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. Literally meaning 'right of blood' - confers citizenship to a child from the parents.






2. Law enacted by Congress - or by state legislatures or local legislative bodies.






3. Committees created by Congress to conduct special investigations. Although normally temporary - some become - in effect - permanent.






4. The introductory statement of the U.S. Constitution - setting forth the general principles of American government and beginning with the words - 'We the people of the United States - in order to form a more perfect union. ...'






5. In this essay - James Madison recognized that reconciling the competing interests of various groups was what legislation was all about






6. Since 1960 - there has been a general trend of ______________ participation in elections.






7. An elected office that is predictably won by one party or the other - so the success of that party's candidate is almost taken for granted






8. Judges in Legislative Courts serve _______ terms and do not require impeachment.






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






10. Inherent powers of state governments to pass laws to protect health - safety - and welfare; the national government has no directly granted police powers but accomplishes the same goals through other delegated powers.






11. Concept of the British statesman Edmund Burke that legislators should act according to their own consciences.






12. Designed to protect the individual against the arbitrary power of the state.






13. Most modern political scientists believe there is ________________ between politics and government.






14. Includes the 13th - 14th - and 15th Amendments. Abolished slavery and guaranteed due process and equal protection to all citizens.






15. President requires their approval to appoint judges - ambassadors and other high officials.






16. The right of the Supreme Court - under the Constitution - to hear certain kinds of cases directly - such as cases involving foreign diplomats - or cases in which one of the 50 states is a party.






17. Serious crimes - such as murder - arson - or rape.






18. Colonies in which the proprietors (who had obtained their patents from the king) named the governors - subject to the king's approval.






19. Powers specifically given to the federal government by the US Constitution - for example - the authority to print money.






20. A joint committee of Congress established to help negotiate discrepancies and gain consensus between legislation passed in each house before sending the bill to the President.






21. The issuance of this document by a judge requires probably cause and must be worded so as to allow for the search and seizure of specific evidence.






22. Spending determined by the number of qualified recipients and their legally determined need is called






23. A nation's set of fundamental beliefs about how government and politics should be conducted.






24. Agencies that were at one time semi-autonomous but that through legislation have been placed under presidential control since 1945.






25. A tax on voting abolished by the Twenty-fourth Amendment in 1964 - long used by southern states to keep blacks (and - in some cases - poor whites) from participating in elections.






26. Article VII of the Constitution outlines the process of ____________________.






27. The 15th Amendment - also know as _________________ - was intended to help recently freed blacks from unconstitutional state laws designed to circumvent federal laws.






28. The estimated number of illegal aliens living in the US.






29. Congress' first step towards allocating funds






30. The doctrine that the numerical majority of an organized group can make decisions binding on the whole group






31. The Supreme Court holds _____________ jurisdiction in cases against the US - ambassadors - public ministers - and consuls.






32. How groups form and organize to pursue their goals or objectives - including how to get individuals and groups to participate and cooperate.






33. The party-column ballot - or Indiana ballot - encourages _______________.






34. A policy adopted by the United States after the Second World War that assumed that if enough nuclear weapons were deployed by the United States - an enemy would not attack for fear of being destroyed in retaliation.






35. The principle of civilian control of the military - based on the clear constitutional power of the president as supreme commander of the armed forces.






36. Infamous 1735 English case established the precedent for Freedom of the Press in the US.






37. The power to tax is an example of _______________ powers.






38. A place of work in which any person may be hired provided that he or she joins the union within a specified time.






39. 'lame duck' amendment






40. Polls taken as people leave voting places. In the past - television networks sometimes used these polls to predict election outcomes before the polls close. In 1992 - the television networks agreed not to project the winner in a state until the major






41. 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.






42. Presidential staff agency that serves as a clearinghouse for budgetary requests and management improvements for government agencies.






43. This type of government suits a large country with a diverse population






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






45. This 1964 case established strict standards for proving slander and libel - court must prove intent of malice on the part of the publisher.






46. ________________ of the Constitution governs the relationships of the states.






47. In Woodson v. North Carolina - the Supreme Court struck down mandatory sentencing of capital punishment as ______________________ because it does not allow for any discretion.






48. In the last 30 years - voter turnout among American 18- to 24-year-olds has been






49. A White House council created under the National Security Act of 1947 to advise the president and help coordinate American military and foreign policy.






50. ______________________is responsible for the management of the federal debt and the printing of currency. It is the major fiscal policy agency.