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. In 1992 - the television networks agreed not to release these until a majority of polling places had closed in each state






2. The 1896 case of Plessy v. Fergusan established the racial segregation policy of __________________.






3. These voters are registered as a party member but only participate by voting in primary and general elections. Tend to vote straight-party ticket and follow the leads of local party officials.






4. Until the law was changed in 2002 - the term described unregulated campaign funds not subject to the limits of federal law because they went to party committees and not directly to candidates. The 2002 law banned contributions of soft money to nation






5. The process through which an individual acquires a set of political attitudes and forms opinions about political and social issues.






6. Federal and State Courts function in a _____________manner so that federal courts may receive appeals from state courts.






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






8. President requires their approval to appoint judges - ambassadors and other high officials.






9. Formal approval or consent given to a constitution - constitutional amendment - or treaty before it goes into effect.






10. 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.






11. If 10 days remain in session and the president does not sign an act of Congress - the law is ___________.






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






13. 6 In the view of Robert L. Lineberry - policy analysts focus on the _______________.






14. Capital punishment is also known as the _________________.






15. A writ designed to protect against illegal imprisonment by requiring that a person who is detained be brought before a judge for investigation.






16. An ideology that cherishes individual liberty and insists on a sharply limited government - promoting a free market economy - a non-interventionist foreign policy - and an absence of regulation in the moral and social spheres.






17. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) - founded in 1932 by President Herbert Hoover to help combat the Great Depression - was the predecessor of which federal agencies?






18. This controversial clause of the 9th Amendment has allowed government to expand rights to suit its needs.






19. Prohibits conviction of a crime that occurred before the act became illegal






20. Court cases that concern crimes committed against the public order.






21. The permanent committees of a legislature that consider bills and conduct hearings and investigations.






22. The way things actually are.






23. Limitations on this freedom including prohibition of defamation and obscenity - limitation on commercial speech - and restriction of inciting words that may cause immediate danger.






24. 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.






25. 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_______________.






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






27. The Supreme Court's broad interpretation of this clause has denied direct aid from the government for religious groups - but does allow religious groups to make use of government services such as police and fire.






28. 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.






29. In which case did the Supreme Court rule that the concept of privacy included the right to a legal abortion?






30. In charge of all state funds. Supervises the collection of taxes and payment of state's bill






31. In the year 2000 - the Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts of America had a constitutional right to ban _____________ members.






32. When the minority party becomes stronger than the majority party - usually the result of winning a critical election.






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






34. Although camera are allowed in most trial courts - they are banned from ______________.






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






36. The attitudes and actions of people that sustain and buttress the political system at all levels and allows the political system to continue to work.






37. Most modern political scientists believe there is ________________ between politics and government.






38. Article VI - Paragraph 2 - of the Constitution - which declares that the Constitution - and the laws and treaties of the United States made under it - are 'the supreme Law of the Land' and prevail over any conflicting state constitutions or laws.






39. An interest group organization that represents a specific group of people (Ex. NAACP - AARP)






40. Urban or rural areas in which businesses are encouraged to locate because of tax breaks and other incentives.






41. Minimum number of voters per state in the Electoral College.






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






43. Form of government in which the people are sovereign but their power is exercised by their elected representatives.






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






45. The ___________ aspects of Federalism include: conflicts between state and national government - economic and racial discrimination - uneven enforcement of law - and dominance of local governments by special interest groups






46. Most likely to board a foreign ship suspected of drug trafficking at a U.S. port






47. Procedure typically requiring 3/5 vote of the entire Senate to end a filibuster.






48. This 1689 English Document made the monarch






49. In California v. Avecedo (1991) - The Supreme Court established that authorities may search ____________________ without a warrant providing reasonable suspicion.






50. (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.