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. Popular until the early 20th century when they lost favor to primaries due to corruption - now used in only 12 states.






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






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






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






5. The case of Gregg v. Georgia set the precedent for a ________________ system in which guilt and sentencing and tried separately.






6. 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.






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






8. The 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act banned contributions of soft money to______________.






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






10. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) - founded in 1932 by President Herbert Hoover to help combat the Great Depression - was the predecessor of which federal agencies?






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






12. 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






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






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






15. ___________ vote in both the House and Senate may override a Presidential veto of legislation.






16. The separation of people by race.






17. Cabinet positions must be ____________ by the Senate






18. A federal program established in 1965 to provide hospital and medical services to older people through the Social Security system.






19. Presidential management model in which the Chief of Staff plays a prominent role as the head of a military style chain of command. Used successfully by Reagan and Eisenhower.






20. Number of current cabinet positions under GW Bush.






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






22. The 1970 Occupational Safety and Health Act - the 1965 Highway Beautification Act and the 1964 Civil Rights Act are all examples of ____________________.






23. A centralized system of government - such as that of France - where most of the important policy decisions are made by a central government.






24. Until the law was changed in 2002 - the term described unregulated campaign funds not subject to the limits of federal law because they went to party committees and not directly to candidates. The 2002 law banned contributions of soft money to nation






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






26. A tactic in which PACs collect contributions from like-minded individuals and present them to a candidate or political party as a 'bundle -' thus increasing the PAC's influence.






27. Legislative house whose members were intended to represent the people.






28. In the mid-term elections following a President's inauguration - his party tends to ___________ seats in Congress.






29. Washington v. Chrisman (1982) established the _________________ - allowing police officers to seize evidence without a warrant if the evidence is in obvious sight.






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






31. Gave authority over atomic energy from military to civilians.






32. A court decision in an earlier case with facts and legal issues similar to a dispute currently before a court.






33. A writ designed to protect against illegal imprisonment by requiring that a person who is detained be brought before a judge for investigation.






34. After hearings are complete - a congressional subcommittee will usually determine a bill's future in final deliberations known as






35. Serious crimes - such as murder - arson - or rape.






36. This group of voters historically supported Republicans - a party founded on an anti-slavery platform. During the 1930's they began supporting the New Deal policies of the Democratic party.






37. This contraversial 2001 law allows anti-terrorism authorities to monitor e-mail and Internet traffic in order to prevent terrorist attacks. The government argues that cyberspace is public domain and that no warrants should be needed to access informa






38. A legislature with only one house.






39. The Jacksonian Era marked an important change in the process used to nominate Presidential candidates with the emergence of party _________________ - eliminating caucuses.






40. 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.






41. The 1803 case in which the Supreme Court - by declaring a portion of an act of Congress unconstitutional - first firmly set forth and established the power of judicial review.






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






43. After the bill reaches the house floor - if opponents have many changes - they may vote to ______________________.






44. Broadly worded warrants used by British soldiers during colonial America to search for contraband and prevent smuggling.






45. (1945-1991) The period after the Second World War marked by rivalry and tension between the two nuclear superpowers - the United States and the communist government of the Soviet Union. The Cold War ended when the Soviet government collapsed in 1991.






46. Government branch established in Article I of the Constitution.






47. This may be done by a national constitutional convention called by Congress on the request of two-thirds of the state legislatures OR By the passage of a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress






48. Responsibilities include: Coordinating the nation's intelligence activities and Evaluating and disseminating intelligence that affects national security






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






50. The proceeding before a judge in which the formal charges of an indictment or information are read to an accused person - who may plead guilty or not guilty.