Legitimacy






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






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






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