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






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






3. Corporations formed by the government to act as a business to produce a product or service. Often monopolies with varying degrees of independence.






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






5. 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.






6. The binding decisions that the government makes whether in the form of laws -regulations - or judicial decisions






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






8. 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.






9. The 1776 pamphlet by Thomas Paine that prompted King George III's Prohibitory Act and the sending of mercenaries to the colonies.






10. Legislature bills that affect all citizens.






11. 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






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






13. 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






14. The only court specifically outlined in the Constitution.






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






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






17. This 1689 English Document made the monarch






18. Decides which bills will be considered.






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






20. Type of interest group represented in Washington by another individual or organization. (Ex. Ford Motor Company pays a lobbyist in Washington to represent them.)






21. Broadly worded warrants used by British soldiers during colonial America to search for contraband and prevent smuggling.






22. A public policy that takes something away from one person or group and gives it to another person or group.






23. 6 In the view of Robert L. Lineberry - policy analysts focus on the _______________.






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






25. The foreign policy of the United States during the period after the Second World War - designed to contain the expansion of Soviet power.






26. A system in which the power to govern is shared between national and state governments






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






28. This powerful House committee is in charge of determining under what rule other bills will come to the floor.






29. This 1963 case extended the right to counsel to all felony cases.






30. 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.






31. Age Requirement for the Senate






32. The pursuit and exercise of power.






33. Charge of misconduct brought against a government official.






34. Devolutionary system in which the national government returns tax dollars to the state and local governments primarily in the form of block grants.






35. The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 restructured the number of ______________ in both the House and Senate.






36. 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






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






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






39. After a bill has passed both the House and Senate - it goes to _________________ where any differences between the house bill and the senate bill are resolved before sending to the President for signature






40. Programs are designed to give preferential access to education - employment - health care - or social welfare to groups of people - especially minorities and women - who have historically been discriminated against.






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






42. A group of writers - journalists - and critics who exposed corporate malfeasance and political corruption in the first decade of the 20th century.






43. A method available in most states that allows voters - in effect - to 'veto' a bill passed by the legislature or to accept or reject a proposal - such as a bond issue - made by a government agency.






44. 1976 Law requiring all governmental agency meetings to be open to the public unless classified information will be discussed.






45. Concurrent resolution - adopted by both Houses of Congress - that sets forth a Congressional budget plan for the budget year and at least four out-years.






46. A compulsory national insurance program - financed by taxes on employers and employees. The insurance falls into four categories: old-age and survivors insurance - disability insurance - Medicare - and unemployment insurance.






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

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48. Cabinet positions must be ____________ by the Senate






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






50. A federal law passed by Congress in 1939 to restrict political activities by federal workers. The law prevents federal employees while on duty from taking an active part in party politics or campaigns and also bars federal employees from running for