Sample Questions: American Government

The following American Government sample questions aren't used in actual CLEP exams and aren’t presented here as they will be on the test. Use them to get a sense of question format and difficulty level.

Directions

Each of the questions or incomplete statements below is followed by five suggested answers or completions. Select the one that is best in each case.

Questions

1. Which of the following best explains the consistent growth of the federal bureaucracy over the past hundred years?
   1. Increases in federal income tax since 1925
   2. The inability of Congress to cut programs
   3. The success of Democratic presidents in promoting their policies
   4. Public demand for and expectation of social services
   5. United States Supreme Court rulings requiring Congress to assist those living in poverty
2. Public opinion is given a lot of attention in democracies because the democratic form of government rests on
   1. underwriting by the wealthy
   2. access to politicians
   3. the consent of the governed
   4. mobilization of the poor
   5. the capabilities of bureaucrats
3. An oral statement that is false and intended to damage an individual is known as
   1. slander
   2. libel
   3. testimony
   4. argument
   5. free speech
4. Which of the following clearly outlines the tasks charged to the Federal Reserve as a regulatory agency?
   1. Protecting market users and the public from fraud, manipulation, and abusive practices related to the sale of commodity and financial futures and options
   2. Eliminating and preventing what regulators perceive to be harmfully anticompetitive business practices, such as coercive monopolies
   3. Disclosing campaign-finance information and overseeing the public funding of presidential elections
   4. Developing government-wide, cost-minimizing policies and offering superior workplaces, expert solutions, acquisition services, and management policies
   5. Providing financial services to depository institutions, the United States government, and foreign institutions and playing a key role in operating the nation’s payments system
5. Although the Constitution does not explicitly give Congress the right to enact a military draft, which clause in the Constitution allows Congress to do so?
   1. Necessary and proper clause
   2. Take care clause
   3. Taxing and spending clause
   4. Due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
   5. Equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
6. The formation of numerous interest groups during the post–Civil War industrialization shows the
   1. influence of debates about slavery on the public
   2. growing influence of women’s rights groups
   3. minimal influence of the federal government on group formation
   4. influence of social tensions and economic stress on group formation
   5. shift in federal government funding for interest groups
7. Which of the following is the best definition of civil liberties?
   1. Procedures that guarantee a fair criminal justice process
   2. Rights gained through citizenship that provide protection from discrimination
   3. Actions and freedoms that the government may not arbitrarily prohibit or interfere with
   4. Types of speech that are not protected by the Constitution such as profanity or slander
   5. Organizations outside of government that provide avenues of public participation in society

Answers

1) D   2) C   3) A   4) E   5) A   6) D   7) C