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






2. Today the South is is a two-party battleground - in which the ______________ often have the upper hand






3. The only court specifically outlined in the Constitution.






4. The Supreme Court has sometimes used a narrow interpretation of the Establishment Clause allowing the government to provide aid to religious groups as long as it remains ______________ and does not promote one religion at the expense of another. This






5. Powers of government that the national government may exercise simply because it exists as a government - such as the right to conduct foreign relations.






6. In this case - a gay man from Georgia charged with committing sodomy in his own home with a consenting adult. The court ruled that the Constitution does not explicitly grant the right for homosexuals to practice their lifestyle and that laws against






7. The framers of the Constitution created the Senate to function as a check on the ________________.






8. Article VI - Paragraph 2 - of the Constitution - which declares that the Constitution - and the laws and treaties of the United States made under it - are 'the supreme Law of the Land' and prevail over any conflicting state constitutions or laws.






9. Information sent out in order to observe the reaction of an audience. Used by politicians who deliberately leak information on a policy change under consideration.






10. Literally - a 'friend of the court' brief - filed by an individual or organization to present arguements in addition to those presented by the immediate parties to a case






11. 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.






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






13. In this 1972 case - the Supreme Court established four guidelines for determining if a trial was appropriately speedy and fair: cause of delay - length of delay - affect on the outcome - and the defendant's claim to a speedy trial.






14. Plan that proposed bicameral legislature where states were to have representation based on size in both houses.






15. 1976 Law requiring all governmental agency meetings to be open to the public unless classified information will be discussed.






16. The power of the president - struck down by the Supreme Court in 1998 - to veto parts of appropriations bills. Most state governors have this power.






17. ____________ often influence political appointments in an effort to influence bureaucracy.






18. Compromise between the large states and small states that established the bicameral Legislature consisting of a Senate and House of Representatives. Also included 3/5 compromise on the status of slaves in representation.






19. 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.






20. This body of government has final authority on the meaning of the Constitution.






21. These courts only hear appeals on cases from lower courts.






22. Year of the 2nd Continental Congress.






23. In _______________ cases such as Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) - the Supreme Court has upheld that while Affirmative action policies are legal - race and gender cannot be the only determining factors.






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






25. Cabinet department that includes the FAA and the National Hwy Traffic Safety Administration. Established in 1966.






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






27. Guarantees the right to a speedy and public trial.






28. The concept that all people are of equal worth - even if not of equal ability.






29. Theory of democracy in which competition among common interest groups promote ideas to influence politics






30. The responsibility of the President to appoint federal judges when vacancies occur on the bench is referred to as






31. Elections that reflect the basic party identification of the voters.






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






33. Laws must be reasonable. The Supreme Court has abandoned this concept in regards to business matters citing that it is the responsibility of Congress to regulate economic matters. The court has continued to apply this to matters of civil liberties an






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






35. Total number of Representatives apportioned to the states based on population and reapportioned with the census every 10 years






36. Most house committees are limited to _____ subcommittees.






37. Authority based on an individual's outstanding traits - which attract followers






38. A broad concept that may be defined in many ways - but the term is generally used to refer to the basic protection and defense of the nation.






39. Under this governing document - national government lacked authority to set up tariffs - regulate commerce - levy taxes - control international relations - establish common currency






40. Prohibits conviction of a crime that occurred before the act became illegal






41. There are 11 circuit ____________________ who have no original jurisdiction.






42. The estimated number of illegal aliens living in the US.






43. The principle that the government - as provided in the Fifth Amendment - can take property for 'public use' with 'just compensation' to the owners.






44. Legislative branch incorporating two houses.






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






46. Political commercials that strongly attack a rival candidate.






47. An economy in which most economic decisions result from the interaction of buyers and sellers in markets - but in which the government plays a significant role in the allocation of resources.






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






49. The policy established after the Second World War that America must take an active leadership role in world affairs






50. These dissenting Republicans won 17% of the popular vote in 1924 on a platform for public control of national resources and railways - tax reductions - and changes to the staff of the executive department

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