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. 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






2. Several Presidents have been elected without winning the popular vote. As a result - In 1970 and 1979 - Amendments were proposed to disband the ______________ - neither passed.






3. Permitted court authorized wire-tapping and bugging by federal - state - and local authorities and use of such evidence in trial. Later reversed by the Supreme Court based on 4th Amendment rights.






4. Direct oral or written speech directed at a specific individual or group






5. The process through which an individual acquires a set of political attitudes and forms opinions about political and social issues.






6. As part of the negotiations concerning the Constitution - the South fought for and won an agreement forbidding the imposition of _______________.






7. Elections that may lead to a basic shift in the party identification of the electorate.






8. A series of 85 articles written by Alexander Hamilton - John Jay - and James Madison under the pseudonym Publius advocating the ratification of the United States Constitution.






9. Federal aid that states and localities may use mostly as they wish.






10. Tax legislation must originate in this house.






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






12. Makes sure that funds are used safely and wisely. They oversee the state's financial records






13. A federal law passed by Congress in 1939 to restrict political activities by federal workers. The law prevents federal employees while on duty from taking an active part in party politics or campaigns and also bars federal employees from running for






14. The Supremacy Clause appears in ________________ of the Constitution.






15. A device that allows the House of Representatives to conduct its business with fewer restrictions on debate and a quorum of only 100 members.






16. Clause in the 14th Amendment that forbids any state to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. The 5th Amendment also imposes this limitation on the national government.






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






18. Plan that proposed unicameral legislature with each state having one vote.






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






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






21. 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.






22. Political commercials that strongly attack a rival candidate.






23. After the Vietnam war - American politics entered an era of __________________ during which neither party maintained control over the government.






24. Legislative house responsible for impeachment trials.






25. Also known as the Massachusetts ballot - groups candidates according to the office for which they are running






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






27. The House appropriations committee has ___ subcommittees.






28. Number of original cabinet positions under George Washington.






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






30. Powers specifically outlined in the Constitution as assigned to one branch of government.






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






32. Legislature bills that affect all citizens.






33. Guarantees that any rights not explicitly outlined heretofore are reserved for the states.






34. The way things should be by law






35. Population migration patterns since the second World War have increased the power of _____________.






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






37. A public assistance program established in 1965 to help pay hospital - doctor - and medical bills for people with low incomes.






38. Tips the balance between two leading candidates by attracting a minority of voters who otherwise might have voted for one of the leading candidates.






39. This category of interest groups has been the strongest and most effective in lobbying Washington






40. Article I - Section 8 - of the Constitution - which allows Congress to make all laws that are 'necessary and proper' to carry out the powers of the Constitution.






41. Guarantees the right to bare arms.






42. This branch of government checks Bureaucracy through its control over budget and appointments of leadership.






43. A system in which national and state governments are competitors with distinct powers. This system was prominent in the US from the during the 19th century until 1937.






44. While these voters have traditionally supported the Democrats - some have begun to support Republicans in light of the Democrats liberal policies on abortion.






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






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






47. Formal approval or consent given to a constitution - constitutional amendment - or treaty before it goes into effect.






48. Provisions tacked on to a piece of legislation that are not relevant to the bill.






49. Proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 as an attempt to form a union of the colonies. Later used to help form the Articles of Confederation.






50. In lieu of an indictment - the state prosecutor may file a _______________ charging the person with a crime.