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






2. Lobbyists for special interest groups have found ____________________ to be the most direct and effective method to secure their objectives in Congress.






3. A term often used to describe the economic and political ties between the military establishment and the defense-aerospace industry.






4. Established in 1947 as a combined Department of War and Navy.






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






6. A registered voter may vote in any party primary regardless of his own party affiliation. When voters do not register with a party before the primary - it is called a pick-a-party primary because the voter can select which party's primary he or she w






7. These two Senate standing committees have existed - largely unchanged - since 1816.






8. Senators have a __________ rate of re-election than Representatives primarily because of their larger constituency and lack of direct involvement with them.






9. An elected office that is predictably won by one party or the other - so the success of that party's candidate is almost taken for granted






10. 1946 Act requiring bureaucratic agencies to appeal to the affected parties before adopting new policies. Legislative check on Bureaucracy.






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






12. Most states have ___________ legislatures.






13. Eisenhower's philosophy of being liberal in all things human and being conservative with all things fiscal. Appealed to both Republicans and Democrats.






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






15. Number of original cabinet positions under George Washington.






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






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






18. 1944 case established that as as long as a person accepted their beliefs in good faith that it is not the government's authority to determine whether those beliefs are valid.






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






20. Method by which federal court judges may lose their position.






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






22. The binding decisions that the government makes whether in the form of laws -regulations - or judicial decisions






23. The term 'Reagan Democrats' has become a generic term for






24. Legislative house responsible for impeachment trials.






25. A 1972 treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union limiting the number of defensive missiles each country could build. In 2001 President George W. Bush withdrew the United States from the treaty.






26. In Sweatt v. Painter (1950) - The Supreme Court upheld that ___________________ was inherently not the case as is applied to the University of Texas Law School.






27. Although camera are allowed in most trial courts - they are banned from ______________.






28. This 1689 English Document made the monarch






29. California measure designed to deny welfare and other benefits to illegal aliens. Overwhelmingly passed the popular vote - but overturned in federal court because it extending beyond the bounds of state rights to attempt to control immigration.






30. A joint committee of Congress established to help negotiate discrepancies and gain consensus between legislation passed in each house before sending the bill to the President.






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






32. The name commonly given to a private group - regardless of size - organized to elect political candidates. An organization becomes one by receiving contributions or making expenditures in excess of $1 -000 for the purpose of influencing a federal ele






33. The practice that allows senators to delay or even kill floor action on legislation - a nomination - or other matters by asking their party leaders not to schedule them.






34. The response of the rest of society to actions by the authorities.






35. The 15th Amendment - also know as _________________ - was intended to help recently freed blacks from unconstitutional state laws designed to circumvent federal laws.






36. The term most political scientists prefer to describe the bureaucratic process






37. A course of action decided upon by a government






38. In the Federalist Papers - James Madison proposed that the states under the new Constitution would retain ____________ sovereignty.






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






40. This branch of government checks Bureaucracy through its control over lawsuits filed against the agency.






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






42. 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






43. How groups form and organize to pursue their goals or objectives - including how to get individuals and groups to participate and cooperate.






44. Presides over any impeachment trial.






45. Bills passed by Congress to pay for the spending it has authorized.






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






47. The separation of people by race.






48. Wisconsin Republican who exploited public concern for political gain during the 1950's through freewheeling investigations of alleged Communists.






49. A public policy that takes something away from one person or group and gives it to another person or group.






50. This 1973 ruling gave local communities the authority to determine obscenity - established three part test for obscene material. To qualify as obscene - speech must be considered obscene by the 'average' person - depict or describe material that is a