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






2. Elections held in years when the president is on the ballot.






3. Philosophy proposing that judges should interpret the Constitution to reflect current conditions and values.






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






5. A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Direct orders must be complied with under threat of criminal or civil sanction. An example is the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 - barring job discrimination by state and local gover






6. Policy of erecting trade barriers to protect domestic industry.






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






8. The president's annual statement to Congress and the nation.






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






10. Incumbents have an advantage over challengers in election campaigns because voters are more familiar with them - and incumbents are more recognizable.






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






12. 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.






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






14. 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.






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






16. Formal accusation by the lower house of legislature against a public official - the first step in removal from office.






17. A policy that emphasizes a united front and cooperation between the major political parties - especially on sensitive foreign policy issues.






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






19. An international trade organization with more than 130 members - including the United States and the People's Republic of China - that seeks to encourage free trade by lowering tariffs and other trade restrictions.






20. A career government employee.






21. People who favor national action over action at the state and local levels.






22. Clause in the Constitution (Article 4 - Section 1) requiring each state to recognize the civil judgments rendered by the courts of the other states and to accept their public records and acts as valid.






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






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






25. The principle of a two-house legislature.






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






27. A government agency or commission with regulatory power whose independence is protected by Congress.






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






29. 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.






30. Implies that although federalism provides 'a sharing of power and authority between the national and state governments - the state's share rests upon the permission and permissiveness of the national government.'






31. 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






32. 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.






33. An imbalance in international trade in which the value of imports exceeds the value of exports.






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






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






36. During the Great Society - the marble cake approach of intergovernmental relations.






37. A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Federal grants may establish certain conditions that extend to all activities supported by federal funds - regardless of their source. The first and most famous of these is Title VI of the 196






38. 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






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






40. The drawing of legislative district boundaries to benefit a party - group - or incumbent.






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






42. The effort to slow the growth of the federal government by returning many functions to the states.






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






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






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






46. A belief that government can and should achieve justice and equality of opportunity.






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






48. Initial proposal at the Constitutional Convention made by the Virginia delegation for a strong central government with a bicameral legislature dominated by the big states.






49. A permanent committee established in a legislature - usually focusing on a policy area.






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






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