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. 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.






2. Democratic and civic habits of discussion - compromise - and respect for differences - which grow out of participation in voluntary organizations.






3. 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.






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






5. 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.






6. The process by which provisions of the bill of rights are brought within the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment and so applied to state and local governments.






7. Implies that although federalism provides 'a sharing of power and authority between the national and state governments - the state's share rests upon the permission and permissiveness of the national government.'






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






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






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






11. The principle of a two-house legislature.






12. A small political party that rises and falls with a charismatic candidate or - if composed of ideologies on the right or left - usually persists over time; also called a third party.






13. 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.






14. Government in which citizens vote on laws and select officials directly.






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






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






17. The tendency of presidents to lose support over time.






18. The process of putting a law into practice through bureaucratic rules or spending.






19. The formal instructions that government issues for implementing laws.






20. The reliance on economic and military strength to solve international problems.






21. A law that defines crimes against the public order.






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






23. Donations made to political candidates - party committees - or groups which - by law - are limited and must be declared.






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






25. Legislative act inflicting punishment - including deprivation of property - without a trial - on named individuals or members of a specific group.






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






27. Theory that opposes governmental interference in economic affairs beyond what is necessary to protect life and property.






28. A decision by the president not to spend money appropriated by Congress - now prohibited under Federal law.






29. Officer of the Senate selected by the majority party to act as chair in the absence of the vice president.






30. 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.






31. A procedural practice in the Senate whereby a senator refuses to relinquish the floor and thereby delays proceedings and prevents a vote on a controversial issue.






32. An elected office that is predictably won by one party or the other - so the success of that party's candidate is almost taken for granted.






33. The effort to slow the growth of the federal government by returning many functions to the states.






34. Those citizens who follow public affairs closely.






35. A tactic in which PACs collect contributions from like-minded individuals (each limited to $2000) and present them to a candidate or political party as a 'bundle -' thus increasing the PAC's influence.






36. Clause of the Constitution (Article I - Section 10) originally intended to prohibit state governments from modifying contracts made between individuals; for a while interpreted as prohibiting state governments from taking actions that adversely affec






37. The right to vote.






38. A consistent pattern of beliefs about political values and the role of government.






39. Formal accusation against a president or other public official - the first step in removal from office.






40. A legislative practice that assigns the chair of the committee or subcommittee to the member of the majority party with the longest continuous service on the committee.






41. 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.






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






43. Government regulation of property so extensive that government is deemed to have taken the property by the power of eminent domain - for which it must compensate the property owners.






44. Denial of export - import - or financial relations with the target country in an effort to change that nation's policies.






45. Arrangement whereby public officials are hired to provide legal assistance to people accused of crimes who are unable to hire their own attorneys.






46. Interest groups organized under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code may advertise for or against candidates. If their source of funding is corporations or unions - they have some restrictions on broadcast advertising. 527 organizations were impo






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






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






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






50. The process by which we develop our political attitudes - values - and beliefs.