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






2. A philosophy that encourages individual nations to act on their own when facing threats from other nations.






3. A theory of government that holds that open - multiple - and competing groups can check the asserted power by any one group.






4. The precise legal definition of how government will implement a policy.






5. A congressional committee created for a specific purpose - sometimes to conduct an investigation.






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






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






8. Stresses federalism as a system of intergovernmental relations in delivering governmental goods and services to the people and calls for cooperation among various levels of government.






9. Presidential power to strike - or remove - specific items from a spending bill without vetoing the entire package; declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.






10. The clause of the Constitution (Article I - Section 8 - Clause 3) that gives Congress the power to regulate all business activities that cross state lines or affect more than one state or other nations.






11. A policy-making alliance that involves a very strong ties among a congressional committee - an interest group - and a Federal Department or agency.






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






13. 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






14. Officer of the Senate selected by the majority party to act as chair in the absence of the vice president.






15. The informal list of issues that Congress and the president consider most important for action.






16. Loss of tax revenue due to Federal laws that provide special tax incentives or benefits to individuals or businesses.






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






18. Alternative means of health care in which individuals make tax-deductible contributions to a special account that can be used to pay medical expenses.






19. Biological - chemical - or nuclear weapons that can cause a massive number of deaths in a single use.






20. State laws formerly pervasive throughout the South requiring public facilities and accommodations to be segregated by race; ruled unconstitutional.






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






22. Established rules and regulations that restrain government officials.






23. The president's annual statement to Congress and the nation.






24. 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.






25. Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787 - protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need for a strong national government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went out.

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26. Those citizens who follow public affairs closely.






27. Governance according to the expressed preferences of the majority.






28. Procedure for submitting to popular vote the removal of officials from office before the end of their term.






29. The process by which we develop our political attitudes - values - and beliefs.






30. 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.






31. 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






32. The dispensing of government jobs to persons who belong to the winning political party.






33. The authority of a court to review decisions made by lower courts.






34. 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






35. Interpretation of the First Amendment that holds that freedom of expression is so essential to democracy that governments should not punish persons for what they say - only for what they do.






36. An economic system characterized by private property - competitive markets - economic incentives - and limited government involvement in the production - distribution - and pricing of goods and services.






37. 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.






38. 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.






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






40. Literacy requirements some states imposed as a condition of voting - generally used to disqualify black voters in the South; now illegal.






41. 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.






42. An official who is expected to represent the views of his or her constituents even when personally holding different views; one interpretation of the role of legislator.






43. A policy-making alliance among loosely connected participants that comes together on a particular issue - then disbands.






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






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






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






47. Elections held midway between presidential elections.






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






49. Procedure for submitting to popular vote measures passed by the legislature or proposed amendments to a state constitution.






50. Elections held in years when the president is on the ballot.