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. International organization derived from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that promotes it free trade around the world.






2. Presidential custom of submitting the names of perspective appointees for approval to senators from the states in which the appointees are to work.






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






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






5. A government entity that is independent of the legislative - executive - and judicial branches.






6. Presidential refusal to allow an agency to spend funds that Congress authorized and appropriated.






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






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






9. Federal laws (starting with the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890) that try to prevent a monopoly from dominating an industry and restraining trade.






10. Programs such as unemployment insurance - disaster relief - or disability payments that provide benefits to all eligible citizens.






11. A meeting of the members of a party in a legislative chamber to select party leaders and to develop party policy. Called a conference by the Republicans.






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






13. Widespread agreement on fundamental principles of democratic governance and the values that undergird them.






14. A company with a labor agreement under which union membership is a condition of employment.






15. 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.






16. Programs such as unemployment insurance - disability relief - or disability payments that provide benefits to all eligible citizens.






17. A convention held in September 1786 to consider problems of trade and navigation - attended by five states and important because it issued the call to Congress and the states for what became the Constitutional Convention.






18. Election system in which each party running receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of the vote.






19. Clause in the First Amendment that states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. The Supreme Court has interpreted this to forbid governmental support to any or all religions.






20. Federal program that provides medical benefits for low-income persons.






21. General tax on sales transactions - sometimes exempting food and drugs.






22. 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.






23. Written defamation of another person. For public officials and public figures - the constitutional tests designed to restrict libel actions are especially rigid.






24. Quality or state of a work that taken as a whole appeals to a prurient interest in sex by depicting sexual conduct in a patently offensive way and that lacks serious literary - artistic - political - or scientific value.






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






26. A widely shared and consciously held view - like support for homeland security.






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






28. The candidate or party that wins more than half the votes cast in an election.






29. 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.






30. People who favor state or local action rather than national action.






31. A tax whereby people with lower incomes pay a higher fraction of their income than people with higher incomes.






32. Trade status granted as part of an international trade policy that gives a nation the same favorable trade concessions and tariffs that the best trading partners receive.






33. Theory that opposes governmental interference in economic affairs beyond what is necessary to protect life and property.






34. Requirement that evidence unconstitutionally or illegally obtained be excluded from a criminal trial.






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






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






37. 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.






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






39. 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






40. Candidate or party with the most votes cast in an election - not necessarily more than half.






41. A legislative practice that assigns the chair of the committee or subcommittee to the member of the majority party with the longest continuous service on the committee.






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






43. Those citizens who follow public affairs closely.






44. The tendency in elections to focus on the personal attributes of a candidate - such as his/her strengths - weaknesses - background - experience - and visibility.






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






46. The principle of a two-house legislature.






47. Inherent powers of state governments to pass laws to protect the public health - safety - and welfare; the national government has no directly granted police powers but accomplishes the same goals through other delegated powers.






48. Conceives of federalism as a marble cake in which all levels of government are involved in a variety of issues and programs - rather than a layer cake - or dual federalism - with fixed divisions between layers or levels of government.






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






50. The tendency of presidents to learn more about doing their jobs over time.