CLEP American Government Practice Test

Punch cards

Type of voting system that became well known immediately following the 2000 election

Prospective voting

A person who votes based on what candidate says he or she will do in the future is said to be engaged in this type of voting

House of Representatives

Should presidential candidates receive an equal number of electoral votes, the election is decided by___________

Democracy

"A form of government in which the people (defined broadly to include all adults or narrowly to exclude women and slaves, for example) are the ultimate political authority"

Direct democracy

New England town's meetings are examples of this type of democracy

The Federalist Papers

Under the pen name "Publius," Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote this

The Mayflower Compact

In the seventeenth century, the signers of which document agreed to live under the colony's recognized authority and to wait for a royal charter, such as the Virginians had?

Rhode Island

The last state to ratify the U.S. Constitution

U.S. President

The purpose of the electoral college is to choose the_________

Interest groups

In the debates over the Constitution, federalist sand anti-federalist a spoke of factions the way we today speak of _________

Article I

"All Bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives." These words appear in which article of the U.S. Constitution?

John Locke

The English philosopher whose words are heavily drawn on in the Declaration of Independence

U.S. Treasury

Insofar as the Constitution is concerned, members of Congress receive payment for their work from_______

Senate

The Vice President of the United States is the president of what government body?

25

What is the minimum age specified in the Constitution for members of the House of Representatives?

Oregon

In recent decades, which state has relied most heavily on mail-in voting?

The Constitution

In which of the nation's founding documents could one point to an "elastic clause" to justify the existence of vast government agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services?

State legislatures and the people

The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution states that government powers "not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States," are reserved for_____, ______, and _______.

Administrative discretion

Term for when Congress sets guidelines for government agencies to follow

Unfunded mandate

The Real ID Act of 2005 was an example of an_______

Filibuster

Senators have the power to "talk a bill to death." What is the formal term for this procedure?

Bill

A piece of legislation proposed to Congress is called_________

End debate in the Senate

What do Unanimous consent agreements accomplish?

Congress

Article I is the longest section contained in the U.S. Constitution. What is the subject matter of this article?

Punch-card ballots

Created a controversy following the 2000 presidential election; the "hanging" and "dimpled" chads that resulted when voters did not punch through the cards completely were difficult for vote counters to assess

Prospective voting

Forward-looking voting: when a voter supports a candidate based on what the candidate plans to do once in office

Retrospective voting

Voting based on an informed view of a candidate's or political party's past

Attack and contrast ads

Designed, respectively, to create negative feelings toward a candidate's opponent and to draw distinctions between opponents

Republicanism

Advocates a political system without a monarch

"Mobocracy"

Rule by the mob

Oligarchy

A government run by a few people

Democratic socialism

Distinguished from tyrannical forms of socialism in that it guarantees basic rights (e.g. Free speech) and free elections

Concurrence

Refers to a judge's agreement with the decision of a majority of judges on the court, through different reasons.

The Anti-Federalist Papers

Were written in opposition to ratification of the Constitution

Common Sense

Written by Thomas Paine in the early stage of the Revolution. It's purpose was to rouse the American public against the British

Leviathan

An important work in political philosophy by the English theorist Thomas Hobbes.

Second Treatise on Government

By John Locke, another work in political philosophy, was highly influential on the American revolutionaries and Constitutional framers.

Mayflower Compact

Was agreed to by Pilgrim leaders who had landed at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts

Magna Carta

Is a document from medieval England that established certain rights for British citizens.

The Federalist

a series of essays written to address the American controversy over ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

The English Bill of Rights of 1689

Set an important precedent for the Americans who desired a federal Bill of Rights.

Marshall Plan

Was a post-World War II development program for Europe

Delaware

First state to ratify the Constitution; it was a unanimous vote

Political delegates

Represent the wishes of the majority on whose behalf they vote

Earmarks

Federal funds appropriated by Congress for local projects

Executive orders

Presidential directives that direct and create laws and policies within the federal bureaucracy

Caucuses

Closed meetings of members of a political party who meet to decide on political candidates and policy positions

Article 1

Article on both chambers of Congress

Article 2

Article that focuses on the presidency

Article 3

Article that focuses on the courts

Article 4

Article that focuses on the states

Article 5

Article that focuses on amending the Constitution

Article 1, Section 6

Article and section that says, "Senators and Representatives shall receive Compensation for their Services."

Article 1, Section 3

Article and section that says that the Vice President is president of the Senate, though he has no vote, except in the case of a tie vote in the Senate-in which case the Vice President can cast the deciding vote.

Article 1, Section 2

Article and section of the Constitution that reads (in part): "No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years."

30

Senators must be at least how many years old?

18

According to the 26th Amendment to the Constitution, how old must someone be to have a right to vote?

Article 1

Article that the elastic clause is found in

10th Amendment

What amendment says, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Unfunded mandate

When the federal government simply instructs states to meet a certain requirement without providing funding, it is known as this_____

Anarchism

A philosophical opposition to any kind of formal government

Concurrence

Refers to a judge's agreement with a court majority's opinions, though for reasons other than those expressed by the majority

Bill

A piece of proposed legislation

Docket

a court's agenda

Earmarks

Federal funds set aside by Congress members for local projects

Lobby

Also an interest group-a group with a particular interest that seeks to influence legislation

Article III

Article that discusses the Supreme Court

Article II

Article that discusses the Presidency

Both houses of Congress

To override a presidential veto, who must vote in favor of the override by a two-thirds majority?

It becomes law

If the president neither signs nor vetoes a piece of legislation within 10 days and Congress REMAINS in session, what becomes of the bill?

Pocket veto

If a president does not sign a bill and Congress adjourns, then the bill has undergone what?

Gerrymandering

Paths creation if a congressional district to ensure the election of someone from a certain political party or ethnic or racial group.

"Home style"

Refers to appeals of local interests

Two-thirds of the Senate

Agreements between the United States and foreign nations can be made by a president's administration, but for the agreement to go into effect it must have the concurrence of what?

U.S. President

The highest person in the military's chain of command

Sum of state's U.S. Representatives and Senators

A state's representation in the electoral college most directly reflect what?

The Speaker of the House

Becomes president I the event that both the president and the Vice President are incapacitated

President pro tempore

The most senior member of the majority party in the Senate; follows the House Speaker in the line of succession to President

The Secretary of State

Fourth in the line of succession to President

District of Columbia v. Heller

Case over the Second Amendment with the majority decision that the amendment applied to individuals, not simply militias

Engel v. Vitale

Eliminated prayer organized by public schools

Brown v. Board of Education

Required the desegregation of public schools

Balanced Budget Act of 1997

Signed by President Bill Clinton, led to a balanced budget and a budget surplus

McCulloch v. Maryland

Effect of the Supreme Court case that was to strengthen federal power at the expense of stat power

Theory of sampling

Theory that relies on random selection, sample size, and variation

Grand Old Party

The Republican Party's second name.

Cooperative federalism

Sometimes called marble-cake federalism, refers to the overlapping federal and state government jurisdiction

Dual federalism

The term used when federal and state governments operate in separate jurisdictions

Layer-cake federalism

Refers to federal and state governments acting separately but often in overlapping ways.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

Outlawed discrimination in restaurants and hotels illegal, since their business directly affected interstate commerce

The Voting Rights Act of 1965

Annulled tests used, primarily in Southern states, to prevent African Americans from voting.

Roe v. wade

Nullified state laws outlawing first-trimester abortions, though states still had the authority to pass legislation regulating second and third trimesters

Nancy Pelosi

Who was he first female speaker of the House of Representatives?

De facto segregation

The tendency of different races to live in separate communities and, therefore, to attend different schools is referred to as_______

Federalism

The political system that divides political power between states and a federal government is referred to as________

Writ of certiorari

An official request by a higher court, in this case, the Supreme Court

Amicus Curiae briefs

Legal opinions submitted to the Court by interested parties

Miranda v. Arizona

What Supreme Court case in 1966 guaranteed that no individual "shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself?"

gag order

To prevent jurors from hearing about a trial in the media, judges will sometimes impose what restriction on journalists?

Marbury v. Madison

Case where the Supreme Court explicitly gave itself the power of judicial review