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. If 10 days remain in session and the president does not sign an act of Congress - the law is ___________.






2. Raise Public Awareness - Create Policy Agenda - Prioritize Agenda - Enact Policy - Public Evaluation






3. Money spent by individuals or gorups not asociated with candidates to elect or defeat candidates for office






4. The practice of victorious politicians to reward their followers with jobs. Also known as the spoils system.






5. A federal tax on imports.






6. This category of interest groups has been the strongest and most effective in lobbying Washington






7. Private groups that attempt to influence the government to respond to the shared attitudes of their members.






8. Method by which federal court judges may lose their position.






9. The average voter turnout between 1960 and 2004 was __________ percent






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






11. A written opinion by some of the judges of a court which agrees with the majority of the court but might arrive there in a different manner.






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






13. In 1992 - the television networks agreed not to release these until a majority of polling places had closed in each state






14. The total group from which poll-takers may select a random sample in order to measure public opinion.






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






16. 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


17. Prompted by FDR's 4th election to the Presidency - the 22nd Amendment limited the number of Presidential terms to _____ terms.






18. This amendment includes the due process clause - the equal protection clause - and gave rights to former slaves.






19. The state officer typically responsible for overseeing federal elections at the state level is the






20. The agency that provides Congress with evaluations of public policies is the






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






22. A provision of law in which Congress asserts the power to nullify actions of the executive branch. In 1983 the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional - but Congress continued to pass laws containing such provisions.






23. Congress' first step towards allocating funds






24. 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






25. An ideology that cherishes individual liberty and insists on a sharply limited government - promoting a free market economy - a non-interventionist foreign policy - and an absence of regulation in the moral and social spheres.






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






27. 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.






28. This called for three-fifths of all slaves in a state were counted for purposes of apportioning representation in the House of Representatives.






29. Legislature bills that affect all citizens.






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






31. Spending by the national committees of the political parties to support the election of congressional candidates is known as






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






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






34. A powerful alliance of mutual benefit among an agency or unit of the government - an interest group - and a committee or subcommittee of Congress. Also called a triangle or a subgovernment.






35. Article I of the Constitution establishes the ___________________ branch.






36. Approximately 33% of American voters identify themselves as _______________ party.






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






38. Voters tendency to identify with a party that shares their views on important issues ignoring the party's stance on issues they deem less important. to be life-long unless there is a major change in the party's platform. 2. Influenced by ra






39. 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.






40. Southern whites prevented blacks from ____________ through use of poll taxes - literacy tests and intimidation tactics after the Civil War.






41. Decides which bills will be considered.






42. Most house committees are limited to _____ subcommittees.






43. Federal and State Courts function in a _____________manner so that federal courts may receive appeals from state courts.






44. The 1896 case of Plessy v. Fergusan established the racial segregation policy of __________________.






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






46. The name commonly given to a private group - regardless of size - organized to elect political candidates. An organization becomes one by receiving contributions or making expenditures in excess of $1 -000 for the purpose of influencing a federal ele






47. This was amended in 1985 to prohibit vote dilution without requiring the proof of discriminatory purpose demanded by the original Act.






48. In Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969) - the Supreme Court established precedents for ___________________ in schools and government institutions.






49. The relationship between the total cost of foreign goods imported to this country and sales of U.S. products overseas.






50. Presidential management model requiring the President to have strong leadership skills and a keen eye for detail. FDR and JFK were well known for this style of leadership.