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. The legislative leader selected by the majority party who helps plan party strategy - confers with other party leaders - and tries to keep members of the party in line.






2. A theory that government should control the money supply to encourage economic growth and restrain inflation.






3. Opponents of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government - generally.






4. 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






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






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






7. A philosophy that encourages individual nations to act on their own when facing threats from other nations.






8. A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. These sanctions permit the use of federal money in one program to influence state and local policy in another. For example - a 1984 act reduced federal highway aid by up to 15 percent for any






9. The study of the characteristics of populations.






10. An official document - published every weekday - which lists the new and proposed regulations of executive departments and regulatory agencies.






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






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






13. An action taken by Congress to reverse the presidential veto - requiring a two-thirds majority in each chamber.






14. 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.






15. Electoral system used in electing the president and vice president - in which voters vote for electors pledged to cast their ballots for particular party's candidates.






16. Censorship imposed before a speech is made or a newspaper is published; usually presumed to be unconstitutional.






17. Segregation imposed by law.






18. A belief that government can and should achieve justice and equality of opportunity.






19. Statement required by Federal law from all agencies for any project using Federal funds to assess the potential affect of the new construction or development on the environment.






20. An official who is expected to vote independently based on his or her judgment of the circumstances; one interpretation of the role of the legislator.






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






22. 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.






23. A law that governs relationships between individuals and defines their legal rights.






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






25. 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.






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






27. A procedure for terminating debate - especially filibusters - in the Senate.






28. Views the national government - 50 states - and thousands of local governments as competing with each other over ways to put together packages of services and taxes. Applies the analogy of the marketplace: we have some choice about which state and ci






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






30. The residents of a congressional district or state.






31. 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.'






32. An economic and governmental system based on public ownership of the means of production and exchange.






33. Agency that administers civil service laws - rules - and regulations.






34. The right of a federal law or a regulation to preclude enforcement of a state or local law or regulation.






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






36. Money spent by individuals or groups not associated with candidates to elect or defeat candidates for office.






37. The widespread belief that the United States is a land of opportunity and that individual initiative and hard work can bring economic success.






38. Loss of tax revenue due to Federal laws that provide special tax incentives or benefits to individuals or businesses.






39. An international trade organization with more than 130 members - including the United States and the People's Republic of China - that seeks to encourage free trade by lowering tariffs and other trade restrictions.






40. 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.






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






42. A landmark case in United States law and the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States - under Article Three of the United States Constitution. The case resulted from a petition to the Supreme Court by William Marbury - who had b






43. The distribution of individual preferences or evaluations of a given issue - candidate - or institution within a specific population.






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






45. Relationships among interest groups - congressional committees and subcommittees - and the government agencies that share a common policy concern.






46. The current holder of the elected office.






47. 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.






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






49. 30-second statements on the evening news shows. The media have been accused of simplifying complicated political issues by relying on sound bites to explain them to the public.






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