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






3. Elections in which voters determine party nominees.






4. 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






5. Constitutional arrangement in which sovereign nations or states - by compact - create a central government but carefully limit its power and do not give it direct authority over individuals.






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






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






8. 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.






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






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






11. 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.






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






13. 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.






14. The right to keep executive communications confidential - especially if they relate to National Security.






15. Elections in which voters elect officeholders.






16. 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.






17. A procedure for terminating debate - especially filibusters - in the Senate.






18. Governance divided between the parties - especially when one holds the presidency and the other controls one or both houses of Congress.






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






20. Retroactive criminal law that works to the disadvantage of a person.






21. An organization that seeks political power by electing people to office so that its positions and philosophy become public policy.






22. Donations made to political candidates - party committees - or groups which - by law - are limited and must be declared.






23. Powers the Constitution specifically grants to one of the branches of the national government.






24. An agency of Congress that analyzes presidential budget recommendations and estimates the cost of proposed legislation.






25. A secret ballot printed by the state.






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






27. 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.






28. A provision attached to a bill






29. Providing automatic increases to compensate for inflation.






30. A small political party that rises and falls with a charismatic candidate or - if composed of ideologies on the right or left - usually persists over time; also called a third party.






31. 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.






32. 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






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






34. Proposal at the Constitutional Convention made by William Paterson of New Jersey for a central government with a single-house legislature in which each state would be represented equally.






35. The belief that nations must engage in international problem solving.






36. The process of putting a law into practice through bureaucratic rules or spending.






37. 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.






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






39. Agreement signed by the United States - Canada - and Mexico in 1992 to form the largest free trade zone in the world.






40. The dispensing of government jobs to persons who belong to the winning political party.






41. Democratic and civic habits of discussion - compromise - and respect for differences - which grow out of participation in voluntary organizations.






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






43. An agreement among two or more states. Congress must approve most such agreements.






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






45. Constitutional doctrine that whenever conflict occurs between the constitutionally authorized actions of the national government and those of a state or local government - the actions of the federal government will prevail.






46. Those citizens who follow public affairs closely.






47. 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.






48. 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.






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






50. The rule of precedent - whereby a rule or law contained in a judicial decision is commonly viewed as binding on judges whenever the same question is presented.