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. This 1689 English Document made the monarch






2. Process by which citizens propose an amendment by petition.






3. Considered the most sacred right in American history. Colonists felt oppressed by the tyranny of the crown but were unable to speak up about it for fear of repercussion.






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






5. The philosophy that government should intervene as little as possible in economic affairs.






6. Political leaders typically try to both lead and follow ____________.






7. A system of voter registration in which voters must register only once in their district.






8. Which powers of the national government flow from its enumerated powers and from the 'elastic clause' of the Constitution?






9. States that states may draw reasonable distinctions between the rights of residents and non-residents (ex. In state and out of state tuition)






10. Which two British Acts - passed in 1764 - caused American colonists for the first time to organize protests against the injustices of British rule - and sparked the rallying cry 'no taxation without representation'?






11. The period of time after the election of FDR until the Vietnam War was dominated by the Democratic Party and know as the __________________ Era.






12. Literally meaning 'right of soil' - confers citizenship by place of birth.






13. Year of the 2nd Continental Congress.






14. In the view of W. Lance Bennett - the people who hold and express opinions are constantly changing - as are the issues and conditions to which the public responds. As a result - Bennett suggests that public opinion is______________.






15. 1917 Reincarnation of the Sedition Act during WWI






16. Included are Agriculture - Nutrition - and Forestry; Appropriations; Armed Services; Banking - Housing and Urban Affairs; Commerce - Science and Transportation; Energy and Natural Resources; Environment and Public Works; Finance; Health - Education -






17. Corporations formed by the government to act as a business to produce a product or service. Often monopolies with varying degrees of independence.






18. Love of country and a desire for independence; it can also mean an excessive form of patriotism exploited by political leaders.






19. The separation of people by race.






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






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






22. This author was highly influential on Thomas Jefferson - rejecting divine right - proposing that government is a social contract requiring the consent of the govern and establishing the concept of self-evident rights of life - liberty - and property.






23. Devolutionary system in which the national government returns tax dollars to the state and local governments primarily in the form of block grants.






24. A course of action decided upon by a government






25. 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.






26. First governing document of the Plymouth Colony establishing freedom of religion.






27. Money spent by individuals or gorups not asociated with candidates to elect or defeat candidates for office






28. Spending determined by the number of qualified recipients and their legally determined need is called






29. Petition that - if signed by a majority of the members of the House of Representatives - will pry a bill from committee and bring it to the floor for consideration






30. 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






31. Th joint listing of the presidential and vice presidential candidates on the same ballot as required by the twelfth amendment






32. A philosophy that Supreme Court justices and other judges should boldly apply the Constitution to social and political questions.






33. In order to win support for ratification of the Constitution - the Federalists had to promise that the first order of business under a new government would be to _______________.






34. Number of Electoral College votes required to win the Presidency.






35. In an election with more than 2 options - the number of votes for the candidate or party receiving the greatest number - but less that half of the votes.






36. 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?






37. A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that prohibits any amendment to bills or provides that only memebers of the committee reporting the bill may offer amendments






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






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






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






41. Groups whose views serve as guidelines to an individual's opinion. See also primary groups and secondary groups.






42. The only court specifically outlined in the Constitution.






43. A place of work in which only union members may be hired.






44. Contacts - coalitions - and interactions across national boundaries






45. Ruling by the Supreme Court in 1954 that racial segregation in public schools violates the Fourteenth Amendment's requirement of equal protection of the laws for all persons.






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






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






48. Government agencies that exercise quasi-judicial and quasi-legislative powers and are administratively independent of both the president and Congress (although politically independent of neither).






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






50. Federal categorical grants in which the granting agency has much discretion over how the recipient spends the money.