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. This branch of government checks Bureaucracy through its control over the creation and elimination of agencies as well as its control over budget appropriations.






2. Disapproval of a bill by a chief executive - such as the president or a governor.






3. Legislative house whose membership was intended to represent the state.






4. 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.






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






6. Literally meaning 'right of soil' - confers citizenship by place of birth.






7. Unwritten law based on custom and tradition.






8. Information sent out in order to observe the reaction of an audience. Used by politicians who deliberately leak information on a policy change under consideration.






9. The head of a national political party






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






11. In the 1925 Gitlow case - the Supreme Court began a process of ______________ of the Bill of Rights to the states.






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






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






14. These dissenting Republicans won 17% of the popular vote in 1924 on a platform for public control of national resources and railways - tax reductions - and changes to the staff of the executive department

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15. Voters tendency to identify with a party that shares their views on important issues ignoring the party's stance on issues they deem less important. to be life-long unless there is a major change in the party's platform. 2. Influenced by ra






16. Designed to protect the individual against the arbitrary power of the state.






17. Clause in the 14th Amendment that forbids any state to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. The 5th Amendment also imposes this limitation on the national government.






18. First Roman Catholic elected President.






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






20. First step in the Policy Making Cycle.






21. This contraversial 2001 law allows anti-terrorism authorities to monitor e-mail and Internet traffic in order to prevent terrorist attacks. The government argues that cyberspace is public domain and that no warrants should be needed to access informa






22. 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.






23. A government that undertakes responsibility for the welfare of its citizens through programs in public health and public housing and pensions and unemployment compensation etc.






24. A pluralist theory by C. Wright Mills where a small number of wealthy elite wield most of the power. Fundamental to all governments around the world - the elite rule while they make the lower classes feel like they are involved in democracy. The elit






25. The elected position of President pro tempore of the Senate is almost always held by






26. Private groups that attempt to influence the government to respond to the shared attitudes of their members.






27. A system in which the national government provides grants-in-aid to states using conditions to elicit control.






28. This act prohibited Discrimination because of race - color - sex - religion - or national origin by employers or labor unions; The adoption by voting registrars of different standards for black and white applicants; and Racial or religious discrimina






29. The formal source of all authority in each major political party. It nominates the party candidates for president and vice president - writes a platform - settles disputes - writes rules - and elects the members of the national committee.






30. This author of Leviathon posited that government is necessary because people are generally in a state of conflict.






31. Baby boomers - women - and voters with higher levels of education tend to have a ____________ voter turnout.






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






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






34. A course of action chosen by government officials






35. International agreements between the president and foreign heads of state that - unlike treaties - do not require Senate approval.






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






37. An issue on which voters distinguish rival parties by the degree to which they associate each party or candidate with conditions - goals - or symbols the electorate universally approves or disapproves of. Examples of such issues are economic prosperi






38. Clause of the Constitution (Article 1 - Section 10) intended to prohibit state governments from modifying contracts made between individuals; interpreted as prohibiting state governments from taking actions that adversely affect property rights.






39. 'lame duck' amendment






40. Age Requirement for the Senate






41. A legislative leader of each party who is responsible for rounding up party members for important votes.






42. Appointed by Eisenhower - this Supreme court justice who played an important role in the court's stance on the advancement of civil rights.






43. This House committee is responsible for all taxes - tariffs - and other revenue raising measures in addition to social security - child support - Medicare - foster care - and unemployment.






44. A system of _______________ - as in Italy - encourages the existence of many parties by allotting seats to competing candidates according to the percentage of votes they win.






45. In 1992 - the television networks agreed not to release these until a majority of polling places had closed in each state






46. Early civil rights leader established the Niagara Movement and helped to establish the NAACP.






47. This called for three-fifths of all slaves in a state were counted for purposes of apportioning representation in the House of Representatives.






48. Proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 as an attempt to form a union of the colonies. Later used to help form the Articles of Confederation.






49. 1963 ruling prohibiting prayer in public schools.






50. The belief that one is effective when participating in politics - for example that the government will respond to one's demands