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Test your basic knowledge |
CLEP American Government
Start Test
Study First
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. President requires their approval to appoint judges - ambassadors and other high officials.
Senate
Enumerated Powers
Joint Committees
Globalization
2. Formed as a third party on the issue of slavery by many former Whigs in the 1850's. Anti-slavery platform. Supported by farmers - laborers - and newly-freed blacks.
Habeas Corpus
Republicans
Presidential Veto
Conference Committee
3. American politics is dominated by a small ___________ who is responsible for most of the important policy decisions
Royal Colonies
Agriculture
Elite
Defense
4. The Supreme Court has ruled that Congress_________________ take away a person's citizenship unless it is freely renounced.
Article VI
House of Representatives
may not
Rules Committee
5. Presidential refusal to allow an agency to spend funds that Congress authorized and appropriated.
Residual
Demands
Amicus Curiae Brief
Impoundment
6. Federal and State Courts function in a _____________manner so that federal courts may receive appeals from state courts.
Parallel
Republican
Political Action Committees
Government
7. Concurrent resolution - adopted by both Houses of Congress - that sets forth a Congressional budget plan for the budget year and at least four out-years.
High
Nuclear Proliferation
Budget Resolution
Custom
8. 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.
Focus Groups
Flexible Construction
Initiative
Concurring Opinion
9. When the President's own party gains power and influence - it more puts pressure on the President to conform to the will of the party - leading to________________ between the President and the party to define their public identities
Increased competition
Article V
Referendum
2
10. The concept that all people are of equal worth - even if not of equal ability.
Equality
Grand Jury Indictment
Ratification
Social Security
11. A method available in most states that allows voters - in effect - to 'veto' a bill passed by the legislature or to accept or reject a proposal - such as a bond issue - made by a government agency.
14th
Closed
Referendum
Budget Resolutions
12. The Jacksonian Era marked an important change in the process used to nominate Presidential candidates with the emergence of party _________________ - eliminating caucuses.
Implied Powers
Conventions
Office Column Ballot
Iron Triangle
13. Age Requirement for House of Representatives.
25
Appealed
Interstate Compact
Proposition 187
14. After the bill reaches the house floor - if opponents have many changes - they may vote to ______________________.
Lose
Feedback
Recommit the Bill to Committee
Miller v. California
15. Powers of the national government that flow from its enumerated powers and the 'elastic clause' of the Constitution.
Department of Treasury
Implied Powers
Outputs
Family
16. 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.
Great Compromise
Unlimited
Miranda Rights
Laissez-Faire
17. A place of work in which any person may be hired provided that he or she joins the union within a specified time.
Civil Cases
Majority Opinion
Union Shop
Critical Election
18. Number of years a President must reside in the US prior to taking office
Baby Boomers
Agriculture
Conservatism
14
19. If significant amendments are made to a bill during committee - the bill is sometimes given a new number as a _______________.
Housing and Urban Development
Impeachment
Felonies
Clean bill
20. Gave authority over atomic energy from military to civilians.
Jus Soli
Concurrent
Atomic Energy Act of 1946
Enacted
21. Committees appointed for investigative or crisis situations.
Select Committee
Committees of Correspondence
Instructed Delegate
Ratification
22. According to one survey - what percentage of Americans belongs to groups that sometimes take a stand on public issues
31
State Auditor
Writ of Assistance
Electoral College
23. The Supreme Court holds _____________ jurisdiction in cases against the US - ambassadors - public ministers - and consuls.
Checks and Balances
Original
Initiative
Petition of Right
24. The Democrats control over politics during the 20th century ended with this President's unpopular handling of the Vietnam War.
Voting
Formula Grant
Clear and Present Danger
Lyndon B. Johnson
25. Type of interest group represented in Washington by another individual or organization. (Ex. Ford Motor Company pays a lobbyist in Washington to represent them.)
Party Purists
Baron de Montesquieu
Institutional
Supreme Court
26. Responsibilities include: Coordinating the nation's intelligence activities and Evaluating and disseminating intelligence that affects national security
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
presidential line-item veto
Voting
National Security Council
27. A broad concept that may be defined in many ways - but the term is generally used to refer to the basic protection and defense of the nation.
National Security
Marbury v. Madison
Permanent Registration
Gideon v. Wainwright
28. The attitudes and actions of people that sustain and buttress the political system at all levels and allows the political system to continue to work.
Truman
Due Process of Law
Legislative Veto
Supports
29. 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.
Whips
Selective Incorporation
Ways and Means Committee
Horse race
30. Responsible for determining which bills will be considered on the House floor - and when they will be considered.
Impeachment
Deviating Elections
Permanent Registration
Majority Whip
31. A primary in which any registered voter is able to vote for candidates from more than one party. A voter - for example - may vote for a Democrat for U.S. senator and for a Republican for governor. In 2000 - the Supreme Court struck down the blanket p
19th Amendment
Hatch Act
Blanket Primary
Executive Privilege
32. This 1967 Supreme Court case prohibited illegal eavesdropping and extending the zone of privacy to include the home - office - person - and immediate public arena.
Atomic Energy Act of 1946
Concurring Opinion
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act
Katz. v US
33. In the year 2000 - the Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts of America had a constitutional right to ban _____________ members.
Mugwumps
Transportation
Freedom of Speech
Gay
34. According to the Constitution - the electors in the Electoral College shall be appointed in a manner to be determined by the
Periodic Registration
state legislatures
Legislative
Monopoly
35. Article I - Section 8 - of the Constitution - which allows Congress to make all laws that are 'necessary and proper' to carry out the powers of the Constitution.
Categorical Grants
Enacted
Jim Crow Laws
Elastic Clause
36. The spread of nuclear weapons to more nations.
Gerrymandering
Collective Action
Nuclear Proliferation
Due Process
37. Includes the 13th - 14th - and 15th Amendments. Abolished slavery and guaranteed due process and equal protection to all citizens.
Lyndon B. Johnson
Freedom of Speech
Civil War Amendments
Political Efficacy
38. Legislative opinions on a matter that do not require Presidential signature.
Populous
Resolutions
Ratification
Democrats
39. The total amount of money that the United States owes to its creditors.
State Treasurer
National Debt
Straight Ticket Voting
Probable Cause
40. A Latin phrase meaning 'stand by past decisions -' a principle that judges often use in deciding cases. Ruling based on precedents.
Recorded Vote
Clear and Present Danger
Ratification
Stare Decisis
41. Most Americans support ______________ primarily as part of their criticism of PACs
Exclusionary Rule
Shield Laws
Public Policy
Campaign Finance Reform
42. California measure designed to deny welfare and other benefits to illegal aliens. Overwhelmingly passed the popular vote - but overturned in federal court because it extending beyond the bounds of state rights to attempt to control immigration.
Mayor-Council Plan
Cold War
Jurisdiction
Proposition 187
43. Corporations formed by the government to act as a business to produce a product or service. Often monopolies with varying degrees of independence.
Hatch Act
Committees
Governmental Corporations
Permanent Registration
44. Which historical figure described democracy as 'the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time?'
Probable Cause
Free Exercise of Religion
Winston Churchill
Pluralist
45. Inherent powers of state governments to pass laws to protect health - safety - and welfare; the national government has no directly granted police powers but accomplishes the same goals through other delegated powers.
Police Powers
Mayflower Compact
Unicameral
Freedom of Speech
46. The federal fiscal year begins ___________.
October 1st
unlimited
Bicameral
Katz. v US
47. An economic system of free enterprise with private ownership of the means of production.
Trustee
High
Capitalism
Committee of the Whole
48. The absent colony at the 2nd Continental Congress.
Rhode Island
Free Rider
Free Exercise Clause
Speech Plus
49. Charge of misconduct brought against a government official.
Supreme Court
77
Commerce
Impeachment
50. David R. Mayhew has suggested that this influences congressional behavior. The ________________ is the relationship between members of Congress and their constituents.
Electoral Connection
Political Machines
Federal District
English Bill of Rights