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. Beginning with the election of Abraham Lincoln - the period between 1860 and the Great Depression was dominated by this political party.






2. Decides which bills will be considered.






3. The pursuit and exercise of power.






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






5. Impact elections by siphoning off votes from major parties spoiling a party's chance in a close race.






6. Also known as the Indiana ballot - lists the candidates of each party in a row or column - beside or under the party emblem. In most cases - the voter can make one mark at the top of the column - or pull one lever - and thus vote for all the party's






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






8. An ideology that advocates limits on government power to address economic and social problems - relying instead on economic markets and individual initiative to address problems like health care and education - while promoting government involvement






9. Legislative branch incorporating two houses.






10. A vote in the House of Representatives in which the position of each member is noted and published in the Congressional Record.






11. Prohibits conviction of a crime that occurred before the act became illegal






12. Number of current cabinet positions under GW Bush.






13. Total number of Representatives apportioned to the states based on population and reapportioned with the census every 10 years






14. Constitutional Article that establishes the Judicial Branch.






15. Formal approval or consent given to a constitution - constitutional amendment - or treaty before it goes into effect.






16. Presides over any impeachment trial.






17. Article VI - Paragraph 2 - of the Constitution - which declares that the Constitution - and the laws and treaties of the United States made under it - are 'the supreme Law of the Land' and prevail over any conflicting state constitutions or laws.






18. Congress defined the steps for the creation and admission of new states. It forbade slavery while the region remained a territory although citizens could legalize it. First congress would appoint a territorial governor and judges. Second as soon as 5






19. Wisconsin Republican who exploited public concern for political gain during the 1950's through freewheeling investigations of alleged Communists.






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






21. The possible tendency of some voters or convention delegates to support the candidate who is leading in the polls and seems likely to win.






22. In addition to a quick and speedy trial - the 6th Amendment also guarantees ________________.






23. Important during the Revolution - these bodies organized by the local governments of the Thirteen Colonies during the American Revolution for the purposes of coordinating written communication outside of the colony.






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






25. A legal principle of fair dealing - which may provide preventive measures and legal remedies that are unavailable under existing common law and statutory law.






26. A form of city government under which power is divided between a mayor and an elected city council.






27. Number of Senators elected at large per state -






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






29. This 1957 judgement prohibited pornography material as utterly without redeeming social significance - later reversed in Miller v. California






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






31. Political commercials that strongly attack a rival candidate.






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






33. The estimated number of illegal aliens living in the US.






34. In the Federalist Papers - James Madison proposed that the states under the new Constitution would retain ____________ sovereignty.






35. Form of government in which the people are sovereign but their power is exercised by their elected representatives.






36. The body composed of electors from the 50 states who formally have the power to elect the president and vice president of the United States. Each state has a number of electors and electoral votes equal to its number of senators and representatives i






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






38. 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.






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






40. Term limit for House of Representatives.






41. A judicial opinion agreed to by a majority of the members of a court. A majority opinion sets forth the decision of the court and an explanation of the rationale behind the court's decision.






42. The way things actually are.






43. When neither political party is dominant.






44. 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.






45. After the Vietnam war - American politics entered an era of __________________ during which neither party maintained control over the government.






46. A study of Bennington College students in the 1930s illustrated that the influence of the family on political attitudes tends to ______________ as they grow older and come into contact with other groups.






47. Which two British Acts - passed in 1764 - caused American colonists for the first time to organize protests against the injustices of British rule - and sparked the rallying cry 'no taxation without representation'?






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






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






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