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 assigning by Congress of congressional seats after each census. State legislatures reapportion state legislative districts.






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






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






4. 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.






5. Election in which voters choose party nominees.






6. 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.






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






8. 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.






9. 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.






10. An ideology that cherishes individual liberty and insists on minimal government - promoting a free market economy - a noninterventionist foreign policy - and an absence of regulation in moral - economic - and social life.






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






12. 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.






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






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






15. Federal statute barring Federal employees from active participation in certain kinds of politics and protecting them from being fired on partisan grounds.






16. Interpretation of the First Amendment that would permit legislatures to forbid speech encouraging people to engage in illegal action.






17. 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.






18. The head of the White House staff.






19. 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.






20. The rule of precedent - whereby a rule or law contained in a judicial decision is commonly viewed as binding on judges whenever the same question is presented.






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






22. The portion of the Federal budget that is spent on programs - such as Social Security - that the president and Congress are unwilling to cut.






23. The authority of a court to hear a case 'in the first instance.'






24. An agreement among two or more states. Congress must approve most such agreements.






25. 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.






26. A monopoly that controls goods and services - often in combinations that reduce competition.






27. Elections in which voters determine party nominees.






28. A landmark case in United States law and the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States - under Article Three of the United States Constitution. The case resulted from a petition to the Supreme Court by William Marbury - who had b






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






30. Championed by Ronald Reagan - presumes that the power of the federal government is limited in favor of the broad powers reserved to the states.

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31. Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice.






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






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






34. 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.






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






36. National Health Insurance program for the elderly and disabled.






37. A theory that is based on creating enough military strength to convince other nations not to attack first.






38. A company with a labor agreement under which union membership is a condition of employment.






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






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






41. The total amount of money the Federal government has borrowed to finance deficit spending over the years.






42. How voters feel about a candidate's background - personality - leadership ability - and other personal qualities.






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






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






45. The cluster of presidential staff agencies that help the president carry out his responsibilities. Currently the office includes the Office of Management and Budget - the Council of Economic Advisers - and several other units.






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






47. Election in which voters choose party nominees.






48. Powers inferred from the express powers that allow Congress to carry out its functions.






49. 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.






50. The principle of a two-house legislature.