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. Elections in which voters determine party nominees.






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






3. 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.






4. Divisions within society that cut across demographic categories to produce groups that are more heterogeneous or different.






5. Unlimited and undisclosed spending by an individual or group on communications that do not use words like 'vote for' or 'vote against -' although much of this activity is actually about electing or defeating candidates.






6. 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.






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






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






9. The idea that the rights of the nation are supreme over the rights of the individuals who make up the nation.






10. Programs such as Medicaid and welfare under which applicants must meet eligibility requirements based on need.






11. A term the founders used to refer to political parties and special interests or interest groups.






12. Written defamation of another person. For public officials and public figures - the constitutional tests designed to restrict libel actions are especially rigid.






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






14. A meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and to decide the platform.






15. 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.






16. A court with appellate jurisdiction that hears appeals from the decisions of lower courts.






17. A commission created by the 1974 amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act to administer election reform laws. It consists of six commissioners appointed by president and confirmed by the Senate. Its duties include overseeing disclosure of camp






18. A company with a labor agreement under which union membership can be a condition of employment.






19. Compromise between northern and southern states at the Constitutional Convention that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for determining direct taxation and representation in the House of Representatives.






20. A president's claim of broad public support.






21. Method whereby representatives of the union and employer determine wages - hours - and other conditions of employment through direct negotiation.






22. 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.






23. 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.






24. International organization derived from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that promotes it free trade around the world.






25. A decision made by a higher court such as a circuit court of appeals or the Supreme Court that is binding on all other federal courts.






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






27. The principle of a two-house legislature.






28. 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.






29. 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.






30. A belief that limited government insures order competitive markets and personal opportunity.






31. Remedial action designed to overcome the effects of discrimination against minorities and women.






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






33. A congressional committee created for a specific purpose - sometimes to conduct an investigation.






34. A close contest; by extension - any contest in which the focus is on who is ahead and by how much rather than on substantive differences between the candidates.






35. Clause in the Fifth Amendment limiting the power of the national government; similar clause in the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the state governments from depriving any person of life - liberty - or property without due process of law.






36. A jury of 12 to 23 persons who - in private - hear evidence presented by the government to determine whether persons shall be required to stand trial. If the jury believes there is sufficient evidence that a crime was committed - it issues an indictm






37. The difference between the revenues raised annually from sources of income other than borrowing and the expenditures of government - including paying the interest on past borrowing.






38. Elections held midway between presidential elections.






39. Period at the beginning of the new president's term during which the president enjoys generally positive relations with the press and Congress - usually lasting about six months.






40. Political contributions given to a party - candidate - or interest group that are limited in amounts and fully disclosed. Raising such limited funds is harder than raising unlimited funds - hence the term 'hard money.'






41. Legislative act inflicting punishment - including deprivation of property - without a trial - on named individuals or members of a specific group.






42. A minor party that believes in extremely limited government. Libertarians call for a free market system - expanded individual liberties such as drug legalization - and a foreign policy of nonintervention - free trade - and open immigration.






43. How groups form and organize to pursue their goals or objectives - including how to get individuals and groups to participate and to cooperate. The term has many applications in the various social sciences such as political science - sociology - and






44. A secret ballot printed by the state.






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






46. A rising public approval of the president that follows a crisis as Americans 'rally 'round the flag' and the chief executive.






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






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






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






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