American Government CLEP Practice Test #1 100% Verified

American Government CLEP Practice Test #1 100% Verified The Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954 - answerordered the racial desegregation of public schools A person who votes based on what a candidate says he or she will do in the future is said to be - answerengaging in prospective voting Should presidential candidates receive an equal number of electoral votes, the election is decided by - answerthe Houses of Representatives "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." These words best define what political arrangement? - answerA democracy New England's town meetings are examples of - answerdirect democracy Under the pen name "Publius", Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay wrote - answerthe Federalist Papers In the seventeenth century, the signers of which of the following documents agreed to live under the colony's recognized authority and to wait for a royal charter, such as the Virginians had? - answerthe Mayflower Compact A person who believes that the government should do what the majority of people in the country want to do is advocating - answermajoritarianism The purpose of the electoral college is to - answerchoose to U.S. president In the debates over the Constitution, federalists and anti-federalists spoke of factions the way we today speak of - answerinterest groups The U.S. Constitution requires that political authority be divided among the three branches of government. This is referred to as - answerthe separation of powers The English philosopher whose words are heavily drawn on in the Declaration of Independence was - answerJohn Locke Insofar as the Constitution is concerned, members of Congress receive payment for their work from - answerthe U.S. treasury The vice president of the United States is the president of what government body? - answerthe Senate What is the minimum age specified in the Constitution for members of the House of Representatives? - answer25 The Constitution specifically empowers Congress to coin money, declare war, and admit new states into the Union. These powers are referred to as - answerenumerated powers In which of the nation's founding documents could one point to an "elastic clause" to justify the existence of large government agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services? - answerthe Consititution 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 the - answerstate legislatures and the people The term administrative discretion refers to which of the following? - answerCongress sets guidelines for government agencies to follow The Real ID Act of 2005 was an example of - answeran unfunded mandate Senators have the power to "talk a bill to death." What is the formal term for this procedure? - answerfilibuster A piece of legislation proposed to Congress is called - answera bill What do unanimous consent agreements accomplish? - answerthey end debate in the Senate When voting for presidential candidates, residents of the states are saying that they want their state's Electoral College votes to go to that candidate. This is an example of - answerindirect democracy An interest group perceives a problem and then works to encourage legislation that addresses the problem. Interest groups can legally promote their agendas by doing all of following EXCEPT - answerpaying a legislator in exchange for a vote in favor of the interest group When a bill has passed through a subcommittee, a full committee, and both Congressional houses, the president can still kill the bill via veto. What must happen for a presidential veto to be overturned? - answera two-thirds vote must occur in both Congressional chambers If a president neither signs nor vetoes a piece of legislation within 10 days and Congress remains in session, what becomes of the bill? - answerit becomes a law