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






2. Authority given by Congress to the Federal bureaucracy to use reasonable judgment in implementing the laws.






3. Congress appropriates a certain sum - which is allocated to state and local units and sometimes to nongovernmental agencies - based on applications from those who wish to participate. Examples are grants by the National Science Foundation to universi






4. The head of the White House staff.






5. The desire to avoid international entanglement altogether.






6. 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






7. 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.






8. A theory of international relations that focuses on the hope the nations will act together to solve international problems and promote peace.






9. Policy of erecting trade barriers to protect domestic industry.






10. A combination of entitlement programs - paid for by employer and employee taxes - that includes retirement benefits - health insurance - and support for disabled workers and the children of deceased or disabled workers.






11. Denial of export - import - or financial relations with the target country in an effort to change that nation's policies.






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






13. Government policy that attempts to manage the economy by controlling the money supply and thus interest rates.






14. A belief that government can and should achieve justice and equality of opportunity.






15. Constitutional requirement that governments act reasonably and that the substance of the laws themselves be fair and reasonable; limits what the government may do.






16. 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.






17. A provision attached to a bill






18. Exemption from prosecution for a particular crime in return for testimony pertaining to the case.






19. The right of women to vote.

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20. Synonymous with 'collective action -' it specifically studies how government officials - politicians - and voters respond to positive and negative incentives.






21. Segregation imposed by law.






22. A policy-making alliance among loosely connected participants that comes together on a particular issue - then disbands.






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






24. A company with a labor agreement under which union membership cannot be required as a condition of employment.






25. Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment that forbids any state to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. By interpretation - the Fifth Amendment imposes the same limitation on the national government. This clause is t






26. Those citizens who follow public affairs carefully.






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






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






29. A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that permits floor amendments within the overall time allocated to the bill.






30. The reliance on economic and military strength to solve international problems.






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






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






33. 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.






34. The act of declaring party affiliation; required by some states when one registers to vote.






35. A law that defines crimes against the public order.






36. Congress appropriates funds for a specific purpose - such as school lunches or for building airports and highways. These funds are allocated by formula and are subject to detailed federal conditions - often on a matching basis; that is - the local go






37. 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.






38. Literally - a 'friend of the court' brief - filed by an individual or organization to present arguments in addition to those presented by the immediate parties to a case.






39. The right to renounce one's citizenship.






40. 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.






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






42. An official who is expected to vote independently based on his or her judgment of the circumstances; one interpretation of the role of the legislator.






43. Those citizens who follow public affairs closely.






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






45. Electoral system used in electing the president and vice president - in which voters vote for electors pledged to cast their ballots for particular party's candidates.






46. The legislative leader selected by the minority party as spokesperson for the opposition.






47. The difference between the political opinions or political behavior of men and of women.






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






49. 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.






50. Promoting a particular position or an issue paid for by interest groups or individuals but not candidates. Much issue advocacy is often electioneering for or against a candidate - and until 2004 had not been subject to any regulation.