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. A form of organization that operates through impersonal - uniform rules and procedures.






2. A legal action conferring citizenship on an alien.






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






4. The first governing document of the confederated states drafted in 1777 - ratified in 1781 - and replaced by the present Constitution in 1789.






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






6. Programs that the Federal government requires States to implement without Federal funding.






7. Committee appointed by the presiding officers of each chamber to adjust differences on a particular bill passed by each in different form.






8. Relationships among interest groups - congressional committees and subcommittees - and the government agencies that share a common policy concern.






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






10. 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.






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






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






13. Police targeting of racial minorities as potential suspects of criminal activities.






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






15. Domination of an industry by a single company that fixes prices and discourages competition; also - the company that dominates the industry by these means.






16. Alternative means of health care in which individuals make tax-deductible contributions to a special account that can be used to pay medical expenses.






17. 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.






18. 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.






19. Attempting to overthrow the government by force or use violence to interrupt its activities.






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






21. Powers that grow out of the very existence of government.






22. A policy-making alliance that involves a very strong ties among a congressional committee - an interest group - and a Federal Department or agency.






23. Assigning police to neighborhoods where they walk the beat and work with churches and other community groups to reduce crime and improve relations with minorities.






24. 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.






25. A company in which new employees must join a union within a stated time period.






26. The widespread belief that the United States is a land of opportunity and that individual initiative and hard work can bring economic success.






27. 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.






28. A procedural practice in the Senate whereby a senator refuses to relinquish the floor and thereby delays proceedings and prevents a vote on a controversial issue.






29. Arrangement whereby public officials are hired to provide legal assistance to people accused of crimes who are unable to hire their own attorneys.






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






31. 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.






32. Literacy requirements some states imposed as a condition of voting - generally used to disqualify black voters in the South; now illegal.






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






34. Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787 - protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need for a strong national government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went out.

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35. 30-second statements on the evening news shows. The media have been accused of simplifying complicated political issues by relying on sound bites to explain them to the public.






36. Financial contributions by individuals or groups in the hope of influencing the outcome of the election and subsequently influencing policy.






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






38. The number of Americans who are out of work but actively looking for a job. The number does not usually include those who are not looking.






39. 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.






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






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






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






43. Legislative or executive review of a particular government program or organization. Can be in response to a crisis of some kind or part of routine review.






44. 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






45. An official document - published every weekday - which lists the new and proposed regulations of executive departments and regulatory agencies.






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






47. Powers inferred from the express powers that allow Congress to carry out its functions.






48. 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.






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






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