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Test your basic knowledge |
AP Government
Start Test
Study First
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. Candidate or party with the most votes cast in an election - not necessarily more than half.
Dual federalism (layer cake federalism)
Contract clause
Conservatism
Plurality
2. A meeting of party delegates to vote on matters of policy and in some cases to select party candidates for public office.
Rally point
Party convention
Executive agreement
Issue advocacy
3. Weakening of partisan preferences that points to a rejection of both major parties and a rise in the number of independents.
Trust
Dealignment
Turnout
Treaty
4. 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.
Ethnicity
Realism
Standing committee
Due process clause
5. The process - most notably in families and schools - by which we develop our political attitudes - values - and beliefs.
De facto segregation
Social insurance
Reinforcing cleavages
Political socialization
6. A judicial system in which the court of law is a neutral arena where two parties argue their differences.
Indexing
Centralists
Independent expenditures
Adversary system
7. Voting by member of one party for a candidate of another party.
Crossover voting
Political ideology
Linkage institutions
Special or select committee
8. Constitutional requirement that governments act reasonably and that the substance of the laws themselves be fair and reasonable; limits what the government may do.
Substantive due process
Special or select committee
Theocracy
Offshoring
9. The drawing of legislative district boundaries to benefit a party - group - or incumbent.
Open shop
Gerrymandering
Suffrage
Writ of mandamus
10. 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.
Presidential ticket
Policy agenda
Confederation
Interest group
11. Literally - a 'friend of the court' brief - filed by an individual or organization to present arguments in addition to those presented by the immediate parties to a case.
amicus curiae brief
Lobbying
Impoundment
Judicial activism
12. Compromise agreement by states at the Constitutional Convention for a bicameral legislature with a lower house in which representation would be based on population and an upper house in which each state would have two senators.
Ethnocentrism
Cycle of increasing effectiveness
Connecticut Compromise
Race
13. The formal process for making regulations.
Isolationism
Restrictive covenant
Rule-making process
Prospective issue voting
14. Divisions within society that reinforce one another - making groups more homogenous or similar.
Political socialization
Earmarks
Reinforcing cleavages
Libertarianism
15. Court order directing an official to perform an official duty.
Selective exposure
Restrictive covenant
Crossover sanctions
Writ of mandamus
16. A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Federal grants may establish certain conditions that extend to all activities supported by federal funds - regardless of their source. The first and most famous of these is Title VI of the 196
Cross-cutting requirements
Concurrent powers
Political culture
Women's suffrage
17. The widely shared beliefs - values - and norms about how citizens relate to governments and to one another.
Antifederalists
Protectionism
Political culture
Sedition
18. 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.
Theory of deterrence
Federal Reserve System
Cross-cutting cleavages
Hard power
19. The means by which individuals can express preferences regarding the development of public policy.
Joint committee
Patronage
Bureaucrat
Linkage institutions
20. 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.
Exclusionary rule
Economic sanctions
Regulation
Soft money
21. Literacy requirements some states imposed as a condition of voting - generally used to disqualify black voters in the South; now illegal.
Gerrymandering
Racial gerrymandering
Literacy test
Procedural due process
22. Divisions within society that cut across demographic categories to produce groups that are more heterogeneous or different.
Cross-cutting cleavages
The Federalist
Hard money
De jure segregation
23. Elections in which voters determine party nominees.
Adversary system
Preemption
Filibuster
Primary election
24. The right of a federal law or a regulation to preclude enforcement of a state or local law or regulation.
'Necessary and proper' clause
Preemption
National Intelligence Director
Seniority rule
25. Contributions to a state or local party for party-building purposes.
Soft money
Divided government
Interstate compact
Hard money
26. A government entity that is independent of the legislative - executive - and judicial branches.
Trustee
Independent agency
Virginia Plan
Direct primary
27. A system of government in which the legislature selects the prime minister or president.
Trust
Redistricting
Pocket veto
Parliamentary system
28. An official document - published every weekday - which lists the new and proposed regulations of executive departments and regulatory agencies.
Mass media
Lobbying
Prior restraint
Federal Register
29. Segregation imposed by law.
Mandate
De jure segregation
Social capital
Value-added tax (VAT)
30. The constitutional requirement (in Article II - Section 3) that presidents take care that the laws are faithfully executed - even if they disagree with the purpose of those laws.
Faction
Sound bites
Take care clause
Electoral college
31. Domination of an industry by a single company that fixes prices and discourages competition; also - the company that dominates the industry by these means.
Socioeconomic status (SES)
Health maintenance organization (HMO)
Monetary policy
Monopoly
32. 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.
Preferred position doctrine
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Commerce clause
Search warrant
33. Conservative Christians who (as a group) have become more active in politics in the last two decades and were especially influential in the 2000 presidential election.
Fighting words
Fundamentalists
Issue advocacy
Socioeconomic status (SES)
34. Powers that the Constitution gives to both the national and state governments - such as the power to levy taxes.
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Earmarks
Interstate compact
Concurrent powers
35. Arrangement whereby public officials are hired to provide legal assistance to people accused of crimes who are unable to hire their own attorneys.
Hard money
Special or select committee
Public defender system
Plea bargain
36. Trial or punishment for the same crime by the same government; forbidden by the Constitution.
Spoils system
Collective bargaining
Double jeopardy
Issue network
37. A company in which new employees must join a union within a stated time period.
Nonpartisan election
Restrictive covenant
Linkage institutions
Union shop
38. Petition that - if signed by majority of the House of Representatives' members - will pry a bill from committee and bring it to the floor for consideration.
Jim Crow laws
Competitive federalism
Senatorial courtesy
Discharge petition
39. A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that permits floor amendments within the overall time allocated to the bill.
Logrolling
Adversary system
Open rule
Racial gerrymandering
40. A formal agreement between a U.S. president and the leaders of other nations that acquires approval by both houses of Congress.
Majority-minority district
Earmarks
Criminal law
Congressional-executive agreement
41. The list of potential cases that reach the Supreme Court.
Docket
Judicial review
Unfunded mandates
Necessary and proper clause
42. A specific course of action taken by government to achieve a public goal.
Writ of habeas corpus
Public policy
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA)
Candidate appeal
43. The idea that a just government must derive its powers from the consent of the people it governs.
Distributive policy
Tariff
Obscenity
Popular consent
44. A type of policy that provides benefits to all Americans.
Turnout
Distributive policy
Federalism
Idealism
45. The reliance on economic and military strength to solve international problems.
Attentive public
Hard power
Regulation
Entitlements
46. Formal accusation against a president or other public official - the first step in removal from office.
Collective bargaining
Cloture
Unfunded mandates
Impeachment
47. The powers expressly given to Congress in the Constitution.
Protectionism
Veto
Antitrust legislation
Enumerated powers
48. Means of communication that are reaching the public - including newspapers and magazines - radio - television (broadcast - cable - and satellite) - films - recordings - books - and electronic communication.
Political action committee (PAC)
News media
Minority leader
Mass media
49. 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
Direct orders
Political culture
Caucus
Economic sanctions
50. Unlimited amounts of money that political parties previously could raise for party-building purposes. Now largely illegal except for limited contributions to state and local parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts.
Soft money
Name recognition
Tariff
527 organizations