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. Clause in the Constitution (Article 4 - Section 1) requiring each state to recognize the civil judgments rendered by the courts of the other states and to accept their public records and acts as valid.






2. Election in which voters choose party nominees.






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






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






5. The rights of all people to dignity and worth; also called human rights.






6. Citizenship in more than one nation.






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






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






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






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






11. A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Direct orders must be complied with under threat of criminal or civil sanction. An example is the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 - barring job discrimination by state and local gover






12. Money raised in unlimited amounts by political parties for party-building purposes. Now largely illegal except for limited contributions to state or local parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts.






13. Constitutional grant of powers that enables each of the three branches of government to check some acts of the others and therefore ensure that no branch can dominate.






14. Arrangement whereby public officials are hired to provide legal assistance to people accused of crimes who are unable to hire their own attorneys.






15. Statement required by Federal law from all agencies for any project using Federal funds to assess the potential affect of the new construction or development on the environment.






16. Authority given by Congress to the Federal bureaucracy to use reasonable judgment in implementing the laws.






17. A person who is employed by and acts for an organized interest group or corporation to try to influence policy decisions and positions in the executive and legislative branches.






18. A convention held in September 1786 to consider problems of trade and navigation - attended by five states and important because it issued the call to Congress and the states for what became the Constitutional Convention.






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. An agreement among two or more states. Congress must approve most such agreements.






21. Quality or state of a work that taken as a whole appeals to a prurient interest in sex by depicting sexual conduct in a patently offensive way and that lacks serious literary - artistic - political - or scientific value.






22. The effort to slow the growth of the federal government by returning many functions to the states.






23. A theory of international relations that focuses on the hope the nations will act together to solve international problems and promote peace.






24. The current holder of the elected office.






25. Programs such as Medicaid and welfare under which applicants must meet eligibility requirements based on need.






26. 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.






27. 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.






28. Clause in the First Amendment that states that Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion.






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






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






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






32. Primary election in which any voter - regardless of party - may vote.






33. An individual who does not to join a group representing his or her interests yet receives the benefit of the group's influence.






34. Governance divided between the parties - as when one holds the presidency and the other controls one or both houses of Congress.






35. Constitutional arrangement in which power is distributed between a central government and subdivisional governments - called states in the United States. The national and the subdivisional governments both exercise direct authority over individuals.






36. A meeting of party delegates to vote on matters of policy and in some cases to select party candidates for public office.






37. 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.






38. A committee composed of members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate; such committees oversee the Library of Congress and conduct investigations.






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






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






41. A requirement the federal government imposes as a condition for receiving federal funds.






42. Conceives of federalism as a marble cake in which all levels of government are involved in a variety of issues and programs - rather than a layer cake - or dual federalism - with fixed divisions between layers or levels of government.






43. Financial contributions by individuals or groups in the hope of influencing the outcome of the election and subsequently influencing policy.






44. These are broad state grants to states for prescribed activities—welfare - child care - education - social services - preventive health care - and health services—with only a few strings attached. States have greater flexibility in deciding how to sp






45. 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.






46. The means by which individuals can express preferences regarding the development of public policy.






47. A rising public approval of the president that follows a crisis as Americans 'rally 'round the flag' and the chief executive.






48. Employment cycle in which individuals who work for governmental agencies that regulate interests eventually end up working for interest groups or businesses with the same policy concern.






49. 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






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