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. Directive issued by a president or governor that has the force of law.






2. How voters feel about a candidate's background - personality - leadership ability - and other personal qualities.






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






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






5. An electoral district in which voters choose one representative or official.






6. A decision made by a higher court such as a circuit court of appeals or the Supreme Court that is binding on all other federal courts.






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






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






9. A company with a labor agreement under which union membership can be a condition of employment.






10. A minor party dedicated to the environment - social justice - nonviolence - and the foreign policy of nonintervention. Ralph Nader ran as the Green party's nominee in 2000.






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






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






13. A grouping of human beings with distinctive characteristics determined by genetic inheritance.






14. Elections in which voters determine party nominees.






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






16. Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice.






17. 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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18. The desire to avoid international entanglement altogether.






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






20. An imbalance in international trade in which the value of imports exceeds the value of exports.






21. Holding incumbents - usually the president's party - responsible for their records on issues - such as the economy or foreign policy.






22. A collection of people who share a common interest or attitude and seek to influence government for specific ends. Interest groups usually work within the framework of government and try to achieve their goals through tactics such as lobbying.






23. 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






24. An agency of Congress that analyzes presidential budget recommendations and estimates the cost of proposed legislation.






25. The formal process for making regulations.






26. Something given with the expectation of receiving something in return.






27. A close contest; by extension - any contest in which the focus is on who is ahead and by how much rather than on substantive differences between the candidates.






28. The process of putting a law into practice through bureaucratic rules or spending.






29. 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.






30. A writ issued by a magistrate that authorizes the police to search a particular place or person - specifying the place to be searched and the objects to be seized.






31. Weakening of partisan preferences that points to a rejection of both major parties and a rise in the number of independents.






32. The process by which provisions of the bill of rights are brought within the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment and so applied to state and local governments.






33. A combination of entitlement programs - paid for by employer and employee taxes - that includes retirement benefits - health insurance - and support for disabled workers and the children of deceased or disabled workers.






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






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






36. Elections held midway between presidential elections.






37. The difference between the revenues raised annually from sources of income other than borrowing and the expenditures of government - including paying the interest on past borrowing.






38. Agreement between a prosecutor and a defendant that the defendant will plead guilty to a lesser offense to avoid having to stand trial for a more serious offense.






39. Constitutional arrangement in which sovereign nations or states - by compact - create a central government but carefully limit its power and do not give it direct authority over individuals.






40. 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.






41. People who favor national action over action at the state and local levels.






42. A division of population based on occupation - income - and education.






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






44. 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.






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






46. A provision in a deed to real property prohibiting its sale to a person of a particular race or religion. Judicial enforcement of such deeds is unconstitutional.






47. 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.






48. Formal accusation against a president or other public official - the first step in removal from office.






49. A theory that government should control the money supply to encourage economic growth and restrain inflation.






50. Federal laws (starting with the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890) that try to prevent a monopoly from dominating an industry and restraining trade.