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. Number of Federal District courts across 50 states - DC and Puerto Rico.






2. In his historic decision in the case of McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) - Chief Justice Marshall established the principle of _____________.






3. 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.






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






5. A world economy characterized by the free movement of goods - capital - labor - and information across national borders.






6. The power to tax is an example of _______________ powers.






7. The appropriation of government spending for projects that are intended primarily to benefit particular constituents - such as those in marginal seats or campaign contributors.






8. 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






9. 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






10. Committees appointed for investigative or crisis situations.






11. This customary power allows the President to grant reprieves and pardons for federal offenses.






12. In Schenck v. US (1919) - The Supreme Court ruled that government may prohibit speech that creates an immediate threat of criminal action. Essentially established different standards for speech during wartime than in peacetime. Thus - establishing th






13. 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.






14. The 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act banned contributions of soft money to______________.






15. 1974 Act mandating that all government files about private citizens be kept confidential.






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






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






18. A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that permits floor amendments within the overall time allocated to the bill.






19. A court decision in an earlier case with facts and legal issues similar to a dispute currently before a court.






20. In Argersinger v. Hamlin (1972) - the Supreme Court extended the right to counsel to those accused of misdemeanors if the defendant is _____________.






21. 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.






22. A test established by Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes - Jr. - in 1919 to define the point at which speech loses the protection of the First Amendment.






23. When neither political party is dominant.






24. The framers of the Constitution created the Senate to function as a check on the ________________.






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






26. Judges in Legislative Courts serve _______ terms and do not require impeachment.






27. Theory that a government requires the consent of the governed.






28. _____________ is responsible for monetary policy.






29. The possible tendency of some voters or convention delegates to support the candidate who is leading in the polls and seems likely to win.






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






31. The primary purpose of _______________consolidate the nation's disability laws and provide for strong federal enforcement of a strengthened disability rights mandate






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






33. The pursuit and exercise of power






34. The house armed services and foreign affairs committees each have ___ subcommittees.






35. The most important committees - always assembled and delegated with the responsibility of handling all bills under their concern. Includes the Ways and Means - Appropriations - Budget - Rules and Agriculture Committees.






36. To negotiate a complex and politically sensitive trade treaty - a President will often






37. Minor criminal offenses - such as speeding.






38. The 5th amendment protect against _____________.






39. Compromise between the large states and small states that established the bicameral Legislature consisting of a Senate and House of Representatives. Also included 3/5 compromise on the status of slaves in representation.






40. By far - the largest amount of federal aid to state and local governments comes in the form of:






41. Colonies in which the proprietors (who had obtained their patents from the king) named the governors - subject to the king's approval.






42. Established by President Hoover - It is the _______________ job to keep the press informed and orchestrate press conferences






43. Federal categorical grants in which the granting agency has less discretion over how the recipient spends the money.






44. Elects the President if no candidate receives 270 Electoral College votes.






45. Voters in a political district - or supporters of an elected official; or interest groups or client groups that are either directly regulated by the bureaucracy or vitally affected by its decisions.






46. 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.






47. 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.






48. This 1st amendment clause prohibits the government from making any law prohibiting the exercise of any religion






49. 1966 Act allowing citizens to inspect all government records with the exception of classified military or intelligence documents - trade secrets or private personnel files.






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