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. Cabinet department responsible for regulating and promoting trade and maintaining the census Established in 1913..






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






3. 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






4. The median income of women is ___________ percent of men.






5. 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






6. In Reynolds v. US (1879) - the Supreme Court denied this right to Reynolds because his religion's practice of polygamy violated federal law.






7. A declaration by the President in 1823 that warned European powers to keep out of the Western Hemisphere and pledged that the United States would not intervene in the internal affairs of Europe.






8. Elections that reflect the basic party identification of the voters.






9. An economy in which most economic decisions result from the interaction of buyers and sellers in markets - but in which the government plays a significant role in the allocation of resources.






10. The right to privacy is ___________ in the Constitution.






11. A system of voter registration in which voters must register only once in their district.






12. A technique polling organizations use in which several people from the same neighborhood are interviewed.






13. Each Senate committee may have ________ subcommittees.






14. In addition to overseeing the activities of one or more federal agencies - a ___________________may also serve as the authorizing committee for federal agencies' programs and operations.






15. Makes sure that funds are used safely and wisely. They oversee the state's financial records






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






17. A political candidate who is thought to have only an outside chance of gaining the nomination.






18. An official document - published every weekday - which lists the new and proposed regulations of executive departments and regulatory agencies.






19. In Johnson v. Texas (1989) - the Supreme Court ruled that burning the flag in a manner that does not pose a threat to people or property is allowed as this type of freedom of speech.






20. _____________ are expected to specialize in a few policy areas rather than claim expertise in the whole range of legislative concerns






21. Most Americans support ______________ primarily as part of their criticism of PACs






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






23. American politics is dominated by a small ___________ who is responsible for most of the important policy decisions






24. Article II of the Constitution establishes the ______________ branch.






25. _____________ is responsible for monetary policy.






26. The Constitution requires that state governments - like the federal government - must be _____________ in form - with final authority resting with the people.






27. The vote cast by a person who does not like either candidate and so votes for the less objectionable of the two - putting a clothespin over his nose to keep out the unpleasant stench






28. The pursuit and exercise of power






29. Article I of the Constitution establishes the ___________________ branch.






30. Which form of registration prevails in all but a few states?






31. 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.






32. ________________ of the Constitution dictates how the Constitution shall be amended.






33. 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.






34. A device that allows the House of Representatives to conduct its business with fewer restrictions on debate and a quorum of only 100 members.






35. A broadly based coalition that attempts to gain control of the government by winning elections in order to exercise power and reward its members.






36. Approximately 33% of American voters identify themselves as _______________ party.






37. While both Asian and Hispanic immigrants experience various types of discrimination - Hispanic immigrants are more likely to experience economic discrimination. This explains why most Hispanics identify with the ____________ party - while Asians do n






38. Electoral college system and other campaign practices make it exceedingly difficult for even popular ______________ candidates to successfully run for the presidency.






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






40. Presidential refusal to allow an agency to spend funds that Congress authorized and appropriated.






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






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






43. An ideology that advocates limits on government power to address economic and social problems - relying instead on economic markets and individual initiative to address problems like health care and education - while promoting government involvement






44. German sociologist theorized that the engine of government needs bureaucracies to provide expertise in a way that short-term elected or appointed official cannot.






45. Population migration patterns since the second World War have increased the power of _____________.






46. In Sweatt v. Painter (1950) - The Supreme Court upheld that ___________________ was inherently not the case as is applied to the University of Texas Law School.






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






48. Powers not specifically granted to the federal government or denied to the states belong to the states and the people






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






50. The vagueness of this phrase has allowed juries to exclude specific genders or races in order to affect the outcome of the verdict.