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






2. Those citizens who follow public affairs closely.






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






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






5. The study of the characteristics of populations.






6. Tax required to vote; prohibited for national elections by the Twenty-Fourth Amendment (1964) and ruled unconstitutional for all elections in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966).






7. Trial or punishment for the same crime by the same government; forbidden by the Constitution.






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






9. 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.






10. 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.'






11. Contributions to a state or local party for party-building purposes.






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






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






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






15. 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.'






16. A philosophy that encourages individual nations tacked together to solve international problems.






17. A minor party dedicated to the environment - social justice - nonviolence - and the foreign policy of nonintervention. Ralph Nader ran as the Green party's nominee in 2000.






18. A secret ballot printed by the state.






19. Special spending projects that are set aside on behalf of individual members of Congress for their constituents.






20. Engaging in activities aimed at influencing public officials - especially legislators - and the policies they enact.






21. Tax levied on imports to help protect the nation's industries - labor - or farmers from foreign competition. It can also be used to raise additional revenue.






22. The informal list of issues that Congress and the president consider most important for action.






23. Retroactive criminal law that works to the disadvantage of a person.






24. The authority of a court to hear a case 'in the first instance.'






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






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






27. A national meeting of delegates elected in 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.






28. 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






29. A tax graduated so that people with higher incomes pay larger fraction of their income than people with lower incomes.






30. The political arm of an interest group that is legally entitled to raise funds on a voluntary basis from members - stockholders - or employees to contribute funds to candidates or political parties.






31. A decision by the president not to spend money appropriated by Congress - now prohibited under Federal law.






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






33. Petition that - if signed by majority of the House of Representatives' members - will pry a bill from committee and bring it to the floor for consideration.






34. Established rules and regulations that restrain government officials.






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






36. The head of the White House staff.






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






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






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






40. The reliance on diplomacy and negotiation to solve international problems.






41. A specific course of action taken by government to achieve a public goal.






42. Clause of the Constitution (Article 1 - Section 8 - Clause 3) setting forth the implied powers of Congress. It states that Congress - in addition to its express powers has the right to make all laws necessary and proper to carry out all powers the Co






43. 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.






44. Citizenship in more than one nation.






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






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






47. 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.






48. Unlimited and undisclosed spending by an individual or group on communications that do not use words like 'vote for' or 'vote against -' although much of this activity is actually about electing or defeating candidates.






49. Constitutional requirement that governments proceed by proper methods; limits how government may exercise power.






50. 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