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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. This 1689 English Document made the monarch
Common Sense
English Bill of Rights
Senate
Electoral College
2. Constitutionally empowered to appoint judges - ambassadors - and other high officials - Constitutionally empowered to make treaties with foreign countries.
Equality
17th
President
Independent expenditures
3. After a bill is assigned to a committee - the next step is typically a ______________.
Majority and Minority Leader
Public hearing
Standing Committees
Thurgood Marshall
4. A government that undertakes responsibility for the welfare of its citizens through programs in public health and public housing and pensions and unemployment compensation etc.
Welfare State
100
national quotas
High
5. The power of the president - struck down by the Supreme Court in 1998 - to veto parts of appropriations bills. Most state governors have this power.
Federal District
Line-Item Veto
General Election
Increased competition
6. A political candidate who is thought to have only an outside chance of gaining the nomination.
Preamble
New Federalism
Dark Horse
Free Speech
7. Makes sure that funds are used safely and wisely. They oversee the state's financial records
Jurisdiction
State Auditor
Political Action Committee
Standing Committees
8. The Articles of Confederation established a ________________ legislature.
Civil Liberties
Unicameral
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Membership
9. The Equal Rights Amendment was defeated in 1982 because ____________________________.
Dynamic Conservatism
National Security Council
It Failed to be Ratified
de jure
10. ________________ of the Constitution governs the relationships of the states.
Inputs
7
Small Business Administration (SBA)
Article IV
11. 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
Strategic Deterrence
Welfare State
Article II
12. A legislature with only one house.
Unicameral
Catholics
Rank and File
House of Representatives
13. Cabinet department oversees nuclear reactors.Established in 1973 in response to the Energy Crisis.
7th Amendment
Energy
Writ of Assistance
Alien and Sedition Acts
14. 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_______________.
Implied Powers
Political System
Senior Executive Service
Third Party
15. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is an example of an
Ex Post Facto
Government
Political Machines
Interstate Compact
16. Formal approval or consent given to a constitution - constitutional amendment - or treaty before it goes into effect.
Ratification
Implied
Privacy Act
House of Representatives
17. 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.
Balance of Payments
Nuclear Proliferation
Electoral College
Flexible Construction
18. ________________ of the Constitution dictates how the Constitution shall be amended.
National Political Parties
Chief Justice
The Federalist #10
Article V
19. Term limit for House of Representatives.
Unlimited
Judicial Selection
Open rule
Writ of Assistance
20. Prompted by the ____________________ - the 26th Amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
Ways and Means Committee
Vietnam War
Vice President
Veto
21. A nation's set of fundamental beliefs about how government and politics should be conducted.
High
Political Culture
Welfare State
Free Speech
22. A legislator who automatically mirrors the will of the majority of his or her constituents.
Supports
Instructed Delegate
Internationalism
Executive Privilege
23. Concept of government by the people in which everyone is free to vote - but normally whoever gets the most votes wins the election and represents all the people - including those who voted for the losing candidate.
18th Amendment
Pass the fundraising threshold
Antitrust Legislation
Majority Rule
24. Guarantees the right to a civil trial by jury.
Detente
Party Dealignment
Mayor-Council Plan
7th Amendment
25. A form of city government under which a council - usually elected on a nonpartisan ticket - hires a professional city manager - who runs the city government and has power to hire and fire officials.
Committee of the Whole
Council-Manager Plan
Internal Efficacy
Executive Privilege
26. A system of voter registration in which voters must register only once in their district.
Free Rider
Town Meeting
Republican
Permanent Registration
27. The 1896 case of Plessy v. Fergusan established the racial segregation policy of __________________.
Reserved Powers
Electoral College
Separate but Equal
Conference Committee
28. A method of amending state constitutions under which proposed constitutional amendments can be placed on the ballot if enough signatures are obtained on a petition. Almost half the states also employ the initiative on the ballot to allow voters to en
Article V
Open rule
Initiative
State Legislatures
29. As part of the negotiations concerning the Constitution - the South fought for and won an agreement forbidding the imposition of _______________.
Enact a Bill of Rights
Original Jurisdiction
Export Taxes
Unicameral
30. An economic system of free enterprise with private ownership of the means of production.
Grand Jury Indictment
Capitalism
Decreased
Democratic
31. Powerful standing committee that puts bills on the legislative calendar and establishes the processes by which the bill will be discussed on the floor.
Selective Incorporation
Rules Committee
Line-Item Veto
Bipartisanship
32. International agreements between the president and foreign heads of state that - unlike treaties - do not require Senate approval.
Double Jeopardy
Executive Agreements
Periodic Registration
It Failed to be Ratified
33. Elections that reflect the basic party identification of the voters.
Maintaining Elections
National
Confederation
Politics
34. 1974 Act mandating that all government files about private citizens be kept confidential.
Privacy Act
14th
Pork Barrel Spending
Conference Committee
35. A group of people - chosen by poll-takers - that is representative of the universe that is being polled.
Original
Katz. v US
Random Sample
Bundling
36. After a bill has passed both the House and Senate - it goes to _________________ where any differences between the house bill and the senate bill are resolved before sending to the President for signature
Focus Groups
High
Standing Committees
Conference Committee
37. Defamation by written or printed words - pictures - or in any form other than by spoken words or gestures.
Patriot Act
Clean bill
Civil Cases
Libel
38. Programs are designed to give preferential access to education - employment - health care - or social welfare to groups of people - especially minorities and women - who have historically been discriminated against.
Virginia Plan
Local
Pure Speech
Affirmative Action
39. If 10 days remain in session and the president does not sign an act of Congress - the law is ___________.
Propose an Amendment
Equal Time
Appropriations
Enacted
40. A Latin phrase meaning 'stand by past decisions -' a principle that judges often use in deciding cases. Ruling based on precedents.
Stare Decisis
Executive
Primary
Federal District
41. Number of current cabinet positions under GW Bush.
15
Authorizations
The Federalist #10
Political Socialization
42. This 1st amendment clause prohibits the government from making any law prohibiting the exercise of any religion
Article V
Custom
Enterprise Zones
Free Exercise Clause
43. In the 1925 Gitlow case - the Supreme Court began a process of ______________ of the Bill of Rights to the states.
Budget Surplus
Filibuster
Selective Incorporation
Hatch Act
44. The total amount of money that the United States owes to its creditors.
National Debt
Amicus Curiae Brief
Right to Counsel
Majority Whip
45. The 15th Amendment - also know as _________________ - was intended to help recently freed blacks from unconstitutional state laws designed to circumvent federal laws.
Republicans
Outputs
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Incorporation Doctrine
46. Constitutional Article that establishes the Judicial Branch.
Article III
Agriculture
Secondary Group
John F. Kennedy
47. Corporations formed by the government to act as a business to produce a product or service. Often monopolies with varying degrees of independence.
Roth v. US
Redistributive Policy
Governmental Corporations
Populous
48. The main mechanism used by modern political parties to nominate their candidate for President.
Inputs
Caucus
Mark Up Session
Automobiles
49. What principle - contained in the Fourth Amendment - protects a citizen from unwarranted search and seizure?
Whips
Probable Cause
Policy
Bureaucracy
50. _____________ 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.
Judicial Activism
Delegate
General Accounting
Tammany Hall