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. Programs such as unemployment insurance - disability relief - or disability payments that provide benefits to all eligible citizens.






2. A policy-making alliance that involves a very strong ties among a congressional committee - an interest group - and a Federal Department or agency.






3. Money spent by individuals or groups not associated with candidates to elect or defeat candidates for office.






4. A dispute growing out of an actual case or controversy and that is capable of settlement by legal methods.






5. A type of policy that provides benefits to all Americans.






6. Philosophy proposing that judges should interpret the Constitution to reflect current conditions and values.






7. An informal and subjective affiliation with a political party that most people acquire in childhood.






8. Unlimited and undisclosed spending by an individual or group on communications that do not use words like 'vote for' or 'vote against -' although much of this activity is actually about electing or defeating candidates.






9. An organization that seeks political power by electing people to office so that its positions and philosophy become public policy.






10. Views the national government - 50 states - and thousands of local governments as competing with each other over ways to put together packages of services and taxes. Applies the analogy of the marketplace: we have some choice about which state and ci






11. 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.






12. 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.






13. The right of a federal law or a regulation to preclude enforcement of a state or local law or regulation.






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






15. 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.






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






17. A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that permits floor amendments within the overall time allocated to the bill.






18. Domination of an industry by a single company that fixes prices and discourages competition; also - the company that dominates the industry by these means.






19. Aid to the poor; 'welfare.'






20. 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.






21. A government agency that operates like a business corporation - created to secure greater freedom of action and flexibility for a particular program.






22. 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






23. 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.






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






25. An election system in which the candidate with the most votes wins.






26. Presidential custom of submitting the names of prospective appointees for approval to senators from the states in which the appointees are to work.






27. An opinion that agrees with the majority in a Supreme Court ruling but differs on the reasoning.






28. State laws formerly pervasive throughout the South requiring public facilities and accommodations to be segregated by race; ruled unconstitutional.






29. Through different grant programs - slices up the marble cake into many different pieces - making it even more difficult to differentiate the functions of the levels of government.






30. Inherent powers of state governments to pass laws to protect the public health - safety - and welfare; the national government has no directly granted police powers but accomplishes the same goals through other delegated powers.






31. A minor party founded by Ross Perot in 1995. It focuses on national government reform - fiscal responsibility - and political accountability. It has recently struggled with internal strife and criticism that it lacks an identity.






32. 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.






33. 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.






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






35. 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.






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






37. Political contributions given to a party - candidate - or interest group that are limited in amounts and fully disclosed. Raising such limited funds is harder than raising unlimited funds - hence the term 'hard money.'






38. A local or judicial election in which candidates are not selected or endorsed by political parties and party affiliation is not listed on ballots.






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






40. 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.






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






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






43. Biological - chemical - or nuclear weapons that can cause a massive number of deaths in a single use.






44. 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.






45. A national meeting of delegates elected in primaries - caucuses - or state conventions who assemble once every four years to nominate candidates for president and vice president - ratify the party platform - elect officers - and adopt rules.






46. Powers that grow out of the very existence of government.






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






48. Financial contributions by individuals or groups in the hope of influencing the outcome of the election and subsequently influencing policy.






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






50. A court with appellate jurisdiction that hears appeals from the decisions of lower courts.