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. God's or nature's law that defines right from wrong and is higher than human law.






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






3. Those citizens who follow public affairs closely.






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






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






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






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






8. 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.






9. Efforts by government to alter the free operation of the market to achieve social goals such as protecting workers and the environment.






10. Compromise agreement by states at the Constitutional Convention for a bicameral legislature with a lower house in which representation would be based on population and an upper house in which each state would have two senators.






11. A system of public employment based on rewarding party loyalists and friends.






12. Federal statute barring Federal employees from active participation in certain kinds of politics and protecting them from being fired on partisan grounds.






13. The list of potential cases that reach the Supreme Court.






14. A close contest; by extension - any contest in which the focus is on who is ahead and by how much rather than on substantive differences between the candidates.






15. A court with appellate jurisdiction that hears appeals from the decisions of lower courts.






16. Method whereby representatives of the union and employer determine wages - hours - and other conditions of employment through direct negotiation.






17. The desire to avoid international entanglement altogether.






18. A writ issued by a magistrate that authorizes the police to search a particular place or person - specifying the place to be searched and the objects to be seized.






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






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






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






22. A secret ballot printed by the state.






23. A tactic in which PACs collect contributions from like-minded individuals (each limited to $2000) and present them to a candidate or political party as a 'bundle -' thus increasing the PAC's influence.






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






25. Party leader who is the liaison between the leadership and the rank-and-file in the legislature.






26. State laws formerly pervasive throughout the South requiring public facilities and accommodations to be segregated by race; ruled unconstitutional.






27. Primary election in which any voter - regardless of party - may vote.






28. A rise in the general price level (and decrease in dollar value) owing to an increase in the volume of money and credit in relation to available goods.






29. 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.






30. 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.






31. Media that emphasize the news.






32. A jury of 6 to 12 persons that determines guilt or innocence in a civil or criminal action.






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






34. 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.






35. A term the founders used to refer to political parties and special interests or interest groups.






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






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






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






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






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






41. The powers of the national government in foreign affairs that the Supreme Court has declared do not depend on constitutional grants but rather grow out of the very existence of the national government.






42. The reliance on economic and military strength to solve international problems.






43. Constitutional division of powers among the legislative - executive - and judicial branches - with the legislative branch making law - the executive applying and enforcing the law - and the judiciary interpreting the law.






44. The right to vote.






45. Congress appropriates a certain sum - which is allocated to state and local units and sometimes to nongovernmental agencies - based on applications from those who wish to participate. Examples are grants by the National Science Foundation to universi






46. A tax on increased value of the product at each stage of production and distribution rather than just at the point of sale.






47. Belief in the superiority of one's nation or ethnic group.






48. 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.






49. The practice of exporting U.S. jobs to lower paid employees in other nations.






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