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. Powers of government that are specifically granted to the three branches of the federal government under the Constitution.






2. Communication with legislators or other government officials to try to influence their decisions.






3. Groups whose views serve as guidelines to an individual's opinion. See also primary groups and secondary groups.






4. 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.






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






6. 19th century case establishing that the Bill of Rights applied only to the federal government - upheld until the 20th century. Ruling allowed stated to engage in activities such as establishing state churches and denying public office to people of ce






7. According to the Constitution - the electors in the Electoral College shall be appointed in a manner to be determined by the






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






9. How groups form and organize to pursue their goals or objectives - including how to get individuals and groups to participate and cooperate.






10. A 1972 treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union limiting the number of defensive missiles each country could build. In 2001 President George W. Bush withdrew the United States from the treaty.






11. 1940 Act Prohibiting any person from advocating overthrowing the government through violence or force.






12. In his historic decision in the case of McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) - Chief Justice Marshall established the principle of _____________.






13. A declaration by the President in 1823 that warned European powers to keep out of the Western Hemisphere and pledged that the United States would not intervene in the internal affairs of Europe.






14. 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.






15. Programs of government - universities - and businesses designed to favor minorities and remedy past discrimination.






16. 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.






17. The sum of the goals - decisions - and actions that govern a nation's relations with the rest of the world.






18. In states using primaries - the most common form of primary election is the ___________ primary.






19. Executive office responsible for helping the President write the federal budget and monitoring federal spending.






20. 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.






21. The main mechanism used by modern political parties to nominate their candidate for President.






22. Political theorist proposed the separation of church and state.






23. 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.






24. Corporations formed by the government to act as a business to produce a product or service. Often monopolies with varying degrees of independence.






25. Head of the Supreme Court.






26. Leader of the House of Representatives - elected by the majority party. 2nd in line of succession for the Presidency.






27. Tax legislation must originate in this house.






28. The pursuit and exercise of power






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






30. In charge of all state funds. Supervises the collection of taxes and payment of state's bill






31. 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.






32. Article VII of the Constitution outlines the process of ____________________.






33. A White House council created under the National Security Act of 1947 to advise the president and help coordinate American military and foreign policy.






34. In a 1943 case - the Supreme Court upheld the right to refuse to salute the American flag on the basis of the constitutional guarantee of _________________.






35. 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.






36. Belief in the value of strong government to provide economic secruity and protection for civil rights - combined with a belief in personal freedom from government intervention in social conduct






37. The Supreme Court is the only judicial body that may hear disputes between _________________.






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






39. A term popularized by sociologist Floyd Hunter to describe the community leaders who he said determined policy in Atlanta - Georgia. More broadly - the term is used to describe 'power elites' generally.






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






41. The issue of slavery split the Democratic Party into what two factions?






42. Between conventions - the governing body of a major political party. Members of this group are chosen in the states and formally elected by the party






43. 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.






44. The process through which an individual acquires a set of political attitudes and forms opinions about political and social issues.






45. During the 1800's and early 1900's - some state and local party committees became ________________ dominating party activities. Committee members would promise new recruits money - jobs - and other benefits for joining and voting the straight party t






46. In Argersinger v. Hamlin (1972) - the Supreme Court extended the right to counsel to those accused of misdemeanors if the defendant is _____________.






47. Practice by which voters of one party crossing over and voting in the primary of another party - effectively allowing a party to help choose its opposition's candidate.






48. A term often used to describe the economic and political ties between the military establishment and the defense-aerospace industry.






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






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