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. Tax required to vote; prohibited for national elections by the Twenty-Fourth Amendment (1964) and ruled unconstitutional for all elections in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966).






2. The legislative leader selected by the minority party as spokesperson for the opposition.






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






4. A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that permits floor amendments within the overall time allocated to the bill.






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






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






7. An official who is expected to vote independently based on his or her judgment of the circumstances; one interpretation of the role of the legislator.






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






9. Federal statute barring Federal employees from active participation in certain kinds of politics and protecting them from being fired on partisan grounds.






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






11. A court order forbidding specific individuals or groups from performing certain acts (such as striking) that the court considers harmful to the rights and property of an employer or community.






12. The powers expressly given to Congress in the Constitution.






13. The tendency in elections to focus on the personal attributes of a candidate - such as his/her strengths - weaknesses - background - experience - and visibility.






14. The drawing of election districts so as to ensure that members of a certain race are a minority in the district; ruled unconstitutional in Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960).






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






16. Censorship imposed before a speech is made or a newspaper is published; usually presumed to be unconstitutional.






17. Assigning police to neighborhoods where they walk the beat and work with churches and other community groups to reduce crime and improve relations with minorities.






18. 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.






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






20. Media that emphasize the news.






21. 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.






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






23. 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.






24. 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.






25. Party leader who is the liaison between the leadership and the rank-and-file in the legislature.






26. 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.






27. 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






28. 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.






29. The distribution of individual preferences or evaluations of a given issue - candidate - or institution within a specific population.






30. Retroactive criminal law that works to the disadvantage of a person.






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






32. The residents of a congressional district or state.






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






34. A system of public employment in which selection and promotion depend on demonstrated performance rather than political patronage.






35. The head of the White House staff.






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






37. 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.






38. 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






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






40. Procedure whereby a certain number of voters may - by petition - propose a law or constitutional amendment and have it submitted to the voters.






41. The right to vote.






42. A jury of 12 to 23 persons who - in private - hear evidence presented by the government to determine whether persons shall be required to stand trial. If the jury believes there is sufficient evidence that a crime was committed - it issues an indictm






43. Unlimited amounts of money that political parties previously could raise for party-building purposes. Now largely illegal except for limited contributions to state and local parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts.






44. Clause of the Constitution (Article I - Section 10) originally intended to prohibit state governments from modifying contracts made between individuals; for a while interpreted as prohibiting state governments from taking actions that adversely affec






45. Voting by member of one party for a candidate of another party.






46. The principle of a two-house legislature.






47. The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals - groups - and parties can spend unlimited amounts in campaigns for or against candidates as long as they operate independently from the candidates. When an individual - group - or party does so - they are






48. Attempting to overthrow the government by force or use violence to interrupt its activities.






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






50. A system of government in which the legislature selects the prime minister or president.