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 president's annual statement to Congress and the nation.






2. Assigning police to neighborhoods where they walk the beat and work with churches and other community groups to reduce crime and improve relations with minorities.






3. Interpretation of the First Amendment that holds that the government cannot interfere with speech unless the speech presents a clear and present danger that it will lead to evil or illegal acts.






4. Government by religious leaders - who claim divine guidance.






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






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






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






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






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






10. Elections in which voters determine party nominees.






11. 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.






12. The practice of exporting U.S. jobs to lower paid employees in other nations.






13. Censorship imposed before a speech is made or a newspaper is published; usually presumed to be unconstitutional.






14. The desire to avoid international entanglement altogether.






15. Widespread agreement on fundamental principles of democratic governance and the values that undergird them.






16. A jury of 12 to 23 persons who - in private - hear evidence presented by the government to determine whether persons shall be required to stand trial. If the jury believes there is sufficient evidence that a crime was committed - it issues an indictm






17. A policy promoting cutbacks in the amount of Federal regulation in specific areas of economic activity.






18. The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals - groups - and parties can spend unlimited amounts in campaigns for or against candidates as long as they operate independently from the candidates. When an individual - group - or party does so - they are






19. 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






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






21. Governance according to the expressed preferences of the majority.






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






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






24. A career government employee.






25. The process by which individuals screen out messages that do not conform to their own biases.






26. Clause in the Fifth Amendment limiting the power of the national government; similar clause in the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the state governments from depriving any person of life - liberty - or property without due process of law.






27. 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.






28. The Federal government's primary intelligence officer - responsible for overseeing all national intelligence agencies and providing advice to the President on terrorist threats.






29. The principle of a two-house legislature.






30. 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






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






32. The principle of a two-house legislature.






33. 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.






34. Those citizens who follow public affairs carefully.






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






36. The convention in Philadelphia - May 25 to September 17 - 1787 - that debated and agreed upon the Constitution of the United States.






37. A theory of government that holds that open - multiple - and competing groups can check the asserted power by any one group.






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






39. Election system in which each party running receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of the vote.






40. An international trade organization with more than 130 members - including the United States and the People's Republic of China - that seeks to encourage free trade by lowering tariffs and other trade restrictions.






41. A system of government in which the legislature selects the prime minister or president.






42. A system of public employment based on rewarding party loyalists and friends.






43. Loss of tax revenue due to Federal laws that provide special tax incentives or benefits to individuals or businesses.






44. The belief that nations must engage in international problem solving.






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






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






47. 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.






48. A government that enforces recognized limits on those who govern and allows the voice of the people to be heard through free - fair - and relatively frequent elections.






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






50. Alternative means of health care in which individuals make tax-deductible contributions to a special account that can be used to pay medical expenses.