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. Article VII of the Constitution outlines the process of ____________________.






2. Federal laws limit the amount of ___________ that can be donated directly to campaign coffers.






3. Article II of the Constitution establishes the ______________ branch.






4. If significant amendments are made to a bill during committee - the bill is sometimes given a new number as a _______________.






5. Legislature bills that affect only a small group of citizens.






6. The rules and regulations made and applied by federal regulatory agencies and commissions.






7. Programs of government - universities - and businesses designed to favor minorities and remedy past discrimination.






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






9. Cabinet department responsible for collective bargaining and union activity. Established in 1913






10. Presides over the Senate without voting privileges except in the case of a tie.






11. A provision of the Federal Communications Act that requires broadcasters to provide the same amount of exposure to all legally qualified political candidates.






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






13. Age Requirement for House of Representatives.






14. The belief that all people possess certain basic rights that may not be abridged by government.






15. Impact elections by siphoning off votes from major parties spoiling a party's chance in a close race.






16. The demands of and supports for a political system






17. An election in which voters in a jurisdiction select candidates for a subsequent election. In other words - one means by which a political party nominate candidates for the following general election.s






18. Organizations or groups - such as labor unions or fraternal - professional - or religious groups - that may influence an individual's opinion.






19. Political strategists believe that presidential elections will normally be won or lost in _______________states.






20. Tax legislation must originate in this house.






21. The strongest factor contributing to an individual's political socialization tends to be






22. A tax on voting abolished by the Twenty-fourth Amendment in 1964 - long used by southern states to keep blacks (and - in some cases - poor whites) from participating in elections.






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






24. 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.






25. 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






26. In the 1962 case of Robinson v. California - the Supreme Court ruled that incarcerating a drug addict is ______________________ because drug addiction is an illness.






27. Total number of Representatives apportioned to the states based on population and reapportioned with the census every 10 years






28. A political group organized under section 527 of the IRS code that may accept and spend unlimited amounts of money on election activities so long as they are not spent on broadcast ads run in the last 30 days before a primary or 60 days before a gene






29. There is an _____________ relationship between Presidential approval ratings and unemployment.






30. 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.






31. The coming to power of a new coalition - replacing an old dominant coalition of the other party






32. The 1776 pamphlet by Thomas Paine that prompted King George III's Prohibitory Act and the sending of mercenaries to the colonies.






33. Literally - a 'friend of the court' brief - filed by an individual or organization to present arguements in addition to those presented by the immediate parties to a case






34. The 24th amendment banned _____________ - making it harder for states to discriminate against poor and minority voters.






35. The total amount of money that the United States owes to its creditors.






36. 1966 Act allowing citizens to inspect all government records with the exception of classified military or intelligence documents - trade secrets or private personnel files.






37. Finding that enough evidence exists to warrant a criminal trial.






38. The way things actually are.






39. A power of the president to kill a bill by taking no action (if Congress adjourns during the 10-day period after the president receives the bill). Some court rulings have suggested that a president may exercise a pocket veto only when Congress adjour






40. This branch of government checks Bureaucracy through its control over the creation and elimination of agencies as well as its control over budget appropriations.






41. The right to privacy is ___________ in the Constitution.






42. _______________ indicates a citizens' faith and trust in government and their own belief that they can understand and influence political affairs






43. 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






44. 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






45. The concentration of economic power in the hands of a relatively few large companies.






46. 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






47. Programs mandated by law and not subject to annual review by Congress or the president.






48. Repealed by the 21st Amendment - this Amendment prohibited alcohol.






49. Guarantees that an accused in innocent until proven guilty.






50. An immigrant who wished to become a citizen may be naturalized after living in the US for ___ years.