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. Presides over any impeachment trial.






2. 1963 ruling prohibiting prayer in public schools.






3. 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






4. Largest interest group in the US.






5. The way things should be by law






6. This type of government suits a large country with a diverse population






7. Responsible for determining which bills will be considered on the House floor - and when they will be considered.






8. According to V. O. Key - Jr. - the Populist Party of the 1890s is an example of a ____________________.






9. These party members take active non-leadership roles such as working polls or contributing money to campaigns. Tend to compromise on important issues and are mostly concerned about winning elections.






10. 1976 Law requiring all governmental agency meetings to be open to the public unless classified information will be discussed.






11. First proposed in 1789 - this amendment passed in 1992 prohibits Congress from raising their own pay. Pay raises may not take affect until the beginning of the next term.






12. 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






13. 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






14. 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.






15. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 required states in the covered jurisdiction to attain _________________ from the Attorney General before making changes to voting standards - practice - or procedure






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






17. Special spending projects that are set aside on behalf of individual members of Congress for their constituents.






18. In the area of foreign affairs - _______________ often have the advantage because






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






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






21. 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.






22. Independent agencies governed by an appointed and confirmed commission. Examples include the Food and Drug Administration - Environmental Protection Agency - and the Securities and Exchange Commission.






23. Presidential refusal to allow an agency to spend funds that Congress authorized and appropriated.






24. A government that undertakes responsibility for the welfare of its citizens through programs in public health and public housing and pensions and unemployment compensation etc.






25. The doctrine that the numerical majority of an organized group can make decisions binding on the whole group






26. States that arrestees must be informed of their right to remain silent - that anything they say can be held against them in a court - that they have a right to an attorney and that an attorney will be appointed to them if they cannot afford one.






27. German sociologist theorized that the engine of government needs bureaucracies to provide expertise in a way that short-term elected or appointed official cannot.






28. In 1943 - The Supreme Court upheld the Jehovah's Witnesses right to refrain from saluting the American flag based on their right to _____________.






29. Capital punishment is also known as the _________________.






30. When neither political party is dominant.






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






32. Legislative house responsible for impeachment trials.






33. This branch of government checks Bureaucracy through its control over the creation and elimination of agencies as well as its control over budget appropriations.






34. Cabinet department responsible for regulating and promoting trade and maintaining the census Established in 1913..






35. The party-column ballot - or Indiana ballot - encourages _______________.






36. Lead by Daniel Webster and Henry Clay. Dedicated to defending federal authority and high tariffs. Gained supports of merchants - bankers - industrialists and planters.






37. Courts of original jurisdiction in federal crimes - civil suits under federal law - civil suits between citizens of different states where the amount in question exceeds $50 -000 - bankruptcy proceedings - cases involving some federal administrative






38. Lobbyists for special interest groups have found ____________________ to be the most direct and effective method to secure their objectives in Congress.






39. People may vote in a party's primary only if they are registered members of that party. Independents cannot participate. Note that because some political parties name themselves independent - the term 'non-partisan' often replaces 'independent' when






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






41. 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






42. In addition to overseeing the activities of one or more federal agencies - a ___________________may also serve as the authorizing committee for federal agencies' programs and operations.






43. Designed to protect the individual against the arbitrary power of the state.






44. Legislative branch incorporating two houses.






45. The view advocated by Supreme Court Justices Hugo Black and William O. Douglas that there are provisions of the Bill of Rights that cannot be diluted by judicial decisions.






46. 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.






47. The foreign policy of the United States during the period after the Second World War - designed to contain the expansion of Soviet power.






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






49. The primary purpose of _______________consolidate the nation's disability laws and provide for strong federal enforcement of a strengthened disability rights mandate






50. Urban or rural areas in which businesses are encouraged to locate because of tax breaks and other incentives.