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. A Latin phrase meaning 'stand by past decisions -' a principle that judges often use in deciding cases. Ruling based on precedents.






2. 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 _______________.






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






4. A 1972 treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union limiting the number of defensive missiles each country could build. In 2001 President George W. Bush withdrew the United States from the treaty.






5. A place of work in which any person may be hired provided that he or she joins the union within a specified time.






6. In his classic study of community power in New Haven - Connecticut - political scientist Robert A. Dahl concluded that the city was a __________ system dominated by many different sets of leaders






7. The most important committees - always assembled and delegated with the responsibility of handling all bills under their concern. Includes the Ways and Means - Appropriations - Budget - Rules and Agriculture Committees.






8. Responsible for further investigation - hearings - and amendment to a bill






9. In the 1990 case OR State Employment Division v. Smith 1990 - the Supreme court allowed the state to fire employees who use peyote during native American religious ceremonies because it is in violation of drug laws. In this case - which clause of the






10. To an extent - the press and the government have a relationship that is _______________ and mutually dependent.






11. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) - founded in 1932 by President Herbert Hoover to help combat the Great Depression - was the predecessor of which federal agencies?






12. Legislative branch incorporating two houses.






13. An ideology that cherishes individual liberty and insists on a sharply limited government - promoting a free market economy - a non-interventionist foreign policy - and an absence of regulation in the moral and social spheres.






14. A system in which national and state government have shared or overlapping powers. FDR's New Deal legislation established this system in the US.






15. An extraordinary writ commanding an official to perform a ministerial act that the law recognizes as an absolute duty and not a matter for the official's discretion






16. In states using primaries - the most common form of primary election is the ___________ primary.






17. 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.






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






19. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is an example of an






20. Presides over the Senate without voting privileges except in the case of a tie.






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






22. First Executive Branch






23. After a bill is assigned to a committee - the next step is typically a ______________.






24. Elections that may lead to a basic shift in the party identification of the electorate.






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






26. A declaration by the President in 1823 that warned European powers to keep out of the Western Hemisphere and pledged that the United States would not intervene in the internal affairs of Europe.






27. A White House council created under the National Security Act of 1947 to advise the president and help coordinate American military and foreign policy.






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






29. Members of this party typically include women who support liberal policies on abortion and equal pay - Jews - Catholics - Blacks and other minorities - Blue-collar working class - urban - labor unions - and intelligensia






30. 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






31. Overall spending targets set by the Congress.






32. Senators have a __________ rate of re-election than Representatives primarily because of their larger constituency and lack of direct involvement with them.






33. Love of country and a desire for independence; it can also mean an excessive form of patriotism exploited by political leaders.






34. Number of years a President must reside in the US prior to taking office






35. Executive Check on the Legislative Branch.






36. Requires reporting of financial information by companies with publicly traded securities






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






38. In the last 30 years - voter turnout among American 18- to 24-year-olds has been






39. 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______________.






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






41. Overturning unjust laws is the responsibility of _________________.






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






43. A nation's set of fundamental beliefs about how government and politics should be conducted.






44. Federal grants in which the recipient has little discretion over how the money is spent. The national government sets narrowly defined rules for use of funds and often requires the states or local governments to provide matching funds. These grants a






45. This 1973 ruling gave local communities the authority to determine obscenity - established three part test for obscene material. To qualify as obscene - speech must be considered obscene by the 'average' person - depict or describe material that is a






46. The head of a national political party






47. Cabinet department that includes the Coast Guard - Border Patrol - FEMA - Transportation Security Administration - INS and the Secret Service. Established in 2001 in response to 9/11.






48. The vote cast by a person who does not like either candidate and so votes for the less objectionable of the two - putting a clothespin over his nose to keep out the unpleasant stench






49. A coherent set of beliefs about politics - public policy - and public purpose. It helps give meaning to political event - personalities - and policies.






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