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Test your basic knowledge |
AP Government
Start Test
Study First
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 jury of 6 to 12 persons that determines guilt or innocence in a civil or criminal action.
Connecticut Compromise
Incumbent
Public opinion
Petit jury
2. Widespread agreement on fundamental principles of democratic governance and the values that undergird them.
Selective incorporation
Normal trade relations
Rider
Democratic consensus
3. An imbalance in international trade in which the value of imports exceeds the value of exports.
Sales tax
Trade deficit
Means-tested entitlements
Issue advocacy
4. Biological - chemical - or nuclear weapons that can cause a massive number of deaths in a single use.
Jim Crow laws
Regulations
Weapons of mass destruction
Independent agency
5. The widespread belief that the United States is a land of opportunity and that individual initiative and hard work can bring economic success.
De jure segregation
Impeachment
American dream
Executive Office of the President
6. The president's annual statement to Congress and the nation.
Means-tested entitlements
State of the Union Address
Obscenity
Proportional representation
7. An individual who does not to join a group representing his or her interests yet receives the benefit of the group's influence.
Free rider
Ex post facto law
Interest group
Public policy
8. 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.
Concurrent powers
Cooperative federalism
Electoral college
'Necessary and proper' clause
9. Voting by member of one party for a candidate of another party.
Inherent powers
Crossover voting
Federalists
Veto
10. A policy that emphasizes a united front and cooperation between the major political parties - especially on sensitive foreign policy issues.
Bipartisanship
Confederation
Monopoly
Commercial speech
11. 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.
Libertarianism
Separation of powers
Precedent
Natural law
12. System designed to reduce voter fraud by limiting voting to those who have established eligibility to vote by submitting the proper documents.
Voter registration
Search warrant
Theory of deterrence
Enumerated powers
13. Government in which the people elect those who govern and pass laws; also called a republic.
Natural rights
Reapportionment
Representative democracy
Referendum
14. Presidential refusal to allow an agency to spend funds that Congress authorized and appropriated.
Impoundment
Direct orders
Bicameralism
Literacy test
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.'
Hard money
Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
Due process
Inflation
16. A social division based on national origin - religion - language - and often race.
Ethnicity
Offshoring
Original jurisdiction
Monetarism
17. 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.
Hard power
Search warrant
Representative democracy
Executive privilege
18. A permanent committee established in a legislature - usually focusing on a policy area.
Party registration
Standing committee
Cabinet
Inherent powers
19. Aid to the poor; 'welfare.'
Contract clause
Public assistance
Central clearance
Civil disobedience
20. Federal program that provides medical benefits for low-income persons.
Medicare
Bicameralism
Articles of Confederation
Medicaid
21. 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.
Sound bites
Plea bargain
Public opinion
Pluralism
22. Constitutional doctrine that whenever conflict occurs between the constitutionally authorized actions of the national government and those of a state or local government - the actions of the federal government will prevail.
Cross-cutting cleavages
National supremacy
Necessary and proper clause
Laissez-faire economics
23. 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.
Public opinion
Initiative
Political action committee (PAC)
Soft money
24. An explanation of the decision of the Supreme Court or any other appellate court.
Marble cake federalism
Retrospective issue of voting
Opinion of the Court
Logrolling
25. Elected office that is predictably won by one party or the other - so the success of the party's candidate is almost taken for granted.
Safe seat
Articles of Confederation
National supremacy
American dream
26. A tax on increased value of the product at each stage of production and distribution rather than just at the point of sale.
Value-added tax (VAT)
Direct democracy
Coattail effect
Plea bargain
27. A formal agreement between a U.S. president and the leaders of other nations that acquires approval by both houses of Congress.
Political predisposition
Political socialization
Weapons of mass destruction
Congressional-executive agreement
28. Interpretation of the First Amendment that would permit legislatures to forbid speech encouraging people to engage in illegal action.
Pluralism
Bad tendency test
Turnout
Rally point
29. The tendency in elections to focus on the personal attributes of a candidate - such as his/her strengths - weaknesses - background - experience - and visibility.
New Jersey Plan
Race
Candidate appeal
Direct primary
30. How voters feel about a candidate's background - personality - leadership ability - and other personal qualities.
Impeachment
Libel
Realigning election
Candidate appeal
31. 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.
Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
Connecticut Compromise
Laissez-faire economics
Filibuster
32. Policy of erecting trade barriers to protect domestic industry.
Honeymoon
Protectionism
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
Delegate
33. Libel - obscenity - fighting words - and commercial speech - which are not entitled to constitutional protection in all circumstances.
Nonprotected speech
Australian ballot
Impoundment
Majority leader
34. Consumer tax on a specific kind of merchandise - such as tobacco.
Majority rule
Centralists
Excise tax
Marbury v. Madison
35. 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.
Rule-making process
Laissez-faire economics
Majority rule
Social Security
36. A widely shared and consciously held view - like support for homeland security.
Inflation
Precedent
Dual citizenship
Manifest opinion
37. An informal and subjective affiliation with a political party that most people acquire in childhood.
Amicus curiae brief
Party identification
Selected perception
Tax expenditure
38. Essays promoting ratification of the Constitution - published anonymously by Alexander Hamilton - John Jay - and James Madison in 1787 and 1788.
The Federalist
Entitlements
Turnout
Honeymoon
39. The tendency of presidents to lose support over time.
Internationalism
Reapportionment
Political party
Cycle of decreasing influence
40. Interpretation of the First Amendment that holds that freedom of expression is so essential to democracy that governments should not punish persons for what they say - only for what they do.
Tariff
Federal Reserve System
Preferred position doctrine
Independent expenditures
41. A committee composed of members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate; such committees oversee the Library of Congress and conduct investigations.
Antitrust legislation
Photo ops
Executive privilege
Joint committee
42. A company in which new employees must join a union within a stated time period.
State of the Union Address
Independent expenditure
Union shop
Democratic consensus
43. Views the Constitution as giving a limited list of powers—primarily foreign policy and national defense—to the national government - leaving the rest to the sovereign states. Each level of government is dominant within its own sphere. The Supreme Cou
Dual federalism (layer cake federalism)
Laissez-faire economics
Issue network
Establishment clause
44. 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
Political socialization
Project grants
Chief of staff
Public choice
45. Requirement that evidence unconstitutionally or illegally obtained be excluded from a criminal trial.
Cycle of increasing effectiveness
Keynesian economics
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA)
Exclusionary rule
46. Special spending projects that are set aside on behalf of individual members of Congress for their constituents.
De jure segregation
Earmarks
Competitive federalism
Restrictive covenant
47. A system of public employment based on rewarding party loyalists and friends.
Spoils system
Take care clause
Regulation
Civil disobedience
48. A monopoly that controls goods and services - often in combinations that reduce competition.
Trust
Plurality
Judicial review
Defendant
49. Clause in the Fifth Amendment limiting the power of the national government; similar clause in the Fourteenth Amendment prohibiting state governments from depriving any person of life - liberty - or property without due process of law.
Inherent powers
Proportional representation
Bicameralism
Due process clause
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
Jim Crow laws
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
Majority
Political predisposition