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. Usually the largest organization in government with the largest mission; also the highest rank in Federal hierarchy.






2. Words that by their very nature inflict injury on those to whom they are addressed or insight them to acts of violence.






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






4. 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).






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






6. The legislative leader selected by the majority party who helps plan party strategy - confers with other party leaders - and tries to keep members of the party in line.






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






8. A type of policy that takes benefits (usually through taxes) from one group of Americans and gives them to another (usually through spending).






9. A law that governs relationships between individuals and defines their legal rights.






10. The informal list of issues that Congress and the president consider most important for action.






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






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






13. Period at the beginning of the new president's term during which the president enjoys generally positive relations with the press and Congress - usually lasting about six months.






14. The dispensing of government jobs to persons who belong to the winning political party.






15. 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.






16. The set of arrangements - including checks and balances - federalism - separation of powers - rule of law - due process - and a bill of rights - that requires our leaders to listen - think - bargain - and explain before they act or make laws. We then






17. A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that prohibits any amendments to bills or provides that only members of the committee reporting the bill may offer amendments.






18. Engaging in activities aimed at influencing public officials - especially legislators - and the policies they enact.






19. Primary election in which only persons registered in the party holding the primary may vote.






20. Power of a government to take private property for public use; the U.S. Constitution gives national and state governments this power and requires them to provide just compensation for property so taken.






21. 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.






22. The head of the White House staff.






23. The clause in the Constitution (Article 1 - Section 8 - Clause 1) that gives Congress the power to regulate all business activities that cross state lines or affect more than one state or other nations.






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






25. The first governing document of the confederated states drafted in 1777 - ratified in 1781 - and replaced by the present Constitution in 1789.






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






27. 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.






28. 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.






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






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






31. Supporters of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government.






32. Segregation imposed by law.






33. The process by which individuals perceive what they want to in media messages.






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






35. A requirement the federal government imposes as a condition for receiving federal funds.






36. 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.






37. Those citizens who follow public affairs carefully.






38. A minor party that believes in extremely limited government. Libertarians call for a free market system - expanded individual liberties such as drug legalization - and a foreign policy of nonintervention - free trade - and open immigration.






39. An economic and governmental system based on public ownership of the means of production and exchange.






40. The residents of a congressional district or state.






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






42. The widespread belief that the United States is a land of opportunity and that individual initiative and hard work can bring economic success.






43. Elections held in years when the president is on the ballot.






44. The study of the characteristics of populations.






45. A permanent committee established in a legislature - usually focusing on a policy area.






46. Government in which the people elect those who govern and pass laws; also called a republic.






47. A provision attached to a bill






48. A formal - public agreement between the United States and one or more nations that must be approved by two thirds of the Senate.






49. 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.






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