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






2. Economic theory based on the principles of John Maynard Keynes stating that government spending should increase during business slumps and be curbed during booms.






3. 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.






4. Mutual aid and vote trading among legislators.






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






6. Party leader who is the liaison between the leadership and the rank-and-file in the legislature.






7. The presiding officer in the House of Representatives - formally elected by the House but actually selected by the majority party.






8. Interpretation of the First Amendment that holds that the government cannot interfere with speech unless the speech presents a clear and present danger that it will lead to evil or illegal acts.






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






10. Tax required to vote; prohibited for national elections by the Twenty-Fourth Amendment (1964) and ruled unconstitutional for all elections in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966).






11. The process - most notably in families and schools - by which we develop our political attitudes - values - and beliefs.






12. God's or nature's law that defines right from wrong and is higher than human law.






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






14. The Federal government's primary intelligence officer - responsible for overseeing all national intelligence agencies and providing advice to the President on terrorist threats.






15. 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.






16. Elections in which voters elect officeholders.






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






18. 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.






19. 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.






20. Agency that administers civil service laws - rules - and regulations.






21. Consumer tax on a specific kind of merchandise - such as tobacco.






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






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






24. The portion of the Federal budget that is spent on programs - such as Social Security - that the president and Congress are unwilling to cut.






25. Electoral system used in electing the president and vice president - in which voters vote for electors pledged to cast their ballots for particular party's candidates.






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






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






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






29. Censorship imposed before a speech is made or a newspaper is published; usually presumed to be unconstitutional.






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






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






32. 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.






33. Powers the Constitution specifically grants to one of the branches of the national government.






34. Promoting a particular position or an issue 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 regulation.






35. The president's annual statement to Congress and the nation.






36. 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.






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






38. 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.






39. In this type of sample - every individual has unknown and random chance of being selected.






40. Formal accusation by the lower house of legislature against a public official - the first step in removal from office.






41. Efforts by government to alter the free operation of the market to achieve social goals such as protecting workers and the environment.






42. A meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and to decide the platform.






43. 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.






44. 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.






45. 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.






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






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






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






49. A jury of 12 to 23 persons who - in private - hear evidence presented by the government to determine whether persons shall be required to stand trial. If the jury believes there is sufficient evidence that a crime was committed - it issues an indictm






50. Government policy that attempts to manage the economy by controlling the money supply and thus interest rates.