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. Requires that a suspect in a federal case be arraigned without unnecessary delay.






2. In California v. Avecedo (1991) - The Supreme Court established that authorities may search ____________________ without a warrant providing reasonable suspicion.






3. A system of _______________ - as in Italy - encourages the existence of many parties by allotting seats to competing candidates according to the percentage of votes they win.






4. In Congress - _____________ are informal organizations of individual congressional representatives with like interests or constituencies. Members work together to promote the interests of the groups they represent through legislation - policy - and p






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






6. Which office serves as a watchdog into waste or fraud in the bureaucracy and conducts investigations at the request of congressional committees






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






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






9. The yearly value of goods and services produced within a country.






10. Includes expressive conduct/assembly/actions and symbolic behavior (ex. Picketing or burning the flag) Based on our country history of symbolic acts such as the Boston Tea Party - courts almost always uphold symbolic acts of speech unless they are cr






11. Most likely to board a foreign ship suspected of drug trafficking at a U.S. port






12. Number of years a Representative must reside in the US prior to taking office






13. State legislation designed to outlaw the union shop - passed by 21 states acting under Section 14B of the federal Taft-Hartley Act.






14. The right to renounce one's citizenship.






15. Laws that were designed to segregate black and white Americans and give legal recognition to discrimination.






16. Assigns bills to the appropriate House committee.






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






18. In a political campaign - the surest way of reaching the largest number of voters is usually _____________.






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






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






21. This branch of government checks Bureaucracy through its control over lawsuits filed against the agency.






22. Federal laws limit the amount of ___________ that can be donated directly to campaign coffers.






23. A court decision in an earlier case with facts and legal issues similar to a dispute currently before a court.






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






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






26. A close contest; by extension - any contest in which the focus is on who is ahead and how much rather than on substantive differences between the candidates.






27. An opinion of one or more judges expressing disagreement with the majority opinion of the court which gives rise to its judgment.






28. A federal program established in 1965 to provide hospital and medical services to older people through the Social Security system.






29. Today the Senate operates with ____ standing and select committees. These select committees - however - are permanent in nature and are treated as standing committees under Senate rules.






30. A method of amending state constitutions under which proposed constitutional amendments can be placed on the ballot if enough signatures are obtained on a petition. Almost half the states also employ the initiative on the ballot to allow voters to en






31. These party members tend to be ideologues who put issues ahead of winning elections and withhold support from candidates who do not share their stance on issues. Very active in special interest groups and caucuses within the party. Willing to break a






32. In the last 30 years - voter turnout among American 18- to 24-year-olds has been






33. The pursuit and exercise of power.






34. Cabinet department oversees nuclear reactors.Established in 1973 in response to the Energy Crisis.






35. The 1st Amendment states that government cannot issue ______________ - censoring publications before they are published.






36. This Supreme Court case infamously decided that a slave was not a citizen but property to be 'used in subservience to the interests - the convenience - or the will of his owner'






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






38. Government regulation of the economy through its control over the supply of money and the cost and availability of credit. Controlled by the Federal Reserve Board.






39. The right to privacy is ___________ in the Constitution.






40. It is possible either to describe people - government - politics - and power as isolated - static elements - or to look at them as interacting elements in a_______________.






41. 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






42. Colonies controlled by the British king through governors appointed by him and through the king's veto power over colonial laws.






43. ________________ of the Constitution dictates how the Constitution shall be amended.






44. 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.






45. Minor criminal offenses - such as speeding.






46. This amendment applied the Bill of Rights to states.






47. Which historical figure described democracy as 'the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time?'






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






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






50. Constitutionally empowered to appoint judges - ambassadors - and other high officials - Constitutionally empowered to make treaties with foreign countries.