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. State legislation designed to outlaw the union shop - passed by 21 states acting under Section 14B of the federal Taft-Hartley Act.






2. An act of legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a trial. Constitutionally prohibited.






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






4. Puerto Rico has ____________ status.






5. A system of voter registration in which voters must register only once in their district.






6. A method of amending state constitutions under which proposed constitutional amendments can be placed on the ballot if enough signatures are obtained on a petition. Almost half the states also employ the initiative on the ballot to allow voters to en






7. Agenda that includes issues that affect the daily lives of the people.






8. The principle of civilian control of the military - based on the clear constitutional power of the president as supreme commander of the armed forces.






9. The rules and regulations made and applied by federal regulatory agencies and commissions.






10. A tactic in which PACs collect contributions from like-minded individuals and present them to a candidate or political party as a 'bundle -' thus increasing the PAC's influence.






11. Law intended to promote free competition in the market place by outlawing monopolies






12. Number of Federal District courts across 50 states - DC and Puerto Rico.






13. 14th Amendment is often used to support the right to ____________.






14. The spread of nuclear weapons to more nations.






15. The FCC's equal time policy applies to _____________.






16. Powerful standing committee that puts bills on the legislative calendar and establishes the processes by which the bill will be discussed on the floor.






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






18. The provisions of the Constitution that divide power among three constitutionally equal and independent branches of government






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






20. A ruling by the Supreme Court in 1857






21. Most states have ___________ legislatures.






22. The Immigration Act of 1965 abolished the practice of _______________ allowing more diversity among immigrants.






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






24. Test whereby the Supreme Court established criteria by which state may provide aid to religious groups.






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






26. Responsible for assigning bills to committee in the Senate.






27. The period of time after the election of FDR until the Vietnam War was dominated by the Democratic Party and know as the __________________ Era.






28. The practice under which victorious politicians reward their followers with jobs.






29. In which case did the Supreme Court rule that the concept of privacy included the right to a legal abortion?






30. Signed the executive order banning segregation in the armed forces.






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






32. In 1978 - the Supreme Court - in the 'seven dirty words' case - ruled that the government has the right to prohibit the broadcasting of _______________.






33. In presidential campaigns - federal matching funds are provided to candidates who ______________.






34. 6 In the view of Robert L. Lineberry - policy analysts focus on the _______________.






35. An annual meeting held in the spring in many New England towns - at which the townspeople come together to elect a board of selectmen and to discuss local policy questions. It has become a symbol of participatory democracy.






36. These party members tend to be ideologues who put issues ahead of winning elections and withhold support from candidates who do not share their stance on issues. Very active in special interest groups and caucuses within the party. Willing to break a






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






38. 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






39. The vagueness of this phrase has allowed juries to exclude specific genders or races in order to affect the outcome of the verdict.






40. ____________ often influence political appointments in an effort to influence bureaucracy.






41. The case of Gregg v. Georgia set the precedent for a ________________ system in which guilt and sentencing and tried separately.






42. A word that comes from two Greek roots - demos - 'the populace -' and kratia - 'rule'






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






44. Ruling by the Supreme Court in 1954 that racial segregation in public schools violates the Fourteenth Amendment's requirement of equal protection of the laws for all persons.






45. In this case - a gay man from Georgia charged with committing sodomy in his own home with a consenting adult. The court ruled that the Constitution does not explicitly grant the right for homosexuals to practice their lifestyle and that laws against






46. 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.






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






48. In the view of W. Lance Bennett - the people who hold and express opinions are constantly changing - as are the issues and conditions to which the public responds. As a result - Bennett suggests that public opinion is______________.






49. The philosophy that government should intervene as little as possible in economic affairs.






50. This 1st amendment clause prohibits the government from making any law prohibiting the exercise of any religion