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






2. An electoral district in which voters choose one representative or official.






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






4. People who favor state or local action rather than national action.






5. 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.






6. Established by Congress in 1978 as a flexible - mobile corps of senior career executives who worked closely with presidential appointees to manage government.






7. 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.






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






9. A notion held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent - from the Atlantic the Pacific.






10. Voting based on what a candidate pledges to do in the future about an issue if elected.






11. 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.






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






13. 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.






14. An individual who does not to join a group representing his or her interests yet receives the benefit of the group's influence.






15. 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.






16. Programs that the Federal government requires States to implement without Federal funding.






17. The joint listing of the presidential and vice presidential candidates on the same ballot as required by the Twelfth Amendment.






18. Money raised in unlimited amounts by political parties for party-building purposes. Now largely illegal except for limited contributions to state or local parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts.






19. Procedure for submitting to popular vote the removal of officials from office before the end of their term.






20. A formal writ used to bring a case before the Supreme Court.






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






22. A legal action conferring citizenship on an alien.






23. Those citizens who follow public affairs closely.






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






25. A social division based on national origin - religion - language - and often race.






26. Legal process whereby an alleged criminal offender is surrendered by the officials of one states to officials of the state in which the crime is alleged to have been committed.






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






28. A provision attached to a bill






29. The system created by Congress in 1913 to establish banking practices and regulate currency in circulation and the amount of credit available. It consists of 12 regional banks supervised by the Board of Governors. Often called simply the Fed.






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






31. An explanation of the decision of the Supreme Court or any other appellate court.






32. Providing automatic increases to compensate for inflation.






33. 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.






34. A writ issued by a magistrate that authorizes the police to search a particular place or person - specifying the place to be searched and the objects to be seized.






35. 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.






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






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






38. 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






39. Advertisements and commercials for products and services; they receive less First Amendment protection - primarily to discourage false and misleading ads.






40. Deliberate refusal to obey law or comply with orders of public officials as a means of expressing opposition.






41. Programs such as unemployment insurance - disaster relief - or disability payments that provide benefits to all eligible citizens.






42. A system of public employment in which selection and promotion depend on demonstrated performance rather than political patronage.






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






44. A formal agreement between the U.S. president and the leaders of other nations that does not require Senate approval.






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






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






47. 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.






48. Government in which citizens vote on laws and select officials directly.






49. Clause of the Constitution (Article 1 - Section 8 - Clause 3) setting forth the implied powers of Congress. It states that Congress - in addition to its express powers has the right to make all laws necessary and proper to carry out all powers the Co






50. A nonprofit association or group operating outside of government that advocates and pursues policy objectives.