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






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






3. Which powers of the national government flow from its enumerated powers and from the 'elastic clause' of the Constitution?






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






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






6. 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.






7. An immigrant who wished to become a citizen may be naturalized after living in the US for ___ years.






8. The strongest factor contributing to an individual's political socialization tends to be






9. 1976 Law requiring all governmental agency meetings to be open to the public unless classified information will be discussed.






10. The Equal Rights Amendment was defeated in 1982 because ____________________________.






11. Age Requirement for House of Representatives.






12. This rule established by US v. Leon (1984) angered civil liberties groups by allowing exception to the Exclusionary Rule in instances where probably cause may not fully exist.






13. Formed as a third party on the issue of slavery by many former Whigs in the 1850's. Anti-slavery platform. Supported by farmers - laborers - and newly-freed blacks.






14. Law intended to promote free competition in the market place by outlawing monopolies






15. Type of interest group represented in Washington by another individual or organization. (Ex. Ford Motor Company pays a lobbyist in Washington to represent them.)






16. The only court specifically outlined in the Constitution.






17. Established by President Hoover - It is the _______________ job to keep the press informed and orchestrate press conferences






18. The chair and the heads of the three armed services - and - when Marine Corps matters are under consideration - the commandant of the marines. By law - they advise the president and the secretary of defense and are the chiefs of their respective mili






19. New Jersey v. TLO (1985) established that school authorities may search students without _____________ as long as they are reasonable.






20. ____________ often influence political appointments in an effort to influence bureaucracy.






21. Lead by Theodore Roosevelt - this party platform focused on women's suffrage - social reform - fair business practices - and direct election of senators. The won 25% of the popular vote in 1911 - splitting the Republican vote and allowing Democrat Wo






22. The reason that electors are chosen in each state by popular vote is ____________.






23. The body composed of electors from the 50 states who formally have the power to elect the president and vice president of the United States. Each state has a number of electors and electoral votes equal to its number of senators and representatives i






24. Legislative branch incorporating two houses.






25. Method by which federal court judges may lose their position.






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






27. Total number of Representatives apportioned to the states based on population and reapportioned with the census every 10 years






28. The spread of nuclear weapons to new nations






29. Age Requirement for the Senate






30. A form of city government under which power is divided between a mayor and an elected city council.






31. Several Presidents have been elected without winning the popular vote. As a result - In 1970 and 1979 - Amendments were proposed to disband the ______________ - neither passed.






32. 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






33. Assistants to the Majority and Minority Leaders of both the House and Senate.






34. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was somewhat undermined by racist practices in the real estate market such as _____________ and ______________ - which continued illegally in many areas following passage of the Act.






35. Spending by the national committees of the political parties to support the election of congressional candidates is known as






36. In the Federalist Papers - James Madison proposed that the states under the new Constitution would retain ____________ sovereignty.






37. A term often used to describe the economic and political ties between the military establishment and the defense-aerospace industry.






38. The 23rd Amendment guaranteed voting rights to whom?






39. A provision in a deed to real property prohibiting its sale to a person of a particular race or religion. Judicial enforcement is unconstitutional.






40. An election in which voters in a jurisdiction select candidates for a subsequent election. In other words - one means by which a political party nominate candidates for the following general election.s






41. Leader of the House of Representatives - elected by the majority party. 2nd in line of succession for the Presidency.






42. The class of independent voters who do not vote according to party affiliation - but who typically have a broader range of concerns than single-issue voters - are known colloquially as






43. (1945-1991) The period after the Second World War marked by rivalry and tension between the two nuclear superpowers - the United States and the communist government of the Soviet Union. The Cold War ended when the Soviet government collapsed in 1991.






44. Under this governing document - national government lacked authority to set up tariffs - regulate commerce - levy taxes - control international relations - establish common currency






45. A strand of American foreign policy that was visible by the end of the 19th century; it included 'gunboat diplomacy' and other forms of military involvement by the United States in various parts of the world.






46. A course of action chosen by government officials






47. The net balance or relationship between total income and total expenditures by the nation in its dealings with the rest of the world - including trade - loans - and investments.






48. It is possible either to describe people - government - politics - and power as isolated - static elements - or to look at them as interacting elements in a_______________.






49. 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.






50. This 1957 judgement prohibited pornography material as utterly without redeeming social significance - later reversed in Miller v. California