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Test your basic knowledge |
AP Government
Start Test
Study First
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 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.
Retrospective issue of voting
Ethnicity
Commerce clause
Australian ballot
2. The act of declaring party affiliation; required by some states when one registers to vote.
Restrictive covenant
Party registration
Obscenity
Public defender system
3. Trade status granted as part of an international trade policy that gives a nation the same favorable trade concessions and tariffs that the best trading partners receive.
Minor party
Normal trade relations
Party convention
Direct primary
4. Governance divided between the parties - as when one holds the presidency and the other controls one or both houses of Congress.
Impeachment
Independent agency
Interstate compact
Divided government
5. 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.
President pro tempore
Confederation
Independent expenditures
Race
6. Media that emphasize the news.
Revolving door
Connecticut Compromise
Search warrant
News media
7. A jury of 6 to 12 persons that determines guilt or innocence in a civil or criminal action.
Categorical-formula grants
Marbury v. Madison
Petit jury
Trade deficit
8. Efforts by government to alter the free operation of the market to achieve social goals such as protecting workers and the environment.
Regulation
Direct primary
Executive privilege
Selective incorporation
9. Primary election in which only persons registered in the party holding the primary may vote.
Independent agency
Soft money
Mandate
Closed primary
10. An opinion disagreeing with a majority in a Supreme Court ruling.
Dissenting opinion
Nonpartisan election
Obscenity
Sound bites
11. A formal writ used to bring a case before the Supreme Court.
Entitlement programs
Writ of certiorari
Political action committee (PAC)
Bundling
12. 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.
Quid pro quo
Criminal law
Green party
Take care clause
13. Compromise agreement by states at the Constitutional Convention for a bicameral legislature with a lower house in which representation would be based on population and an upper house in which each state would have two senators.
Fiscal federalism
Line item veto
Entitlements
Connecticut Compromise
14. A court with appellate jurisdiction that hears appeals from the decisions of lower courts.
Exclusionary rule
Court of appeals
Jim Crow laws
Popular consent
15. A large body of people interested in a common issue - idea - or concern that is of continuing significance and who are willing to take action. Movements seek to change attitudes or institutions - not just policies.
Caucus
Movement
Labor injunction
Antitrust legislation
16. The difference between the political opinions or political behavior of men and of women.
Distributive policy
Confederation
Candidate appeal
Gender gap
17. Theory that opposes governmental interference in economic affairs beyond what is necessary to protect life and property.
Executive privilege
Candidate appeal
Proportional representation
Laissez-faire economics
18. Aid to the poor; 'welfare.'
Plurality
Public assistance
Federalism
Uncontrollable spending
19. Election in which voters choose party nominees.
Interstate compact
National party convention
Direct primary
American dream
20. Government policy that attempts to manage the economy by controlling taxing and spending.
Fiscal policy
Unfunded mandates
Interest group
Poll tax
21. An individual who does not to join a group representing his or her interests yet receives the benefit of the group's influence.
Free rider
Theocracy
Annapolis Convention
Impoundment
22. Arrangement whereby public officials are hired to provide legal assistance to people accused of crimes who are unable to hire their own attorneys.
Public defender system
Majority rule
Inherent powers
Referendum
23. A career government employee.
Eminent domain
Natural law
Bureaucrat
Photo ops
24. Stresses federalism as a system of intergovernmental relations in delivering governmental goods and services to the people and calls for cooperation among various levels of government.
Independent expenditure
Cooperative federalism
Value-added tax (VAT)
Dealignment
25. The precise legal definition of how government will implement a policy.
Rule
Medicare
Closed shop
Faction
26. Employment cycle in which individuals who work for governmental agencies that regulate interests eventually end up working for interest groups or businesses with the same policy concern.
Revolving door
Defendant
Take care clause
Implementation
27. Legislative act inflicting punishment - including deprivation of property - without a trial - on named individuals or members of a specific group.
Bill of attainder
Social insurance
Clear and present danger test
Single-member district
28. Requirement that evidence unconstitutionally or illegally obtained be excluded from a criminal trial.
Exclusionary rule
Judicial activism
Keynesian economics
Dual federalism (layer cake federalism)
29. The power of a court to refuse to enforce a law or government regulation that in the opinion of the judges conflicts with the U.S. Constitution or - in a state court - the state constitution.
Gender gap
Safe seat
Collective action
Judicial review
30. Procedure for submitting to popular vote measures passed by the legislature or proposed amendments to a state constitution.
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA)
Antifederalists
Constitutional Convention
Referendum
31. 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).
Racial gerrymandering
Due process
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
Bill of attainder
32. A meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and to decide the platform.
Impeachment
Executive order
Decentralists
Caucus
33. The process of putting a law into practice through bureaucratic rules or spending.
Implementation
Police powers
Unemployment
Court of appeals
34. The process by which we develop our political attitudes - values - and beliefs.
National tide
Political socialization
Indexing
Vouchers
35. An election system in which each party running receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of the vote.
Preferred position doctrine
Means-tested entitlements
Monetary policy
Proportional representation
36. The joint listing of the presidential and vice presidential candidates on the same ballot as required by the Twelfth Amendment.
Unitary system
Presidential ticket
Revolving door
Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
37. An electoral district in which voters choose one representative or official.
Single-member district
Health maintenance organization (HMO)
Pocket veto
Attentive public
38. Governance according to the expressed preferences of the majority.
Congressional-executive agreement
Majority rule
Speaker
Writ of habeas corpus
39. An economic system characterized by private property - competitive markets - economic incentives - and limited government involvement in the production - distribution - and pricing of goods and services.
Total and Partial Preemption
Congressional-executive agreement
Multilateralism
Capitalism
40. Presidential custom of submitting the names of perspective appointees for approval to senators from the states in which the appointees are to work.
Amicus curiae brief
Senatorial courtesy
American dream
Federal Reserve System
41. 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
Marbury v. Madison
Spoils system
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Delegate
42. Widespread agreement on fundamental principles of democratic governance and the values that undergird them.
Direct primary
Poll tax
Democratic consensus
Open rule
43. 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
Medicaid
Statism
Competitive federalism
Executive privilege
44. A policy that emphasizes a united front and cooperation between the major political parties - especially on sensitive foreign policy issues.
Prior restraint
Free rider
Bipartisanship
Plea bargain
45. A belief that ultimate power resides in the people.
Socioeconomic status (SES)
Popular sovereignty
Crossover voting
National supremacy
46. Clause in the First Amendment that states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. The Supreme Court has interpreted this to forbid governmental support to any or all religions.
Establishment clause
News media
Political socialization
Issue advocacy
47. 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.
Conference committee
Rider
Judicial review
Chief of staff
48. Alternative means of health care in which individuals make tax-deductible contributions to a special account that can be used to pay medical expenses.
Contract clause
Medical savings account
Literacy test
Theocracy
49. Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice.
Restrictive covenant
Commercial speech
Open shop
De facto segregation
50. Powers the Constitution specifically grants to one of the branches of the national government.
Judicial review
Express powers
Majority rule
Safe seat