Test your basic knowledge |

AP Government

Subjects : civics, ap
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 national meeting of delegates elected at primaries - caucuses - or state conventions who assemble once every four years to nominate candidates for president and vice president - ratify the party platform - elect officers - and adopt rules.






2. Powers the Constitution specifically grants to one of the branches of the national government.






3. Initial proposal at the Constitutional Convention made by the Virginia delegation for a strong central government with a bicameral legislature dominated by the big states.






4. Committee appointed by the presiding officers of each chamber to adjust differences on a particular bill passed by each in different form.






5. Belief in the superiority of one's nation or ethnic group.






6. The authority of a court to hear a case 'in the first instance.'






7. The effort to slow the growth of the federal government by returning many functions to the states.






8. A president's claim of broad public support.






9. Powers inferred from the express powers that allow Congress to carry out its functions.






10. Clause in the Constitution that states that 'Congress should have the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers. . . .' This clause is also known as the elastic clause as is a major and significant p

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11. Agency that administers civil service laws - rules - and regulations.






12. A combination of entitlement programs - paid for by employer and employee taxes - that includes retirement benefits - health insurance - and support for disabled workers and the children of deceased or disabled workers.






13. Widespread agreement on fundamental principles of democratic governance and the values that undergird them.






14. Engaging in activities aimed at influencing public officials - especially legislators - and the policies they enact.






15. Inherent powers of state governments to pass laws to protect the public health - safety - and welfare; the national government has no directly granted police powers but accomplishes the same goals through other delegated powers.






16. The act of declaring party affiliation; required by some states when one registers to vote.






17. Programs that the Federal government requires States to implement without Federal funding.






18. Largely banned party soft money - restored a long-standing prohibition on corporations and labor unions for using general treasury funds for electoral purposes - and narrowed the definition of issue advocacy.






19. The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census - to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population.






20. Period at the beginning of the new president's term during which the president enjoys generally positive relations with the press and Congress - usually lasting about six months.






21. A small political party that rises and falls with a charismatic candidate or - if composed of ideologies on the right or left - usually persists over time; also called a third party.






22. How voters feel about a candidate's background - personality - leadership ability - and other personal qualities.






23. People who favor state or local action rather than national action.






24. An election system in which each party running receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of the vote.






25. The assigning by Congress of congressional seats after each census. State legislatures reapportion state legislative districts.






26. The formal instructions that government issues for implementing laws.






27. A provision attached to a bill






28. A jury of 6 to 12 persons that determines guilt or innocence in a civil or criminal action.






29. The drawing of legislative district boundaries to benefit a party - group - or incumbent.






30. Philosophy proposing that judges should interpret the Constitution to reflect what the framers intended and what its words literally say.






31. Arrangement whereby public officials are hired to provide legal assistance to people accused of crimes who are unable to hire their own attorneys.






32. Clause of the Constitution (Article 1 - Section 8 - Clause 3) setting forth the implied powers of Congress. It states that Congress - in addition to its express powers has the right to make all laws necessary and proper to carry out all powers the Co






33. The process by which individuals perceive what they want to in media messages.






34. An opinion disagreeing with a majority in a Supreme Court ruling.






35. A legislative practice that assigns the chair of the committee or subcommittee to the member of the majority party with the longest continuous service on the committee.






36. Police targeting of racial minorities as potential suspects of criminal activities.






37. Economic theory based on the principles of John Maynard Keynes stating that government spending should increase during business slumps and be curbed during booms.






38. Alternative means of health care in which people or their employers are charged a set amount and the HMO provides health care and covers hospital costs.






39. God's or nature's law that defines right from wrong and is higher than human law.






40. Government in which the people elect those who govern and pass laws; also called a republic.






41. Constitutional arrangement that concentrates power in a central government.






42. A court order requiring explanation to a judge why a prisoner is being held in custody.






43. In this type of sample - every individual has unknown and random chance of being selected.






44. How groups form and organize to pursue their goals or objectives - including how to get individuals and groups to participate and to cooperate. The term has many applications in the various social sciences such as political science - sociology - and






45. The candidate or party that wins more than half the votes cast in an election.






46. Statement required by Federal law from all agencies for any project using Federal funds to assess the potential affect of the new construction or development on the environment.






47. A tax whereby people with lower incomes pay a higher fraction of their income than people with higher incomes.






48. A form of organization that operates through impersonal - uniform rules and procedures.






49. Federal laws (starting with the Sherman Act of 1890) that tried to prevent a monopoly from dominating an industry and restraining trade.






50. An ideology that cherishes individual liberty and insists on minimal government - promoting a free market economy - a noninterventionist foreign policy - and an absence of regulation in moral - economic - and social life.