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






2. 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.






3. 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.






4. Essays promoting ratification of the Constitution - published anonymously by Alexander Hamilton - John Jay - and James Madison in 1787 and 1788.






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






6. A provision in a deed to real property prohibiting its sale to a person of a particular race or religion. Judicial enforcement of such deeds is unconstitutional.






7. 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.






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






9. 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.






10. Belief in the superiority of one's nation or ethnic group.






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






12. Money government provides to parents to pay their children's tuition in a public or private school of their choice.






13. Procedure whereby a certain number of voters may - by petition - propose a law or constitutional amendment and have it submitted to the voters.






14. Candidate or party with the most votes cast in an election - not necessarily more than half.






15. 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.






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






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






18. Elections held midway between presidential elections.






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






20. Largely banned party soft money - restored a long-standing prohibition on corporations and labor unions for using general treasury funds for electoral purposes - and narrowed the definition of issue advocacy.






21. A company in which new employees must join a union within a stated time period.






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






23. The tendency of presidents to learn more about doing their jobs over time.






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






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






26. Interpretation of the First Amendment that holds that freedom of expression is so essential to democracy that governments should not punish persons for what they say - only for what they do.






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






28. 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.






29. The idea that a just government must derive its powers from the consent of the people it governs.






30. Those citizens who follow public affairs closely.






31. A government agency that operates like a business corporation - created to secure greater freedom of action and flexibility for a particular program.






32. A law that governs relationships between individuals and defines their legal rights.






33. The rights of all people to dignity and worth; also called human rights.






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






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






36. Procedure for submitting to popular vote measures passed by the legislature or proposed amendments to a state constitution.






37. 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.






38. 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






39. The right of women to vote.

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40. Clause of the Constitution (Article I - Section 10) originally intended to prohibit state governments from modifying contracts made between individuals; for a while interpreted as prohibiting state governments from taking actions that adversely affec






41. Clause in the Constitution that states that 'Congress should have the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers. . . .' This clause is also known as the elastic clause as is a major and significant p

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42. A legislative practice that assigns the chair of the committee or subcommittee to the member of the majority party with the longest continuous service on the committee.






43. Mutual aid and vote trading among legislators.






44. Directive issued by a president or governor that has the force of law.






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






46. Alternative means of health care in which people or their employers are charged a set amount and the HMO provides health care and covers hospital costs.






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






48. 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.






49. 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.






50. An election system in which the candidate with the most votes wins.