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. ______________ refers to the differences in political attitudes and voting behavior between men and women






2. There are 11 circuit ____________________ who have no original jurisdiction.






3. The case of Gregg v. Georgia set the precedent for a ________________ system in which guilt and sentencing and tried separately.






4. The number of ______________ a state receives is based on the number Representatives and Senators that the state has in Congress






5. The proceeding before a judge in which the formal charges of an indictment or information are read to an accused person - who may plead guilty or not guilty.






6. The absent colony at the 2nd Continental Congress.






7. A tactic in which PACs collect contributions from like-minded individuals and present them to a candidate or political party as a 'bundle -' thus increasing the PAC's influence.






8. Elects the President if no candidate receives 270 Electoral College votes.






9. The only court specifically outlined in the Constitution.






10. California measure designed to deny welfare and other benefits to illegal aliens. Overwhelmingly passed the popular vote - but overturned in federal court because it extending beyond the bounds of state rights to attempt to control immigration.






11. Considered the most sacred right in American history. Colonists felt oppressed by the tyranny of the crown but were unable to speak up about it for fear of repercussion.






12. Included are Agriculture - Nutrition - and Forestry; Appropriations; Armed Services; Banking - Housing and Urban Affairs; Commerce - Science and Transportation; Energy and Natural Resources; Environment and Public Works; Finance; Health - Education -






13. Includes expressive conduct/assembly/actions and symbolic behavior (ex. Picketing or burning the flag) Based on our country history of symbolic acts such as the Boston Tea Party - courts almost always uphold symbolic acts of speech unless they are cr






14. Private groups that attempt to influence the government to respond to the shared attitudes of their members.






15. Most house committees are limited to _____ subcommittees.






16. Executive office responsible for helping the President write the federal budget and monitoring federal spending.






17. Law enacted in 1939 to prohibit civil servants from taking activists roles in partisan campaigns .This act prohibited federal employees from making political contributions - working for a particualr party -or campaining for a particualr canidate






18. (1781-1789) The written framework for the government of the original 13 states before the Constitution was adopted. Under this - the national government was weak and dominated by the states. There was a unicameral legislature - but no national execut






19. In WV State BOE v Barnette (1943) - the Supreme Court ruled that compelling citizens to salute the flag violates the principles of a free society - upholding which 1st Amendment rights?






20. This author was highly influential on Thomas Jefferson - rejecting divine right - proposing that government is a social contract requiring the consent of the govern and establishing the concept of self-evident rights of life - liberty - and property.






21. ____________________ define Congressional voting districts acting within constraints set down by Congress and the Supreme Court.






22. This House committee is responsible for all taxes - tariffs - and other revenue raising measures in addition to social security - child support - Medicare - foster care - and unemployment.






23. Corporations formed by the government to act as a business to produce a product or service. Often monopolies with varying degrees of independence.






24. A close contest; by extension - any contest in which the focus is on who is ahead and how much rather than on substantive differences between the candidates.






25. This clause of the 1st amendment establishes a 'wall of separation' between church and state.






26. In _______________ cases such as Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) - the Supreme Court has upheld that while Affirmative action policies are legal - race and gender cannot be the only determining factors.






27. 14th Amendment is often used to support the right to ____________.






28. The process through which an individual acquires a set of political attitudes and forms opinions about political and social issues.






29. If 10 days remain in session and the president does not sign an act of Congress - the law is ___________.






30. These party members take active non-leadership roles such as working polls or contributing money to campaigns. Tend to compromise on important issues and are mostly concerned about winning elections.






31. After the Vietnam war - American politics entered an era of __________________ during which neither party maintained control over the government.






32. Until the law was changed in 2002 - the term described unregulated campaign funds not subject to the limits of federal law because they went to party committees and not directly to candidates. The 2002 law banned contributions of soft money to nation






33. A term coined by President Lyndon B. Johnson to describe his own view of the relationship between Washington and the states.






34. Because there is no Senate Rules Committee - Senators can debate a bill for an _________________ time.






35. This branch of government checks Bureaucracy through its control over the creation and elimination of agencies as well as its control over budget appropriations.






36. Practice by which voters of one party crossing over and voting in the primary of another party - effectively allowing a party to help choose its opposition's candidate.






37. This amendment includes the due process clause - the equal protection clause - and gave rights to former slaves.






38. First step in the Policy Making Cycle.






39. Direct oral or written speech directed at a specific individual or group






40. 1974 Act mandating that all government files about private citizens be kept confidential.






41. A form of city government under which a council - usually elected on a nonpartisan ticket - hires a professional city manager - who runs the city government and has power to hire and fire officials.






42. Each Senate committee may have ________ subcommittees.






43. _____________ is responsible for monetary policy.






44. Defamation by oral utterance rather than by writing - pictures






45. Responsible for further investigation - hearings - and amendment to a bill






46. Cabinet department that includes the Coast Guard - Border Patrol - FEMA - Transportation Security Administration - INS and the Secret Service. Established in 2001 in response to 9/11.






47. Also known as the Massachusetts ballot - groups candidates according to the office for which they are running






48. The name commonly given to a private group - regardless of size - organized to elect political candidates. An organization becomes one by receiving contributions or making expenditures in excess of $1 -000 for the purpose of influencing a federal ele






49. Germany - Switzerland - and India are examples of countries with a _______________ system of government.






50. The drawing of the lines of congressional districts - or of any other political district - in order to favor one political party or group over another.