Test your basic knowledge |

CLEP American Government

Subjects : clep, civics
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 term 'Reagan Democrats' has become a generic term for






2. A Latin phrase meaning 'stand by past decisions -' a principle that judges often use in deciding cases. Ruling based on precedents.






3. Raise Public Awareness - Create Policy Agenda - Prioritize Agenda - Enact Policy - Public Evaluation






4. This 1963 case extended the right to counsel to all felony cases.






5. The total amount of money that the United States owes to its creditors.






6. The head of a national political party






7. A legislative leader of each party who is responsible for rounding up party members for important votes.






8. A policy that takes something away from one person and gives it to someone else -






9. The Jacksonian Era marked an important change in the process used to nominate Presidential candidates with the emergence of party _________________ - eliminating caucuses.






10. Washington v. Chrisman (1982) established the _________________ - allowing police officers to seize evidence without a warrant if the evidence is in obvious sight.






11. Presides over the Senate without voting privileges except in the case of a tie.






12. Guarantees the right to a civil trial by jury.






13. 'lame duck' amendment






14. It the job of _________ committees of a political party to hold voter registration drives - recruit new party members and final candidates for city and county positions.






15. Act of exchanging favors for mutual gain






16. Defamation by written or printed words - pictures - or in any form other than by spoken words or gestures.






17. Included are Ways and Means - Veteran's Affairs - Transportation and Infrastructure - Standards of Official Conduct - Small Business - Science - Judiciary - Rules - Resources - Oversight of Government Reform - House Administration - Homeland Security






18. A term popularized by sociologist Floyd Hunter to describe the community leaders who he said determined policy in Atlanta - Georgia. More broadly - the term is used to describe 'power elites' generally.






19. This term refers to the gain in the polls that a candidate often enjoys after a national convention






20. 1966 Act allowing citizens to inspect all government records with the exception of classified military or intelligence documents - trade secrets or private personnel files.






21. The federal department that administers programs that provide services to farmers (including research and soil conservation and efforts to stabilize the farming economy)






22. An individual who does not join a group representing his or her interests yet receives the benefit of the group's influence.






23. Author of The Spirit of the Laws advocating balance of power in politics with liberty is dependant upon a separation of the judicial - legislative - and executive branches of government.






24. A primary in which any registered voter is able to vote for candidates from more than one party. A voter - for example - may vote for a Democrat for U.S. senator and for a Republican for governor. In 2000 - the Supreme Court struck down the blanket p






25. Procedure typically requiring 3/5 vote of the entire Senate to end a filibuster.






26. Southern whites prevented blacks from ____________ through use of poll taxes - literacy tests and intimidation tactics after the Civil War.






27. A legislator who automatically mirrors the will of the majority of his or her constituents.






28. According to this nineteenth-century British peer and historian - 'power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.'






29. An interest group organization that represents a specific group of people (Ex. NAACP - AARP)






30. Laws must be administered in a fair manner.






31. Constitutional protection of the accused to not be tried for the same crime twice.






32. In California v. Avecedo (1991) - The Supreme Court established that authorities may search ____________________ without a warrant providing reasonable suspicion.






33. The issue of slavery split the Democratic Party into what two factions?






34. Age Requirement for House of Representatives.






35. Eisenhower's philosophy of being liberal in all things human and being conservative with all things fiscal. Appealed to both Republicans and Democrats.






36. The Supremacy Clause appears in ________________ of the Constitution.






37. 1974 Act mandating that all government files about private citizens be kept confidential.






38. Process by which citizens propose an amendment by petition.






39. High School Dropouts - Blacks - Hispanics - Recent immigrants - and People under 25 or over 75 tend to have a _________ voter turnout.






40. This 1932 case established that a case can be too speedy and under-counseled - providing defendants in a capital case the right to a reasonable amount of time to establish a defense.






41. Clause in the 14th Amendment that forbids any state to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. The 5th Amendment also imposes this limitation on the national government.






42. Government employees who publicly expose evidence of official waste or corruption that they have learned about in the course of their duties.






43. The claim by presidents of an inherent right to withhold information from Congress and the judiciary.






44. In the mid-term elections following a President's inauguration - his party tends to ___________ seats in Congress.






45. Largest interest group in the US.






46. The kinds of cases that a court has the authority to decide.






47. Legislative house responsible for impeachment trials.






48. A 1972 treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union limiting the number of defensive missiles each country could build. In 2001 President George W. Bush withdrew the United States from the treaty.






49. Independent organizations - but more often the political arms of corporations - labor unions - or interest groups - established to contribute to candidates or to work for general political goals.






50. The European political philosophers whose writings influenced the concepts of liberty and government contained in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution belonged to the intellectual and cultural movement known as