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. Agreement between a prosecutor and a defendant that the defendant will plead guilty to a lesser offense to avoid having to stand trial for more serious offense.






3. 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.






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






5. 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.






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






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






8. 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






9. Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice.






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






11. An explanation of the decision of the Supreme Court or any other appellate court.






12. The process - most notably in families and schools - by which we develop our political attitudes - values - and beliefs.






13. System designed to reduce voter fraud by limiting voting to those who have established eligibility to vote by submitting the proper documents.






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






15. A minor party founded by Ross Perot in 1995. It focuses on national government reform - fiscal responsibility - and political accountability. It has recently struggled with internal strife and criticism that it lacks an identity.






16. Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment that forbids any state to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. By interpretation - the Fifth Amendment imposes the same limitation on the national government. This clause is t






17. How voters feel about a candidate's background - personality - leadership ability - and other personal qualities.






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






19. 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.






20. 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.






21. Photo opportunities set up by the candidates. The media have been accused of simplifying complicated political issues by relying on photo ops to explain them to the public.






22. The cluster of presidential staff agencies that help the president carry out his responsibilities. Currently the office includes the Office of Management and Budget - the Council of Economic Advisers - and several other units.






23. A system of government in which the legislature selects the prime minister or president.






24. Deliberate refusal to obey law or comply with orders of public officials as a means of expressing opposition.






25. The process by which individuals screen out messages that do not conform to their own biases.






26. Those citizens who follow public affairs closely.






27. Constitutional arrangement in which power is distributed between a central government and subdivisional governments - called states in the United States. The national and the subdivisional governments both exercise direct authority over individuals.






28. 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.






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






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






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






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






33. A court order forbidding specific individuals or groups from performing certain acts (such as striking) that the court considers harmful to the rights and property of an employer or community.






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






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






36. These are broad state grants to states for prescribed activities—welfare - child care - education - social services - preventive health care - and health services—with only a few strings attached. States have greater flexibility in deciding how to sp






37. 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






38. 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






39. A career government employee.






40. The power of a court to refuse to enforce a law or government regulation that in the opinion of the judges conflicts with the U.S. Constitution or - in a state court - the state constitution.






41. A national meeting of delegates elected at primaries - caucuses - or state conventions who assemble once every four years to nominate candidates for president and vice president - ratify the party platform - elect officers - and adopt rules.






42. 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.






43. 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.






44. A theory of international relations that focuses on the tendency of nations to operate from self-interest.






45. 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.






46. An opinion that agrees with the majority in a Supreme Court ruling but differs on the reasoning.






47. 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.'






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






49. A theory that government should control the money supply to encourage economic growth and restrain inflation.






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