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. A jury of 6 to 12 persons that determines guilt or innocence in a civil or criminal action.






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






3. An opinion disagreeing with a majority in a Supreme Court ruling.






4. 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.






5. Providing automatic increases to compensate for inflation.






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






7. Powers expressly or implicitly reserved to the states.

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8. A company with a labor agreement under which union membership cannot be required as a condition of employment.






9. A theory of international relations that focuses on the hope the nations will act together to solve international problems and promote peace.






10. 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






11. The residents of a congressional district or state.






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






13. System designed to reduce voter fraud by limiting voting to those who have established eligibility to vote by submitting the proper documents.






14. The drawing of election districts so as to ensure that members of a certain race are a minority in the district; ruled unconstitutional in Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960).






15. A national meeting of delegates elected at 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.






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






17. A belief that limited government insures order competitive markets and personal opportunity.






18. An official document - published every weekday - which lists the new and proposed regulations of executive departments and regulatory agencies.






19. 30-second statements on the evening news shows. The media have been accused of simplifying complicated political issues by relying on sound bites to explain them to the public.






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






21. 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.






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






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






24. Elections held midway between presidential elections.






25. A government agency or commission with regulatory power whose independence is protected by Congress.






26. 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.






27. A rising public approval of the president that follows a crisis as Americans 'rally 'round the flag' and the chief executive.






28. 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.






29. A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. These sanctions permit the use of federal money in one program to influence state and local policy in another. For example - a 1984 act reduced federal highway aid by up to 15 percent for any






30. 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.






31. The powers of the national government in foreign affairs that the Supreme Court has declared do not depend on constitutional grants but rather grow out of the very existence of the national government.






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






33. The widely shared beliefs - values - and norms about how citizens relate to governments and to one another.






34. The number of Americans who are out of work but actively looking for a job. The number does not usually include those who are not looking.






35. Those citizens who follow public affairs carefully.






36. The boost that candidates may get in an election because of the popularity of candidates above them on the ballot - especially the president.






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






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






39. 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.






40. A formal decision to reject the bill passed by Congress.






41. 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.






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






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






44. 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.






45. Stresses federalism as a system of intergovernmental relations in delivering governmental goods and services to the people and calls for cooperation among various levels of government.






46. A belief that ultimate power resides in the people.






47. Statement required by Federal law from all agencies for any project using Federal funds to assess the potential affect of the new construction or development on the environment.






48. 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.






49. Presidential refusal to allow an agency to spend funds that Congress authorized and appropriated.






50. A judicial system in which the court of law is a neutral arena where two parties argue their differences.