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 principle of a two-house legislature.






2. Presidential staff the agency that serves as a clearinghouse for budgetary requests and management improvements for government agencies.






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






4. 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).






5. The head of the White House staff.






6. Words that by their very nature inflict injury on those to whom they are addressed or insight them to acts of violence.






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






8. A division of population based on occupation - income - and education.






9. Court order directing an official to perform an official duty.






10. The inclination to focus on national issues - rather than local issues - in an election campaign. The impact of the national tide can be reduced by the nature of the candidates on the ballot who might have differentiated themselves from their party o






11. Constitutional requirement that governments proceed by proper methods; limits how government may exercise power.






12. Tax levied on imports to help protect the nation's industries - labor - or farmers from foreign competition. It can also be used to raise additional revenue.






13. A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that prohibits any amendments to bills or provides that only members of the committee reporting the bill may offer amendments.






14. A formal decision to reject a bill passed by Congress after it adjourns






15. A meeting of party delegates to vote on matters of policy and in some cases to select party candidates for public office.






16. 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.






17. Tax required to vote; prohibited for national elections by the Twenty-Fourth Amendment (1964) and ruled unconstitutional for all elections in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966).






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






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






20. The distribution of individual preferences or evaluations of a given issue - candidate - or institution within a specific population.






21. Government regulation of property so extensive that government is deemed to have taken the property by the power of eminent domain - for which it must compensate the property owners.






22. The presiding officer in the House of Representatives - formally elected by the House but actually selected by the majority party.






23. Party leader who is the liaison between the leadership and the rank-and-file in the legislature.






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






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






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






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






28. Constitutional grant of powers that enables each of the three branches of government to check some acts of the others and therefore ensure that no branch can dominate.






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






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






31. A court order requiring explanation to a judge why a prisoner is being held in custody.






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






33. The total output of all economic activity in the nation - including goods and services.






34. Holding incumbents - usually the president's party - responsible for their records on issues - such as the economy or foreign policy.






35. Primary election in which any voter - regardless of party - may vote.






36. Formal accusation against a president or other public official - the first step in removal from office.






37. A committee composed of members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate; such committees oversee the Library of Congress and conduct investigations.






38. A policy adopted by the Bush administration in 2001 that asserts America's right to attack any nation that has weapons of mass destruction that might be used against U.S. interests at home or abroad.






39. An opinion disagreeing with a majority in a Supreme Court ruling.






40. A dispute growing out of an actual case or controversy and that is capable of settlement by legal methods.






41. The powers expressly given to Congress in the Constitution.






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






43. A formal - public agreement between the United States and one or more nations that must be approved by two thirds of the Senate.






44. 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.






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






46. Conservative Christians who (as a group) have become more active in politics in the last two decades and were especially influential in the 2000 presidential election.






47. 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.






48. The clause of the Constitution (Article I - Section 8 - Clause 3) that gives Congress the power to regulate all business activities that cross state lines or affect more than one state or other nations.






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






50. The process by which individuals perceive what they want to in media messages.