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






2. Election in which voters choose party nominees.






3. Citizenship in more than one nation.






4. Media that emphasize the news.






5. The drawing of legislative district boundaries to benefit a party - group - or incumbent.






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






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






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






9. The idea that a just government must derive its powers from the consent of the people it governs.






10. A monopoly that controls goods and services - often in combinations that reduce competition.






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






12. 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.






13. 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






14. Those citizens who follow public affairs carefully.






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






16. 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.






17. During the Great Society - the marble cake approach of intergovernmental relations.






18. Contributions to a state or local party for party-building purposes.






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






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






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






22. 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.






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






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






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






26. 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.






27. Promoting a particular position or an issue paid for 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 any regulation.






28. General tax on sales transactions - sometimes exempting food and drugs.






29. The residents of a congressional district or state.






30. Legal process whereby an alleged criminal offender is surrendered by the officials of one states to officials of the state in which the crime is alleged to have been committed.






31. Presidential staff agency that serves as a clearinghouse for budgetary requests and management improvements for government agencies.






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






33. The right to keep executive communications confidential - especially if they relate to National Security.






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






35. The candidate or party that wins more than half the votes cast in an election.






36. Money government provides to parents to pay their children's tuition in a public or private school of their choice.






37. Advertisements and commercials for products and services; they receive less First Amendment protection - primarily to discourage false and misleading ads.






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






39. 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.






40. In a criminal action - the person or party accused of an offense.






41. 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






42. Advisory council for the president consisting of the heads of the executive departments - the vice president - and a few other officials selected by the president.






43. The system created by Congress in 1913 to establish banking practices and regulate currency in circulation and the amount of credit available. It consists of 12 regional banks supervised by the Board of Governors. Often called simply the Fed.






44. Tax levied on imports to help protect the nation's industries - labor - or farmers from foreign competition. It can also be used to raise additional revenue.






45. The reliance on diplomacy and negotiation to solve international problems.






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






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






48. Photo opportunities set up by the candidates. The media have been accused of simplifying complicated political issues by relying on photo ops to explain them to the public.






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






50. The list of potential cases that reach the Supreme Court.