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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. A method available in most states that allows voters - in effect - to 'veto' a bill passed by the legislature or to accept or reject a proposal - such as a bond issue - made by a government agency.






2. In Congress - _____________ are informal organizations of individual congressional representatives with like interests or constituencies. Members work together to promote the interests of the groups they represent through legislation - policy - and p






3. 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.






4. According to one survey - what percentage of Americans belongs to groups that sometimes take a stand on public issues






5. A method of amending state constitutions under which proposed constitutional amendments can be placed on the ballot if enough signatures are obtained on a petition. Almost half the states also employ the initiative on the ballot to allow voters to en






6. Lead by Daniel Webster and Henry Clay. Dedicated to defending federal authority and high tariffs. Gained supports of merchants - bankers - industrialists and planters.






7. 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.






8. Head of the Supreme Court.






9. 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.






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






11. Concurrent resolution - adopted by both Houses of Congress - that sets forth a Congressional budget plan for the budget year and at least four out-years.






12. Bills passed by Congress to pay for the spending it has authorized.






13. This body of government has final authority on the meaning of the Constitution.






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






15. Held on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November.






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






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






18. These party members are highly involved in the electoral process. Donate funds to party and candidates - demand a voice in state party agendas and tend to have a strong belief in their party's ideology.






19. In this case - a gay man from Georgia charged with committing sodomy in his own home with a consenting adult. The court ruled that the Constitution does not explicitly grant the right for homosexuals to practice their lifestyle and that laws against






20. This category of interest groups has been the strongest and most effective in lobbying Washington






21. Agenda that includes issues that affect the daily lives of the people.






22. 1946 Act requiring bureaucratic agencies to appeal to the affected parties before adopting new policies. Legislative check on Bureaucracy.






23. A powerful alliance of mutual benefit among an agency or unit of the government - an interest group - and a committee or subcommittee of Congress. Also called a triangle or a subgovernment.






24. The relationship between the total cost of foreign goods imported to this country and sales of U.S. products overseas.






25. Laws must be administered in a fair manner.






26. A word that comes from two Greek roots - demos - 'the populace -' and kratia - 'rule'






27. International agreements between the president and foreign heads of state that - unlike treaties - do not require Senate approval.






28. Members of the ______________ committee of a political party work to maintain influence during non election years through congressional campaign committees.






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






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






31. Senators are re-elected every ___ years with 1/3 of the Senate being up for election every 2 years.






32. Legislative branch incorporating two houses.






33. What occurs when government adopts a public policy that provides - or distributes - benefits to people or groups.






34. When the population's overall feeling of political efficacy is low - voter turnout is _______.






35. 'lame duck' amendment






36. The framers of the Constitution created the Senate to function as a check on the ________________.






37. 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






38. The tendency of presidents to lose support over time.






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






40. First proposed in 1789 - this amendment passed in 1992 prohibits Congress from raising their own pay. Pay raises may not take affect until the beginning of the next term.






41. Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman (1979) upheld that bussing programs were an acceptable way to enforce ______________________.






42. In his classic study of community power in New Haven - Connecticut - political scientist Robert A. Dahl concluded that the city was a __________ system dominated by many different sets of leaders






43. The practice under which victorious politicians reward their followers with jobs.






44. Committees of Congress composed of both representatives and senators.






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






46. A plan to provide billions of dollars of American aid to Western Europe to speed its economic and social recovery after the Second World War.






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






48. The Supreme Court is the only judicial body that may hear disputes between _________________.






49. During the 1800's and early 1900's - some state and local party committees became ________________ dominating party activities. Committee members would promise new recruits money - jobs - and other benefits for joining and voting the straight party t






50. State legislation designed to outlaw the union shop - passed by 21 states acting under Section 14B of the federal Taft-Hartley Act.







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