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






2. 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






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






4. 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)






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






6. 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






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






8. Use of method of inference to create generalizeable explanations






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






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






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






12. 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






13. Efficiency vs. representativeness

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14. The making of collectively binding decisions






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






16. 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.






17. Also known as interpersonal trust & tolerance






18. 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






19. Long-lived - Extreme lack of social pluralism - Well-defined ideology - Against capitalism - Based on Marxist arguments about class solidarity - economic determinism - Socialism run amok?






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






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






22. 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






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






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






25. 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






26. Concentration vs. dispersal of power

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






28. 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.






29. 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






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






31. 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






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






33. A government with a one house legislature.






34. how many seats are allotted to each electoral district






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






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






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






38. Shared sets of meanings






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






40. 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






41. Identities are malleable - and anything can become politicized. Struggles to explain fundamental patterns in political identity or their grasp on our souls. Can't really explain which identities become politicized either






42. The opportunity to choose among alternative candidates and positions






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. Hypotheses based on what has been observed.






45. 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






46. Force + Legitimacy






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






48. 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?






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






50. Traditionally measured as capacity and autonomy