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Test your basic knowledge |
CLEP American Government
Start Test
Study First
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. Cabinet department oversees nuclear reactors.Established in 1973 in response to the Energy Crisis.
Bicameral
Dynamic Conservatism
Energy
Confederation
2. _____________ was the Democratic Party political machine that played a major role in controlling New York City politics and helping immigrants (most notably the Irish) rise up in American politics from the 1790s to the 1960s.
Elite
Cruel and Unusual
Tammany Hall
Lemon Test
3. In which case did the Supreme Court rule that the 1964 Civil Rights Act does not prohibit private affirmative action programs?
Weber
Logrolling
Collective Action
Interest groups
4. Disapproval of a bill by a chief executive - such as the president or a governor.
Proprietary Colonies
Categorical Grants
Veto
Propose an Amendment
5. The expression of attitudes about government and politics.
Budget Surplus
Third Parties
Public Opinion
Power Structure
6. Representatives serve ____ year terms
Cruel and Unusual
Parallel
Power Structure
2
7. Provisions tacked on to a piece of legislation that are not relevant to the bill.
Dual / Layer Cake Federalism
Mark Up Session
Riders
Federal Appellate
8. Programs are designed to give preferential access to education - employment - health care - or social welfare to groups of people - especially minorities and women - who have historically been discriminated against.
Majority Rule
Espionage Act
Affirmative Action
Writ of Certiorari
9. Laws passed by state legislatures that are designed to protect reporters from being forced to reveal their news sources.
Shield Laws
Nationalism
Democratic
Closed rule
10. Literally meaning 'right of soil' - confers citizenship by place of birth.
Jus Soli
Redistributive Policy
Formula Grant
Party Purists
11. A legal principle of fair dealing - which may provide preventive measures and legal remedies that are unavailable under existing common law and statutory law.
Agriculture
Equity
National Security Council
Concurrent
12. Under this governing document - national government lacked authority to set up tariffs - regulate commerce - levy taxes - control international relations - establish common currency
US v. Ballard
Atomic Energy Act of 1946
Instructed Delegate
Articles of Confederation
13. The pursuit and exercise of power
High
Politics
Incorporation Doctrine
Valence issue
14. Wisconsin Republican who exploited public concern for political gain during the 1950's through freewheeling investigations of alleged Communists.
Mayor-Council Plan
Convention Bounce
Joseph McCarthy
12
15. Units of government under the president - within the executive branch - that are not part of a cabinet department.
Proportional Representation
2
Charismatic authority
Executive Agencies
16. A power of the president to kill a bill by taking no action (if Congress adjourns during the 10-day period after the president receives the bill). Some court rulings have suggested that a president may exercise a pocket veto only when Congress adjour
Incorporation Doctrine
Democrats
Pocket Veto
15
17. A broadly based coalition that attempts to gain control of the government by winning elections in order to exercise power and reward its members.
Senior Executive Service
7
Major Political Party
New Federalism
18. Executive Check on the Legislative Branch.
435
Presidential Veto
Bundling
Detente
19. Legislative branch incorporating two houses.
11th Amendment
Entitlement Programs
presidential line-item veto
Bicameral
20. The 19th Century __________ party platform was opposed to the spread of slavery - promoted preservation of the union - supported the abolition of slavery - and promoted post civil was reconstruction.
Republican
Democracy
Felonies
1964 Civil Rights Act
21. Constitutionally empowered to appoint judges - ambassadors - and other high officials - Constitutionally empowered to make treaties with foreign countries.
Horse race
President
Safe seat
Bureaucracy
22. 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
14
Discharge Petition
Hatch Act
2
23. These two Senate standing committees have existed - largely unchanged - since 1816.
Ways and Mean Committee
House of Representatives
Foreign Relations and the Judiciary Committees
Agriculture
24. In 1987 - the FCC abandoned the fairness doctrine on the grounds that it unconstitutionally restricted the ______________ rights of broadcasters.
General Accounting
Third Parties
Appropriation Bills
1st Amendment
25. 1963 ruling prohibiting prayer in public schools.
Residual
Majority and Minority Leader
House of Representatives
Murray v. Curlett
26. This rule established by US v. Leon (1984) angered civil liberties groups by allowing exception to the Exclusionary Rule in instances where probably cause may not fully exist.
Good Faith Exception
Campaign Contributions
Blacks
Gitlow v. New York
27. Special courts assigned to deal with specific legislative issues such as taxes - military appeals - and international trade.
Clear and Present Danger
Conference Committee
Legislative Courts
Quota Sampling
28. Responsible for determining which bills will be considered on the House floor - and when they will be considered.
Marbury v. Madison
Jus Soli
Majority Whip
Senate
29. An individual who does not join a group representing his or her interests yet receives the benefit of the group's influence.
House of Representatives
Proportional Representation
Sub-committee
Free Rider
30. 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
Conservatism
Iron Triangle
Transportation
527 Organization
31. A test established by Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes - Jr. - in 1919 to define the point at which speech loses the protection of the First Amendment.
Clear and Present Danger
Soft money
Block Grant
Atomic Energy Act of 1946
32. After analyzing 1 -795 platform pledges over a 10-year period - Gerald M. Pomper concluded that almost ____________ of these promises were fulfilled
2/3
9
Bull Moose Progressives
Government
33. In 1998 - the Supreme Court struck down the________________ law - declaring it unconstitutional - because Congress did not have the constitutional authority to hand that power to the President.
12th Amendment
Parallel
presidential line-item veto
Reserved Powers
34. An annual meeting held in the spring in many New England towns - at which the townspeople come together to elect a board of selectmen and to discuss local policy questions. It has become a symbol of participatory democracy.
Town Meeting
Petit Jury
Politics
Roth v. US
35. 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.
Presidential Veto
Judicial Restraint
Shield Laws
Slander
36. According to this nineteenth-century British peer and historian - 'power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.'
Antitrust Legislation
Lord Acton
Great Compromise
Pluralist
37. When the population's overall feeling of political efficacy is low - voter turnout is _______.
2
Enact a Bill of Rights
Low
Pork-Barrel Legislation
38. This called for three-fifths of all slaves in a state were counted for purposes of apportioning representation in the House of Representatives.
Dissenting Opinion
Reference Group
Great Compromise
Open rule
39. A place of work in which only union members may be hired.
Felonies
Convention Bounce
Freedom of Speech
Closed Shop
40. An interest group organization that represents a specific group of people (Ex. NAACP - AARP)
12th Amendment
Patriot Act
Membership
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
41. 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
Raise Public Awareness
Writ of Mandamus
Ratification
Electoral Connection
42. Today the South is is a two-party battleground - in which the ______________ often have the upper hand
Cruel and Unusual
Republicans
Reference Group
National Chair
43. Practice by which voters of one party crossing over and voting in the primary of another party - effectively allowing a party to help choose its opposition's candidate.
Transportation
Privacy Act
Defense
Raiding
44. Members of this party typically include Conservative Christian groups - higher socio-economic classes - middle-class white collar - and suburban voters.
Republican
Third Parties
Grand Jury Indictment
Oligopoly
45. Established by President Hoover - It is the _______________ job to keep the press informed and orchestrate press conferences
Press Secretary
Parallel
Natural Rights
Civil Cases
46. A system of voter registration in which voters must register every year or at other stated intervals.
Trustee
Periodic Registration
Legislative Veto
5
47. There is an _____________ relationship between Presidential approval ratings and unemployment.
Rank and File
77
Contract Clause
Inverse
48. Assigns bills to the appropriate House committee.
Speaker of the House
Balance of Payments
Charismatic authority
Nationalism
49. Held on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November.
General Election
14th Amendment
Hub and Spoke Model
20th
50. The 1970 Occupational Safety and Health Act - the 1965 Highway Beautification Act and the 1964 Civil Rights Act are all examples of ____________________.
Regulatory Federalism
Criminal Cases
Independent
Precedent