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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. Individual contributions to PACs are limited to ______________ dollars per candidate per election with primaries - general and special elections counting separately.
Select Committee
Separation of Powers
5 -000
Decreased
2. To negotiate a complex and politically sensitive trade treaty - a President will often
Fast Track Authority
Northern and Southern
Federal
Propose an Amendment
3. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 required states in the covered jurisdiction to attain _________________ from the Attorney General before making changes to voting standards - practice - or procedure
Open
Dred Scott Decision
Constituencies
Pre-clearance
4. The process by which individuals screen out messages that do not conform to their own biases
Selective exposure
Exit Polls
Interest Groups
Mugwumps
5. A policy that takes something away from one person and gives it to someone else -
Redistributive Policy
2
Selective exposure
Miller v. California
6. An issue on which voters distinguish rival parties by the degree to which they associate each party or candidate with conditions - goals - or symbols the electorate universally approves or disapproves of. Examples of such issues are economic prosperi
Appropriation Bills
Valence issue
Social Regulation
7th Amendment
7. Established in 1947 as a combined Department of War and Navy.
Negative
Balance of Trade
Defense
Flexible Construction
8. A federal tax on imports.
The Sugar Act and the Currency Act
Pork-Barrel Legislation
Mugwumps
Tariff
9. Government regulation of the economy through its control over taxes and government spending. Controlled by the Department of Treasury.
Popular Sovereignty
Right of Expatriation
Ticket Splitters
Fiscal Policy
10. Puerto Rico has ____________ status.
Commonwealth
Cabinet
Logrolling
Brown v. Board of Education Topeka - Kansas
11. Elections that may lead to a basic shift in the party identification of the electorate.
7
Civilian Supremacy
Realigning Elections
NY Times v. Sullivan
12. Cabinet department responsible for collective bargaining and union activity. Established in 1913
Delegated Powers
Procedural Due Process
Labor
Raise Public Awareness
13. The strongest factor contributing to an individual's political socialization tends to be
Categorical Grant
Town Meeting
Little Difference
Family
14. Bills that benefit legislators' home districts - or powerful corporate contributors - with sometimes wasteful or unnecessary public works or other projects.
Independent Regulatory Agencies
Coast Guard
12th Amendment
Pork-Barrel Legislation
15. California measure designed to deny welfare and other benefits to illegal aliens. Overwhelmingly passed the popular vote - but overturned in federal court because it extending beyond the bounds of state rights to attempt to control immigration.
Proposition 187
Libertarianism
270
Securities and Exchange Commission or Securities Act of 1933
16. Executive Check on the Legislative Branch.
Presidential Veto
Executive
Automobiles
15
17. The coming to power of a new coalition - replacing an old dominant coalition of the other party
Jus Sanguinis
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
Critical Election
National Debt
18. 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.
Interventionism
Hatch Act
Freedom of Information Act
Republicans
19. 1944 case established that as as long as a person accepted their beliefs in good faith that it is not the government's authority to determine whether those beliefs are valid.
Monroe Doctrine
US v. Ballard
Social Security
Weber
20. Also known as the Massachusetts ballot - groups candidates according to the office for which they are running
Office Column Ballot
Political Action Committee
14
2nd Amendment
21. A coherent set of beliefs about politics - public policy - and public purpose. It helps give meaning to political event - personalities - and policies.
Double Jeopardy
Political ideology
Party Identification
Republican
22. The 1892 platform of the Populist party repudiating laissez-faire and demanding economic and political reform
20th
Omaha platform
Majority and Minority Leader
Majority Whip
23. Organization of individuals with similar policy goals who enter the political process to influence legislation that affects the organizations interests
Public Bills
Voting
Ways and Mean Committee
Interest Groups
24. Laws that were designed to segregate black and white Americans and give legal recognition to discrimination.
Warrant
Welfare State
Jim Crow Laws
Delegate
25. The view of the majority of the Supreme Court that First Amendment rights must be weighed against the competing needs of the community to preserve order.
Resolutions
Civil War Amendments
Political Efficacy
Balancing Test
26. A system - until modified and reformed in the 1970s - that automatically resulted in the selection as committee chair of those members of the majority party in Congress who had the longest continuous service on a committee.
Executive Agencies
Seniority System
Divided Government
Bill of Rights
27. Procedure typically requiring 3/5 vote of the entire Senate to end a filibuster.
14th
Cloture
Judicial Selection
Medicaid
28. The practice of victorious politicians to reward their followers with jobs. Also known as the spoils system.
Federal Courts
Political Patronage
Joint Chiefs of Staff
Royalists
29. 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.
Free Rider
congressional oversight committee
Conference Committee
Reserved Powers
30. The party-column ballot - or Indiana ballot - encourages _______________.
Original
Straight Ticket Voting
National Security Council
Policy
31. The Articles of Confederation established a ________________ legislature.
Unicameral
Political Socialization
Ways and Means Committee
Presidential Veto
32. A writ designed to protect against illegal imprisonment by requiring that a person who is detained be brought before a judge for investigation.
Writ of Certiorari
Private Bills
25
2nd Amendment
33. 1963 ruling prohibiting prayer in public schools.
Open rule
Murray v. Curlett
Separate but Equal
State
34. 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.
Jus Sanguinis
National Security Council
Political Action Committees
National Convention
35. The sum of the goals - decisions - and actions that govern a nation's relations with the rest of the world.
Government
Party Activists
Conference Committee
Foreign Policy
36. A study of Bennington College students in the 1930s illustrated that the influence of the family on political attitudes tends to ______________ as they grow older and come into contact with other groups.
Omaha platform
Committees
Diminish
Positive
37. Government branch established in Article I of the Constitution.
Original
Legislative
Veteran's Affairs
Independent expenditures
38. The gap between the government's income and outlays.
Impoundment
Equity
Deficit
Securities and Exchange Commission or Securities Act of 1933
39. The spread of nuclear weapons to more nations.
English Bill of Rights
Freedom of Religion
Nuclear Proliferation
1776
40. In Argersinger v. Hamlin (1972) - the Supreme Court extended the right to counsel to those accused of misdemeanors if the defendant is _____________.
imprisoned
House of Representatives
Demands
Recall
41. According to one survey - what percentage of Americans belongs to groups that sometimes take a stand on public issues
Department of Treasury
President Pro Tempore
Mayor-Council Plan
31
42. Passed in 1883 - it created a federal civil service so that hiring and promotion would be based on merit rather than patronage.
Pendleton Civil Service Act
Political Culture
Third Parties
Administrative Law
43. The federal department that administers programs that provide services to farmers (including research and soil conservation and efforts to stabilize the farming economy)
Supremacy Clause
Agriculture
Issue network
Brown v. Board of Education Topeka - Kansas
44. Number of justices of the Supreme Court.
9
binding
Free Exercise Clause
Brown v. Board of Education Topeka - Kansas
45. The term most political scientists prefer to describe the bureaucratic process
Capitalism
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Public Administration
Conference Committee
46. Things government decides to do - example: taxation - crime control - national defense - education - etc.
Foreign Relations and the Judiciary Committees
Thomas Hobbes
Article II
Public Policies
47. ________________ of the Constitution governs the relationships of the states.
Lobbying
Article IV
October 1st
Electoral Votes
48. The 24th amendment banned _____________ - making it harder for states to discriminate against poor and minority voters.
Poll Tax
Interest Groups
Freedom of Information Act
Quid Pro Quo
49. An offical who is expected to represent the views of his or her constituents even when personally holding different views; one interpretation of the role of the legislator
8 Million
Political Action Committees
Laissez-Faire
Delegate
50. The period of time after the election of FDR until the Vietnam War was dominated by the Democratic Party and know as the __________________ Era.
Public Opinion
New Deal Era
State
Demands