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 person who is employed by and acts for an organized interest group or corporation to try to influence policy decisions and positions in the executive and legislative branches.






2. 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.






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






4. A court order forbidding specific individuals or groups from performing certain acts (such as striking) that the court considers harmful to the rights and property of an employer or community.






5. A theory of international relations that focuses on the tendency of nations to operate from self-interest.






6. 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






7. A type of policy that provides benefits to all Americans.






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






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






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






11. The power to keep executive communications confidential - especially if they relate to national security.






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






13. During the Great Society - the marble cake approach of intergovernmental relations.






14. 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.






15. A meeting of the members of a party in a legislative chamber to select party leaders and to develop party policy. Called a conference by the Republicans.






16. 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.






17. An official who is expected to represent the views of his or her constituents even when personally holding different views; one interpretation of the role of legislator.






18. A tax whereby people with lower incomes pay a higher fraction of their income than people with higher incomes.






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






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






22. 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.






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






24. 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.






25. Legislative or executive review of a particular government program or organization. Can be in response to a crisis of some kind or part of routine review.






26. A PAC formed by an officeholder that collects contributions from individuals and other PACs and then makes contributions to other candidates and political parties.






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






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






29. 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).






30. 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.






31. 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.'






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






33. The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census - to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population.






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






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






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






37. The tendency in elections to focus on the personal attributes of a candidate - such as his/her strengths - weaknesses - background - experience - and visibility.






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






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






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






41. 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.






42. Agency that administers civil service laws - rules - and regulations.






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






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






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






46. 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.






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






48. Relationships among interest groups - congressional committees and subcommittees - and the government agencies that share a common policy concern.






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






50. An imbalance in international trade in which the value of imports exceeds the value of exports.