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. Prohibits citizens of one state or foreign country from suing another state.






2. Southern whites prevented blacks from ____________ through use of poll taxes - literacy tests and intimidation tactics after the Civil War.






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






4. The relationship between the total cost of foreign goods imported to this country and sales of U.S. products overseas.






5. A centralized system of government - such as that of France - where most of the important policy decisions are made by a central government.






6. Dissenting Democrats focused on foreign affairs. Aligned with the US Communist Party.


7. While the voting rights act of 1965 did direct the Attorney General to investigate the constitutionality of poll taxes and prohibit literacy tests - it did not expressly prohibit _____________.






8. Committees created by Congress to conduct special investigations. Although normally temporary - some become - in effect - permanent.






9. In Woodson v. North Carolina - the Supreme Court struck down mandatory sentencing of capital punishment as ______________________ because it does not allow for any discretion.






10. A small group of voters chosen by a political campaign for their demographic similarities who are brought together to gauge how the group they represent feels about the candidate.






11. Government regulation of the economy through its control over the supply of money and the cost and availability of credit. Controlled by the Federal Reserve Board.






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






13. Bills that benefit legislators' home districts - or powerful corporate contributors - with sometimes wasteful or unnecessary public works or other projects.






14. The belief that all people possess certain basic rights that may not be abridged by government.






15. 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______________.






16. Puerto Rico has ____________ status.






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






18. In 1943 - The Supreme Court upheld the Jehovah's Witnesses right to refrain from saluting the American flag based on their right to _____________.






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






20. The right to renounce one's citizenship.






21. A powerful alliance of mutual benefit among an agency or unit of the government - an interest group - and a committee or subcommittee of Congress. Also called a triangle or a subgovernment.






22. These candidates win re-election to the House 80-90% of the time.






23. Provisions tacked on to a piece of legislation that are not relevant to the bill.






24. Which form of registration prevails in all but a few states?






25. This branch of government checks Bureaucracy through its control over budget and appointments of leadership.






26. 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.






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






28. The practice that allows senators to delay or even kill floor action on legislation - a nomination - or other matters by asking their party leaders not to schedule them.






29. 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.






30. Elects the President if no candidate receives 270 Electoral College votes.






31. Age requirement for President






32. Unwritten law based on custom and tradition.






33. Method by which federal court judges may lose their position.






34. Belief in the value of strong government to provide economic secruity and protection for civil rights - combined with a belief in personal freedom from government intervention in social conduct






35. Tests of a voter's ability to read and write - which were often used to keep recent immigrants and blacks from voting.






36. The 1st Amendment states that government cannot issue ______________ - censoring publications before they are published.






37. This house committee is responsible for Supervising the authority of the federal government to borrow money - Raising the revenue required to finance the federal government by levying taxes - Overseeing Social Security and other social insurance prog






38. The pursuit and exercise of power.






39. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was somewhat undermined by racist practices in the real estate market such as _____________ and ______________ - which continued illegally in many areas following passage of the Act.






40. These voters tend to have a high voter turnout because of their strong since of civic duty due to growing up during an era of political and civil unrest.






41. Multi-interest and often multinational corporations that - under one corporate roof - may manufacture a wide variety of products.






42. This body of government has final authority on the meaning of the Constitution.






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






44. This amendment applied the Bill of Rights to states.






45. The head of a national political party






46. 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.






47. Polls taken as people leave voting places. In the past - television networks sometimes used these polls to predict election outcomes before the polls close. In 1992 - the television networks agreed not to project the winner in a state until the major






48. A policy adopted by the United States after the Second World War that assumed that if enough nuclear weapons were deployed by the United States - an enemy would not attack for fear of being destroyed in retaliation.






49. Laws must be reasonable. The Supreme Court has abandoned this concept in regards to business matters citing that it is the responsibility of Congress to regulate economic matters. The court has continued to apply this to matters of civil liberties an






50. Independent agencies governed by an appointed and confirmed commission. Examples include the Food and Drug Administration - Environmental Protection Agency - and the Securities and Exchange Commission.