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 technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Total preemption rests on the national governments power under the supremacy and commerce clauses to preempt conflicting state and local activity. Building on this constitutional authority - f






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






3. 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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4. Court order directing an official to perform an official duty.






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






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






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






8. 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.






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






10. Voting based on what a candidate pledges to do in the future about an issue if elected.






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






12. 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.






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






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






15. Segregation imposed by law.






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






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






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






19. A veto exercised by the president after Congress has adjourned; if the president takes no action for 10 days - the bill does not become law and does not return to Congress for possible override.






20. Words that by their very nature inflict injury on those to whom they are addressed or insight them to acts of violence.






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






22. Formal orders issued by the president to direct action by the Federal bureaucracy.






23. The study of the characteristics of populations.






24. Literally - a 'friend of the court' brief - filed by an individual or organization to present arguments in addition to those presented by the immediate parties to a case.






25. The practice of exporting U.S. jobs to lower paid employees in other nations.






26. Democratic party primary in the old 'one-party South' that was limited to white people and essentially constituted an election; ruled unconstitutional in Smith v. Allwright (1944).






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






28. 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.






29. Championed by Ronald Reagan - presumes that the power of the federal government is limited in favor of the broad powers reserved to the states.

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30. A formal agreement between the U.S. president and the leaders of other nations that does not require Senate approval.






31. 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






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






33. A provision attached to a bill






34. A law that defines crimes against the public order.






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






36. A consistent pattern of beliefs about political values and the role of government.






37. 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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38. Government regulation of property so extensive that government is deemed to have taken the property by the power of eminent domain - for which it must compensate the property owners.






39. 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).






40. A procedural practice in the Senate whereby a senator temporarily blocks the consideration of the bill or nomination.






41. The boost that candidates may get in an election because of the popularity of candidates above them on the ballot - especially the president.






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






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






44. The total amount of money the Federal government has borrowed to finance deficit spending over the years.






45. The rule of precedent - whereby a rule or law contained in a judicial decision is commonly viewed as binding on judges whenever the same question is presented.






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






47. 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.






48. Mutual aid and vote trading among legislators.






49. The right of women to vote.

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50. Means of communication that are reaching the public - including newspapers and magazines - radio - television (broadcast - cable - and satellite) - films - recordings - books - and electronic communication.