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. These party members are highly involved in the electoral process. Donate funds to party and candidates - demand a voice in state party agendas and tend to have a strong belief in their party's ideology.






2. 1976 Law requiring all governmental agency meetings to be open to the public unless classified information will be discussed.






3. 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.






4. 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






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






6. The individuals - institutions - and processes that make the rules for society and possess the power to enforce them.






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






8. This author of Leviathon posited that government is necessary because people are generally in a state of conflict.






9. The separation of people by race.






10. The demands of and supports for a political system






11. Individual contributions to PACs are limited to ______________ dollars per candidate per election with primaries - general and special elections counting separately.






12. Law enacted in 1939 to prohibit civil servants from taking activists roles in partisan campaigns .This act prohibited federal employees from making political contributions - working for a particualr party -or campaining for a particualr canidate






13. A tax on voting abolished by the Twenty-fourth Amendment in 1964 - long used by southern states to keep blacks (and - in some cases - poor whites) from participating in elections.






14. Committees appointed for investigative or crisis situations.






15. A decision of the Supreme Court cannot be ___________.






16. 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.






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






18. The single biggest item in campaign spending at the presidential level is ___________________.






19. Laws on Schools - Marriage - and owning property;Licensee Lawyers - Doctors - and Teachers.






20. Tests of a voter's ability to read and write - which were often used to keep recent immigrants and blacks from voting.






21. The issuance of this document by a judge requires probably cause and must be worded so as to allow for the search and seizure of specific evidence.






22. Organization of individuals with similar policy goals who enter the political process to influence legislation that affects the organizations interests






23. Appointed by Eisenhower - this Supreme court justice who played an important role in the court's stance on the advancement of civil rights.






24. Prohibits the use of cruel or unusual punishment.






25. Plan that proposed unicameral legislature with each state having one vote.






26. The Supreme Court practice of applying most of the provisions of the Bill of Rights to the states under the 14th Amendment.






27. The claim by presidents of an inherent right to withhold information from Congress and the judiciary.






28. 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






29. A vote in the House of Representatives in which the position of each member is noted and published in the Congressional Record.






30. 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.






31. What principle - contained in the Fourth Amendment - protects a citizen from unwarranted search and seizure?






32. A small group of voters chosen by a political campaign for their demographic similarities who are brought together to gauge how the group they represent feels about the candidate.






33. A word that comes from two Greek roots - demos - 'the populace -' and kratia - 'rule'






34. These voters are registered as a party member but only participate by voting in primary and general elections. Tend to vote straight-party ticket and follow the leads of local party officials.






35. Control of a market by a single company.






36. A procedure that in certain circumstances permits voters to remove elected state or local officials from office before their terms have expired.






37. In the 1962 case of Robinson v. California - the Supreme Court ruled that incarcerating a drug addict is ______________________ because drug addiction is an illness.






38. Powerful standing committee that puts bills on the legislative calendar and establishes the processes by which the bill will be discussed on the floor.






39. The belief that one can understand politics and therefore participate in politics






40. Number of original cabinet positions under George Washington.






41. Requires the Electoral College to vote for President and Vice President separately.






42. Also known as the Indiana ballot - lists the candidates of each party in a row or column - beside or under the party emblem. In most cases - the voter can make one mark at the top of the column - or pull one lever - and thus vote for all the party's






43. Programs mandated by law and not subject to annual review by Congress or the president.






44. It the job of _________ committees of a political party to hold voter registration drives - recruit new party members and final candidates for city and county positions.






45. Constitutional Article that establishes the Judicial Branch.






46. The only court specifically outlined in the Constitution.






47. 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






48. According to the Speedy Trial Act of 1974 - federal trials must commence within _______ days of arrest with the exception of delay for mental health testing of the defendant and illness of the defendant or key witness.






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






50. The Supreme Court's broad interpretation of this clause has denied direct aid from the government for religious groups - but does allow religious groups to make use of government services such as police and fire.