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Test your basic knowledge |
CLEP American Government
Start Test
Study First
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. In 1978 - the Supreme Court - in the 'seven dirty words' case - ruled that the government has the right to prohibit the broadcasting of _______________.
Soft money
100
Offensive Language
District of Columbia
2. Legislature bills that affect only a small group of citizens.
The Enlightenment
Coordinated Spending
435
Private Bills
3. Congress defined the steps for the creation and admission of new states. It forbade slavery while the region remained a territory although citizens could legalize it. First congress would appoint a territorial governor and judges. Second as soon as 5
Committees
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Republican
Riders
4. The 1776 pamphlet by Thomas Paine that prompted King George III's Prohibitory Act and the sending of mercenaries to the colonies.
Common Sense
Social Security
Marbury v. Madison
Military-Industrial Complex
5. The way things actually are.
de facto
Gideon v. Wainwright
2/3
Lobbying
6. Government regulation of the economy through its control over the supply of money and the cost and availability of credit. Controlled by the Federal Reserve Board.
Shay's Rebellion
Delegated Powers
Monetary Policy
Closed rule
7. Agencies that were at one time semi-autonomous but that through legislation have been placed under presidential control since 1945.
Government Corporations
Propose an Amendment
Change of Venue
4
8. Voters tendency to identify with a party that shares their views on important issues ignoring the party's stance on issues they deem less important. to be life-long unless there is a major change in the party's platform. 2. Influenced by ra
Political ideology
Party Identification
Magna Carta
Judicial
9. After analyzing 1 -795 platform pledges over a 10-year period - Gerald M. Pomper concluded that almost ____________ of these promises were fulfilled
2/3
Pyramid Model
Social Contract
New Deal Era
10. Guarantees that citizens cannot be compelled by the government to act in a way that is contrary to their religious beliefs. (ex. Conscientious objection to military service required by the draft is the execution of ______________)
Free Exercise Clause
4
Categorical Grants
Line-Item Veto
11. These parties often emerge as off-shoots of major parties or as single-issue parties. They typically act as critic/innovator bringing attention to issues and influencing the platforms of the major parties.
Campaign Finance Reform
Change of Venue
Caucus
Third Parties
12. In Woodson v. North Carolina - the Supreme Court struck down mandatory sentencing of capital punishment as ______________________ because it does not allow for any discretion.
Cruel and Unusual
NY Times v. Sullivan
National Committee
Project Grant
13. Members of this party typically include women who support liberal policies on abortion and equal pay - Jews - Catholics - Blacks and other minorities - Blue-collar working class - urban - labor unions - and intelligensia
Affirmative Action
Democrats
Ratification
7th Amendment
14. 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.
Press Secretary
Impeachment
Administrative Law
Raiding
15. Libel - obscenity - fighting words - and commercial speech - which are not entitled to constitutional protection in all circumstances.
Incumbents
Presidential Ticket
Non-protected Speech
Federal Appellate
16. Authority based on an individual's outstanding traits - which attract followers
Housing and Urban Development
Quid Pro Quo
Catholics
Charismatic authority
17. The foreign policy of the United States during the period after the Second World War - designed to contain the expansion of Soviet power.
Authorizations
Entitlement Spending
Tariff
Containment
18. Established by President Hoover - It is the _______________ job to keep the press informed and orchestrate press conferences
National Chair
Press Secretary
Open
Interest groups
19. Legislative branch incorporating two houses.
Speech Plus
Dark Horse
Electoral Connection
Bicameral
20. Multi-interest and often multinational corporations that - under one corporate roof - may manufacture a wide variety of products.
Hold
The Sugar Act and the Currency Act
Electoral College
Conglomerates
21. Cabinet department responsible for the management of public lands - wildlife - natural resources - and Native American affairs. Established in 1849
Magna Carta
Interior
Iron Triangle
National Committee
22. 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.
Thomas Hobbes
77
Scottsboro Boys Case
Ratification
23. The executive office established in response to intelligence lapses during WWI. Oversees American foreign policy and includes the President - Vice President - Secretary of State - Secretary of Defense and is lead by the National Security Advisor.
National Security Council
Wallace's Progressives
Exit Polls
Clothespin vote
24. _____________ was the Democratic Party political machine that played a major role in controlling New York City politics and helping immigrants (most notably the Irish) rise up in American politics from the 1790s to the 1960s.
Tammany Hall
Hatch Act
Ex Post Facto
Hyperpluralism
25. The single biggest item in campaign spending at the presidential level is ___________________.
Television and Radio
Federalist
Gideon v. Wainwright
Ratification
26. This contraversial legal technicality intended to protect civil liberties has allowed criminals to remain free when the courts refuse to admit evidence that may have been obtained illegally.
Enacted
Open rule
Exclusionary Rule
Catholics
27. Private groups that attempt to influence the government to respond to the shared attitudes of their members.
War Powers Resolution
Interest Groups
100
Feedback
28. An interest group organization that represents a specific group of people (Ex. NAACP - AARP)
High
Oligopoly
Membership
5
29. A pluralist theory by C. Wright Mills where a small number of wealthy elite wield most of the power. Fundamental to all governments around the world - the elite rule while they make the lower classes feel like they are involved in democracy. The elit
Elite and Class Theory
Jurisdiction
Mayor-Council Plan
14th Amendment
30. This clause of the 1st amendment establishes a 'wall of separation' between church and state.
1776
Establishment Clause
Project Grant
Equal Time
31. A public assistance program established in 1965 to help pay hospital - doctor - and medical bills for people with low incomes.
Republicans
Grant Clemency
John Locke
Medicaid
32. 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.
Iron Triangle
Freedom of Information Act
Raise Public Awareness
Antitrust Legislation
33. Presides over the Senate in the absence of the Vice President. Position awarded to the longest serving Senator from the majority party. 3rd in line of succession for the Presidency.
Proportional Representation
Amicus Curiae Brief
President Pro Tempore
Entitlement Spending
34. This 1967 Supreme Court case prohibited illegal eavesdropping and extending the zone of privacy to include the home - office - person - and immediate public arena.
Katz. v US
Shay's Rebellion
Council-Manager Plan
Republicans
35. A method of polling - considered less reliable than a random sample - in which interviewers are instructed to question members of a particular group in proportion to their percentage in the population as a whole.
Legislative Courts
Quota Sampling
Legislative
Open Meeting Law
36. In charge of all state funds. Supervises the collection of taxes and payment of state's bill
The Federalist #10
Grant Clemency
School Desegregation
State Treasurer
37. The response of the rest of society to actions by the authorities.
Feedback
Membership
Party Regulars
Petit Jury
38. Most Americans support ______________ primarily as part of their criticism of PACs
Dred Scott Decision
Campaign Finance Reform
Free Rider
AARP
39. 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.
Mugwumps
Party Activists
Ways and Means Committee
Patriot Act
40. A system of _______________ - as in Italy - encourages the existence of many parties by allotting seats to competing candidates according to the percentage of votes they win.
Proportional Representation
Ways and Means Committee
External Efficacy
Rhode Island
41. The total amount of money that the United States owes to its creditors.
Governmental Corporations
National Debt
Divided Government
Voting
42. During Presidential election years or when the nation is divided on policy agenda - particularly regarding salient issues - voter turnout is _____________
High
Joint Committee
Inherent Powers
Enact a Bill of Rights
43. Philosopher John Locke - in his 1690 work Civil Government (second treatise) - advised separation of government power between
legislative and executive
Balance of Trade
Budget Resolutions
Shay's Rebellion
44. The ___________ aspects of Federalism include: diversity/diffusion of power - more access points for political participation - fostering of experimentation and innovation - and allowing local governments to manage local problems effectively
Legislative
Executive Agreements
Judicial Restraint
Positive
45. Formerly known as the Anti-Federalist - this party lead by Thomas Jefferson advocated states rights pressing the causes of the common people and agrarian interest. Dominated the political arena until the Civil War.
Focus Groups
Weber
Smith Act
Democratic-Republicans
46. Defamation by written or printed words - pictures - or in any form other than by spoken words or gestures.
Libel
Collective Action
Convention Bounce
Negative Advertising
47. In which case did the Supreme Court rule that the concept of privacy included the right to a legal abortion?
Transnational Relations
Equity
Roe v. Wade
National Supremacy
48. Permitted court authorized wire-tapping and bugging by federal - state - and local authorities and use of such evidence in trial. Later reversed by the Supreme Court based on 4th Amendment rights.
Lord Acton
Jus Soli
Albany Plan
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act
49. Powers of government exercised independently by both the federal and state governments - such as the power to tax.
Common Sense
Antitrust Legislation
Concurrent Powers
Public Administration
50. 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.
Conference Committee
Monroe Doctrine
Automobiles
Political ideology