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. There are 11 circuit ____________________ who have no original jurisdiction.






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






3. Multi-interest and often multinational corporations that - under one corporate roof - may manufacture a wide variety of products.






4. A policy that takes something away from one person and gives it to someone else -






5. Colonies controlled by the British king through governors appointed by him and through the king's veto power over colonial laws.






6. A primary in which any registered voter is able to vote for candidates from more than one party. A voter - for example - may vote for a Democrat for U.S. senator and for a Republican for governor. In 2000 - the Supreme Court struck down the blanket p






7. In addition to the doctrine of implied powers - Chief Justice Marshall - in his decision in the Supreme Court case of McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) - established the key concept of:






8. Government regulation of the economy through its control over taxes and government spending. Controlled by the Department of Treasury.






9. A technique polling organizations use in which several people from the same neighborhood are interviewed.






10. The reason that electors are chosen in each state by popular vote is ____________.






11. The view of the majority of the Supreme Court that First Amendment rights must be weighed against the competing needs of the community to preserve order.






12. The number of ______________ a state receives is based on the number Representatives and Senators that the state has in Congress






13. ________________ of the Constitution governs the relationships of the states.






14. A relaxation of international tensions.






15. A meeting of party leaders to select candidates - elect convention delegates - etc






16. The pursuit and exercise of power






17. The total group from which poll-takers may select a random sample in order to measure public opinion.






18. Once the Supreme Court justices have agreed to hear an appeal - they issue a _________________.






19. Communication with legislators or other government officials to try to influence their decisions.






20. In this essay - James Madison recognized that reconciling the competing interests of various groups was what legislation was all about






21. 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






22. This house committee is responsible for Supervising the authority of the federal government to borrow money - Raising the revenue required to finance the federal government by levying taxes - Overseeing Social Security and other social insurance prog






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






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






25. The view advocated by Supreme Court Justices Hugo Black and William O. Douglas that there are provisions of the Bill of Rights that cannot be diluted by judicial decisions.






26. A coherent set of beliefs about politics - public policy - and public purpose. It helps give meaning to political event - personalities - and policies.






27. The yearly value of goods and services produced within a country.






28. A form of city government under which power is divided between a mayor and an elected city council.






29. A philosophy that the Supreme Court should avoid constitutional questions when possible and uphold acts of Congress unless they clearly violate a specific section of the Constitution.






30. Legislative opinions on a matter that do not require Presidential signature.






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






32. The 23rd Amendment guaranteed voting rights to whom?






33. Includes expressive conduct/assembly/actions and symbolic behavior (ex. Picketing or burning the flag) Based on our country history of symbolic acts such as the Boston Tea Party - courts almost always uphold symbolic acts of speech unless they are cr






34. The principle that the government - as provided in the Fifth Amendment - can take property for 'public use' with 'just compensation' to the owners.






35. Its the responsibility of ___________ committees of a political party to solidify the party within each state and organize primary elections






36. A system in which the power to govern is shared between national and state governments






37. What occurs when government adopts a public policy that provides - or distributes - benefits to people or groups.






38. An economic system in which the factors of production are owned by the publicand operate for the welfare of all.






39. Requests from people or groups for health care for the aged - loans for college students - equal opportunity for minorities - and higher subsidies for farmers are examples of:






40. 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






41. Laws that were designed to segregate black and white Americans and give legal recognition to discrimination.






42. 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.






43. Colonies in which freely elected legislatures chose the governor and the king could not veto laws.






44. Article I of the Constitution establishes the ___________________ branch.






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






46. A term coined by President Lyndon B. Johnson to describe his own view of the relationship between Washington and the states.






47. An extraordinary writ commanding an official to perform a ministerial act that the law recognizes as an absolute duty and not a matter for the official's discretion






48. Units of government under the president - within the executive branch - that are not part of a cabinet department.






49. 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.






50. Freedoms that protect the individual from the government.