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. Overall spending targets set by the Congress.






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






3. After the bill reaches the house floor - if opponents have many changes - they may vote to ______________________.






4. Literally - a 'friend of the court' brief - filed by an individual or organization to present arguements in addition to those presented by the immediate parties to a case






5. Judicial Check on Legislative Branch. Not specifically outlined in the Constitution - but established in the case of Marbury v. Madison through the application of the Supremacy Clause in Article VI.






6. A relaxation of international tensions.






7. Polls taken as people leave voting places. In the past - television networks sometimes used these polls to predict election outcomes before the polls close. In 1992 - the television networks agreed not to project the winner in a state until the major






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






9. The term 'Reagan Democrats' has become a generic term for






10. In order to win support for ratification of the Constitution - the Federalists had to promise that the first order of business under a new government would be to _______________.






11. Included are Agriculture - Nutrition - and Forestry; Appropriations; Armed Services; Banking - Housing and Urban Affairs; Commerce - Science and Transportation; Energy and Natural Resources; Environment and Public Works; Finance; Health - Education -






12. Congress' first step towards allocating funds






13. Philosopher John Locke - in his 1690 work Civil Government (second treatise) - advised separation of government power between






14. A series of 85 articles written by Alexander Hamilton - John Jay - and James Madison under the pseudonym Publius advocating the ratification of the United States Constitution.






15. Constitutionally required address by the President typically given in a joint session of Congress.






16. The spread of nuclear weapons to more nations.






17. 'lame duck' amendment






18. Independent organizations - but more often the political arms of corporations - labor unions - or interest groups - established to contribute to candidates or to work for general political goals.






19. 1917 Reincarnation of the Sedition Act during WWI






20. 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.






21. In the mid-term elections following a President's inauguration - his party tends to ___________ seats in Congress.






22. The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments provide for _____________.






23. The number of ______________ a state receives is based on the number Representatives and Senators that the state has in Congress






24. Which powers of the national government flow from its enumerated powers and from the 'elastic clause' of the Constitution?






25. Presidential management model in which the Chief of Staff plays a prominent role as the head of a military style chain of command. Used successfully by Reagan and Eisenhower.






26. The head of a national political party






27. 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






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






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






30. The Jacksonian Era marked an important change in the process used to nominate Presidential candidates with the emergence of party _________________ - eliminating caucuses.






31. A system - until modified and reformed in the 1970s - that automatically resulted in the selection as committee chair of those members of the majority party in Congress who had the longest continuous service on a committee.






32. According to one survey - what percentage of Americans belongs to groups that sometimes take a stand on public issues






33. Article II of the Constitution establishes the ______________ branch.






34. The Supreme Court holds _____________ jurisdiction in cases against the US - ambassadors - public ministers - and consuls.






35. The way things actually are.






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






37. In Reynolds v. US (1879) - the Supreme Court denied this right to Reynolds because his religion's practice of polygamy violated federal law.






38. Cabinet department responsible for managing school lunch programs and food safety. Established in 1862.






39. A philosophy that Supreme Court justices and other judges should boldly apply the Constitution to social and political questions.






40. Dissenting Democrats focused on foreign affairs. Aligned with the US Communist Party.

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41. Funds spent for or against a candidate by committees not formally connected to the candidate's campaign and without coordination with the campaign.






42. A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that permits floor amendments within the overall time allocated to the bill.






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






44. Voters in a political district - or supporters of an elected official; or interest groups or client groups that are either directly regulated by the bureaucracy or vitally affected by its decisions.






45. Minor criminal offenses - such as speeding.






46. Grants that an accused may not be held in custody without charge - literally 'You shall have the body'.






47. As part of the negotiations concerning the Constitution - the South fought for and won an agreement forbidding the imposition of _______________.






48. ________________ of the Constitution governs the relationships of the states.






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






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