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. The uprising of farmers angered by crushing debt and taxes that revealed the failure of the Articles of Confederation.

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2. 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






3. States that arrestees must be informed of their right to remain silent - that anything they say can be held against them in a court - that they have a right to an attorney and that an attorney will be appointed to them if they cannot afford one.






4. The reason that electors are chosen in each state by popular vote is ____________.






5. The Equal Rights Amendment was defeated in 1982 because ____________________________.






6. In Sweatt v. Painter (1950) - The Supreme Court upheld that ___________________ was inherently not the case as is applied to the University of Texas Law School.






7. Federal categorical grants in which the granting agency has much discretion over how the recipient spends the money.






8. _____________ is responsible for monetary policy.






9. The pursuit and exercise of power.






10. Serious crimes - such as murder - arson - or rape.






11. Law enacted by Congress - or by state legislatures or local legislative bodies.






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






13. Author of The Spirit of the Laws advocating balance of power in politics with liberty is dependant upon a separation of the judicial - legislative - and executive branches of government.






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






15. The ruling in this case provided that the government must prove a threat to national security in order to impose prior restraint.






16. The President's role in the armed forces which during the 20th century has allowed Presidents to circumvent Congress' refusal to declare war.






17. The term most political scientists prefer to describe the bureaucratic process






18. Programs mandated by law and not subject to annual review by Congress or the president.






19. 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.






20. Theory of democracy in which competition among common interest groups promote ideas to influence politics






21. A term often used to describe the economic and political ties between the military establishment and the defense-aerospace industry.






22. Population migration patterns since the second World War have increased the power of _____________.






23. Legislature bills that affect all citizens.






24. This amendment includes the due process clause - the equal protection clause - and gave rights to former slaves.






25. The only court specifically outlined in the Constitution.






26. 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 _______________.






27. The Supreme Court practice of applying most of the provisions of the Bill of Rights to the states under the 14th Amendment.






28. Electoral college system and other campaign practices make it exceedingly difficult for even popular ______________ candidates to successfully run for the presidency.






29. Age Requirement for the Senate






30. The Medicaid and Food Stamp programs are examples of two very large






31. 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.






32. Defamation by written or printed words - pictures - or in any form other than by spoken words or gestures.






33. The concept that all people are of equal worth - even if not of equal ability.






34. A provision in a deed to real property prohibiting its sale to a person of a particular race or religion. Judicial enforcement is unconstitutional.






35. 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.






36. A procedure that in certain circumstances permits voters to remove elected state or local officials from office before their terms have expired.






37. Considered the most sacred right in American history. Colonists felt oppressed by the tyranny of the crown but were unable to speak up about it for fear of repercussion.






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. After hearings are complete - a congressional subcommittee will usually determine a bill's future in final deliberations known as






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






41. Programs of government - universities - and businesses designed to favor minorities and remedy past discrimination.






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. Practice by which voters of one party crossing over and voting in the primary of another party - effectively allowing a party to help choose its opposition's candidate.






44. In this 1972 case - the Supreme Court established four guidelines for determining if a trial was appropriately speedy and fair: cause of delay - length of delay - affect on the outcome - and the defendant's claim to a speedy trial.






45. Which office serves as a watchdog into waste or fraud in the bureaucracy and conducts investigations at the request of congressional committees






46. The agency that provides Congress with evaluations of public policies is the






47. Procedure typically requiring 3/5 vote of the entire Senate to end a filibuster.






48. The European political philosophers whose writings influenced the concepts of liberty and government contained in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution belonged to the intellectual and cultural movement known as






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






50. A strand of American foreign policy that was visible by the end of the 19th century; it included 'gunboat diplomacy' and other forms of military involvement by the United States in various parts of the world.