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. The Federal government's primary intelligence officer - responsible for overseeing all national intelligence agencies and providing advice to the President on terrorist threats.






2. The right of women to vote.

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3. Powers that grow out of the very existence of government.






4. The right to renounce one's citizenship.






5. A government that enforces recognized limits on those who govern and allows the voice of the people to be heard through free - fair - and relatively frequent elections.






6. Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment that forbids any state to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. By interpretation - the Fifth Amendment imposes the same limitation on the national government. This clause is t






7. An election during periods of expanded suffrage and change in the economy and society that proves to be a turning point - redefining the agenda of politics and the alignment of voters within parties.






8. A local or judicial election in which candidates are not selected or endorsed by political parties and party affiliation is not listed on ballots.






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






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






11. Theory based on the principles of John Maynard Keynes - stating that government spending should increase during business slumps and the curve during booms.






12. A court with appellate jurisdiction that hears appeals from the decisions of lower courts.






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






14. The widespread belief that the United States is a land of opportunity and that individual initiative and hard work can bring economic success.






15. Congress appropriates funds for a specific purpose - such as school lunches or for building airports and highways. These funds are allocated by formula and are subject to detailed federal conditions - often on a matching basis; that is - the local go






16. The constitutional requirement (in Article II - Section 3) that presidents take care that the laws are faithfully executed - even if they disagree with the purpose of those laws.






17. The principle of a two-house legislature.






18. Divisions within society that reinforce one another - making groups more homogenous or similar.






19. A policy adopted by the Bush administration in 2001 that asserts America's right to attack any nation that has weapons of mass destruction that might be used against U.S. interests at home or abroad.






20. A minor party that believes in extremely limited government. Libertarians call for a free market system - expanded individual liberties such as drug legalization - and a foreign policy of nonintervention - free trade - and open immigration.






21. Promoting a particular position or an issue by interest groups or individuals but not candidates. Much issue advocacy is often electioneering for or against a candidate and - until 2004 had not been subject to regulation.






22. Election system in which the candidate with the most votes wins.






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






24. Deliberate refusal to obey law or comply with orders of public officials as a means of expressing opposition.






25. 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.






26. A formal decision to reject a bill passed by Congress after it adjourns






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






28. An organization that seeks political power by electing people to office so that its positions and philosophy become public policy.






29. A government agency or commission with regulatory power whose independence is protected by Congress.






30. Programs such as unemployment insurance - disaster relief - or disability payments that provide benefits to all eligible citizens.






31. The proportion of the voting age public that votes - sometimes defined as the number of registered voters that vote.






32. The total output of all economic activity in the nation - including goods and services.






33. A formal - public agreement between the United States and one or more nations that must be approved by two thirds of the Senate.






34. A procedure for terminating debate - especially filibusters - in the Senate.






35. A tax on increased value of the product at each stage of production and distribution rather than just at the point of sale.






36. An informal and subjective affiliation with a political party that most people acquire in childhood.






37. Clause in the Fifth Amendment limiting the power of the national government; similar clause in the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the state governments from depriving any person of life - liberty - or property without due process of law.






38. Government by the people - both directly or indirectly - with free and frequent elections.






39. Compromise agreement by states at the Constitutional Convention for a bicameral legislature with a lower house in which representation would be based on population and an upper house in which each state would have two senators.






40. 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






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






42. The tendency of presidents to lose support over time.






43. The power of a court to refuse to enforce a law or government regulation that in the opinion of the judges conflicts with the U.S. Constitution or - in a state court - the state constitution.






44. Unlimited and undisclosed spending by an individual or group on communications that do not use words like 'vote for' or 'vote against -' although much of this activity is actually about electing or defeating candidates.






45. Primary election in which only persons registered in the party holding the primary may vote.






46. A widely shared and consciously held view - like support for homeland security.






47. Clause in the First Amendment that states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. The Supreme Court has interpreted this to forbid governmental support to any or all religions.






48. A notion held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent - from the Atlantic the Pacific.






49. Government in which citizens vote on laws and select officials directly.






50. The clause in the Constitution (Article 1 - Section 8 - Clause 1) that gives Congress the power to regulate all business activities that cross state lines or affect more than one state or other nations.