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. 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.






2. 30-second statements on the evening news shows. The media have been accused of simplifying complicated political issues by relying on sound bites to explain them to the public.






3. A theory of international relations that focuses on the tendency of nations to operate from self-interest.






4. The rights of an individual to own - use - rent - invest in - buy - and sell property.






5. 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






6. A congressional district created to include a majority of minority voters; ruled constitutional so long as race is not the main factor in redistricting.






7. The first governing document of the confederated states drafted in 1777 - ratified in 1781 - and replaced by the present Constitution in 1789.






8. Agreement between a prosecutor and a defendant that the defendant will plead guilty to a lesser offense to avoid having to stand trial for more serious offense.






9. A belief that government can and should achieve justice and equality of opportunity.






10. The political arm of an interest group that is legally entitled to raise funds on a voluntary basis from members - stockholders - or employees to contribute funds to candidates or political parties.






11. Presidential refusal to allow an agency to spend funds that Congress authorized and appropriated.






12. Relationships among interest groups - congressional committees and subcommittees - and the government agencies that share a common policy concern.






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






14. A company with a labor agreement under which union membership is a condition of employment.






15. Election in which voters choose party nominees.






16. 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.






17. A system of public employment based on rewarding party loyalists and friends.






18. System designed to reduce voter fraud by limiting voting to those who have established eligibility to vote by submitting the proper documents.






19. International organization derived from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that promotes it free trade around the world.






20. Presidential staff agency that serves as a clearinghouse for budgetary requests and management improvements for government agencies.






21. The power to keep executive communications confidential - especially if they relate to national security.






22. 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.






23. A PAC formed by an officeholder that collects contributions from individuals and other PACs and then makes contributions to other candidates and political parties.






24. The widely shared beliefs - values - and norms about how citizens relate to governments and to one another.






25. Consumer tax on a specific kind of merchandise - such as tobacco.






26. A company with a labor agreement under which union membership cannot be required as a condition of employment.






27. A landmark case in United States law and the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States - under Article Three of the United States Constitution. The case resulted from a petition to the Supreme Court by William Marbury - who had b






28. A specific course of action taken by government to achieve a public goal.






29. Compromise between northern and southern states at the Constitutional Convention that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for determining direct taxation and representation in the House of Representatives.






30. A formal decision to reject the bill passed by Congress.






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






32. The principle of a two-house legislature.






33. Electoral system used in electing the president and vice president - in which voters vote for electors pledged to cast their ballots for particular party's candidates.






34. Views the national government - 50 states - and thousands of local governments as competing with each other over ways to put together packages of services and taxes. Applies the analogy of the marketplace: we have some choice about which state and ci






35. Review of all executive branch testimony - reports - and draft legislation by the Office of Management and Budget to ensure that each communication to Congress is in accordance with the president's program.






36. Essays promoting ratification of the Constitution - published anonymously by Alexander Hamilton - John Jay - and James Madison in 1787 and 1788.






37. An election system in which the candidate with the most votes wins.






38. The reliance on economic and military strength to solve international problems.






39. Written defamation of another person. For public officials and public figures - the constitutional tests designed to restrict libel actions are especially rigid.






40. A formal written statement from a grand jury charging an individual with an offense; also called a true bill.






41. The inclination to focus on national issues - rather than local issues - in an election campaign. The impact of the national tide can be reduced by the nature of the candidates on the ballot who might have differentiated themselves from their party o






42. A meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and to decide the platform.






43. A type of policy that provides benefits to all Americans.






44. Advisory council for the president consisting of the heads of the executive departments - the vice president - and a few other officials selected by the president.






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






46. National Health Insurance program for the elderly and disabled.






47. Trade status granted as part of an international trade policy that gives a nation the same favorable trade concessions and tariffs that the best trading partners receive.






48. A decision by the president not to spend money appropriated by Congress - now prohibited under Federal law.






49. Views the Constitution as giving a limited list of powers—primarily foreign policy and national defense—to the national government - leaving the rest to the sovereign states. Each level of government is dominant within its own sphere. The Supreme Cou






50. An economic and governmental system based on public ownership of the means of production and exchange.