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






2. 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.






3. 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.






4. 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.






5. A company in which new employees must join a union within a stated time period.






6. 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.






7. A notion held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent - from the Atlantic the Pacific.






8. 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.






9. Government by the people - both directly or indirectly - with free and frequent elections.






10. The principle of a two-house legislature.






11. Constitutional requirement that governments proceed by proper methods; limits how government may exercise power.






12. Those citizens who follow public affairs closely.






13. Requirement that evidence unconstitutionally or illegally obtained be excluded from a criminal trial.






14. Committee appointed by the presiding officers of each chamber to adjust differences on a particular bill passed by each in different form.






15. Belief in the superiority of one's nation or ethnic group.






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






17. Trade status granted as part of an international trade policy that gives a nation the same favorable trade concessions and tariffs that the best trading partners receive.






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






19. A theory that is based on creating enough military strength to convince other nations not to attack first.






20. The desire to avoid international entanglement altogether.






21. A form of organization that operates through impersonal - uniform rules and procedures.






22. 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.






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






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. The right to renounce one's citizenship.






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






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






28. Media that emphasize the news.






29. Policy of erecting trade barriers to protect domestic industry.






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






31. 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.






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






33. An action taken by Congress to reverse the presidential veto - requiring a two-thirds majority in each chamber.






34. Divisions within society that cut across demographic categories to produce groups that are more heterogeneous or different.






35. The convention in Philadelphia - May 25 to September 17 - 1787 - that debated and agreed upon the Constitution of the United States.






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






37. Election in which voters choose party nominees.






38. A meeting of the members of a party in a legislative chamber to select party leaders and to develop party policy. Called a conference by the Republicans.






39. A large body of people interested in a common issue - idea - or concern that is of continuing significance and who are willing to take action. Movements seek to change attitudes or institutions - not just policies.






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






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


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






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






44. The precise legal definition of how government will implement a policy.






45. The tendency of presidents to learn more about doing their jobs over time.






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






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






48. Elections held midway between presidential elections.






49. 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.






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