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. Since 1960 - there has been a general trend of ______________ participation in elections.






2. Smith v. Allwight (1994) was the first vase in which the Supreme Court upheld the voting rights of _____________ in state primary elections.






3. ______________________is responsible for the management of the federal debt and the printing of currency. It is the major fiscal policy agency.






4. Corporations formed by the government to act as a business to produce a product or service. Often monopolies with varying degrees of independence.






5. 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






6. Number of years a Representative must reside in the US prior to taking office






7. Defamation by written or printed words - pictures - or in any form other than by spoken words or gestures.






8. In the 1964 case of ____________ - the Supreme Court: established 'one person - one vote' -






9. A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that prohibits any amendment to bills or provides that only memebers of the committee reporting the bill may offer amendments






10. Concept of the British statesman Edmund Burke that legislators should act according to their own consciences.






11. A controversial law overwhelmingly passed by Congress in October 2001 - after the terrorist attacks of September 11 on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. It greatly expanded the power of federal law enforcement authorities to move against suspe






12. In addition to overseeing the activities of one or more federal agencies - a ___________________may also serve as the authorizing committee for federal agencies' programs and operations.






13. The Supreme Court has ruled that Congress_________________ take away a person's citizenship unless it is freely renounced.






14. Legislative house whose membership was intended to represent the state.






15. Economists generally agree that the major responsibility for promoting prosperity and full employment falls on ________________.






16. Agencies that were at one time semi-autonomous but that through legislation have been placed under presidential control since 1945.






17. What principle - contained in the Fourth Amendment - protects a citizen from unwarranted search and seizure?






18. The main mechanism used by modern political parties to nominate their candidate for President.






19. 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






20. Southern whites prevented blacks from ____________ through use of poll taxes - literacy tests and intimidation tactics after the Civil War.






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






22. This act prohibited Discrimination because of race - color - sex - religion - or national origin by employers or labor unions; The adoption by voting registrars of different standards for black and white applicants; and Racial or religious discrimina






23. Early civil rights leader established the Niagara Movement and helped to establish the NAACP.






24. Charge of misconduct brought against a government official.






25. An ideology that advocates limits on government power to address economic and social problems - relying instead on economic markets and individual initiative to address problems like health care and education - while promoting government involvement






26. Also known as the Indiana ballot - lists the candidates of each party in a row or column - beside or under the party emblem. In most cases - the voter can make one mark at the top of the column - or pull one lever - and thus vote for all the party's






27. Devolutionary system in which the national government returns tax dollars to the state and local governments primarily in the form of block grants.






28. When the population's overall feeling of political efficacy is low - voter turnout is _______.






29. The overall public has a ___________ view of PACS in terms of bought votes and adding to the cost of running for office






30. Funds spent for or against a candidate by committees not formally connected to the candidate's campaign and without coordination with the campaign.






31. In addition to a quick and speedy trial - the 6th Amendment also guarantees ________________.






32. The 1st Amendment states that government cannot issue ______________ - censoring publications before they are published.






33. In Reynolds v. US (1879) - the Supreme Court denied this right to Reynolds because his religion's practice of polygamy violated federal law.






34. A plan to provide billions of dollars of American aid to Western Europe to speed its economic and social recovery after the Second World War.






35. The FCC's equal time policy applies to _____________.






36. The way things actually are.






37. Love of country and a desire for independence; it can also mean an excessive form of patriotism exploited by political leaders.






38. In the last 30 years - voter turnout among American 18- to 24-year-olds has been






39. Law enacted in 1939 to prohibit civil servants from taking activists roles in partisan campaigns .This act prohibited federal employees from making political contributions - working for a particualr party -or campaining for a particualr canidate






40. Executive check on Legislative Branch.






41. He United States Constitution was opposed by which group?






42. The process by which individuals screen out messages that do not conform to their own biases






43. Presidential staff agency that serves as a clearinghouse for budgetary requests and management improvements for government agencies.






44. The separation of people by race.






45. Organization of individuals with similar policy goals who enter the political process to influence legislation that affects the organizations interests






46. Powers of government exercised independently by both the federal and state governments - such as the power to tax.






47. The agency that provides Congress with evaluations of public policies is the






48. The absent colony at the 2nd Continental Congress.






49. An act of legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a trial. Constitutionally prohibited.






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