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






2. Media that emphasize the news.






3. A judicial system in which the court of law is a neutral arena where two parties argue their differences.






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






5. The total output of all economic activity in the nation - including goods and services.






6. A policy adopted by the Bush administration in 2001 that asserts America's right to attack any nation that has weapons of mass destruction that might be used against U.S. interests at home or abroad.






7. The principle of a two-house legislature.






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






9. Government in which citizens vote on laws and select officials directly.






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






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






12. Usually the largest organization in government with the largest mission; also the highest rank in Federal hierarchy.






13. Synonymous with 'collective action -' it specifically studies how government officials - politicians - and voters respond to positive and negative incentives.






14. Government policy that attempts to manage the economy by controlling taxing and spending.






15. 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.






16. The joint listing of the presidential and vice presidential candidates on the same ballot as required by the Twelfth Amendment.






17. Money raised in unlimited amounts by political parties for party-building purposes. Now largely illegal except for limited contributions to state or local parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts.






18. Advisory council for the president consisting of the heads of the executive departments - the vice president - and a few other officials selected by the president.






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






20. Formal accusation by the lower house of legislature against a public official - the first step in removal from office.






21. 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.'






22. During the Great Society - the marble cake approach of intergovernmental relations.






23. The means by which individuals can express preferences regarding the development of public policy.






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






25. Democratic party primary in the old 'one-party South' that was limited to white people and essentially constituted an election; ruled unconstitutional in Smith v. Allwright (1944).






26. Voting by member of one party for a candidate of another party.






27. The system created by Congress in 1913 to establish banking practices and regulate currency in circulation and the amount of credit available. It consists of 12 regional banks supervised by the Board of Governors. Often called simply the Fed.






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






29. 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.






30. Mutual aid and vote trading among legislators.






31. 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.






32. 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






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






34. The clause in the Constitution (Article 1 - Section 8 - Clause 1) that gives Congress the power to regulate all business activities that cross state lines or affect more than one state or other nations.






35. Formal accusation against a president or other public official - the first step in removal from office.






36. 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.






37. A company with a labor agreement under which union membership can be a condition of employment.






38. Clause in the Fifth Amendment limiting the power of the national government; similar clause in the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the state governments from depriving any person of life - liberty - or property without due process of law.






39. A local or judicial election in which candidates are not selected or endorsed by political parties and party affiliation is not listed on ballots.






40. 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.






41. The drawing of election districts so as to ensure that members of a certain race are a minority in the district; ruled unconstitutional in Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960).






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






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






44. An opinion disagreeing with a majority in a Supreme Court ruling.






45. A policy promoting cutbacks in the amount of Federal regulation in specific areas of economic activity.






46. 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.






47. A theory of international relations that focuses on the hope the nations will act together to solve international problems and promote peace.






48. The desire to avoid international entanglement altogether.






49. 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






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