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 combination of entitlement programs - paid for by employer and employee taxes - that includes retirement benefits - health insurance - and support for disabled workers and the children of deceased or disabled workers.






2. A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Federal grants may establish certain conditions that extend to all activities supported by federal funds - regardless of their source. The first and most famous of these is Title VI of the 196






3. An election system in which each party running receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of the vote.






4. 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.






5. A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Direct orders must be complied with under threat of criminal or civil sanction. An example is the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 - barring job discrimination by state and local gover






6. The head of the White House staff.






7. 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






8. Clause in the First Amendment that states that Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion.






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






10. 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






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






12. How voters feel about a candidate's background - personality - leadership ability - and other personal qualities.






13. The current holder of the elected office.






14. 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.






15. The assigning by Congress of congressional seats after each census. State legislatures reapportion state legislative districts.






16. Remedial action designed to overcome the effects of discrimination against minorities and women.






17. A monopoly that controls goods and services - often in combinations that reduce competition.






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






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






20. 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.






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






23. A formal writ used to bring a case before the Supreme Court.






24. 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.






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






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






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






28. Agreement between a prosecutor and a defendant that the defendant will plead guilty to a lesser offense to avoid having to stand trial for a more serious offense.






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






30. Interpretation of the First Amendment that would permit legislatures to forbid speech encouraging people to engage in illegal action.






31. A meeting of party delegates to vote on matters of policy and in some cases to select party candidates for public office.






32. A collection of people who share a common interest or attitude and seek to influence government for specific ends. Interest groups usually work within the framework of government and try to achieve their goals through tactics such as lobbying.






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






34. A government agency that operates like a business corporation - created to secure greater freedom of action and flexibility for a particular program.






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






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






37. 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.






38. System designed to reduce voter fraud by limiting voting to those who have established eligibility to vote by submitting the proper documents.






39. 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.






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






41. Consumer tax on a specific kind of merchandise - such as tobacco.






42. The portion of the Federal budget that is spent on programs - such as Social Security - that the president and Congress are unwilling to cut.






43. Government policy that attempts to manage the economy by controlling the money supply and thus interest rates.






44. Media that emphasize the news.






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






46. A procedural practice in the Senate whereby a senator temporarily blocks the consideration of the bill or nomination.






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






48. 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.






49. Primary election in which only persons registered in the party holding the primary may vote.






50. A court order forbidding specific individuals or groups from performing certain acts (such as striking) that the court considers harmful to the rights and property of an employer or community.