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. Conservative Christians who (as a group) have become more active in politics in the last two decades and were especially influential in the 2000 presidential election.






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






3. 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






4. Governance according to the expressed preferences of the majority.






5. 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.






6. Government by religious leaders - who claim divine guidance.






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






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






9. Lawsuit brought by an individual or group of people on behalf of all those similarly situated.






10. Governance divided between the parties - as when one holds the presidency and the other controls one or both houses of Congress.






11. The study of the characteristics of populations.






12. An agreement among two or more states. Congress must approve most such agreements.






13. 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.






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






15. 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.'






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






17. 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.






18. The process by which provisions of the bill of rights are brought within the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment and so applied to state and local governments.






19. 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






20. Providing automatic increases to compensate for inflation.






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






22. An imbalance in international trade in which the value of imports exceeds the value of exports.






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






24. 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.






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






26. A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that prohibits any amendments to bills or provides that only members of the committee reporting the bill may offer amendments.






27. A nonprofit association or group operating outside of government that advocates and pursues policy objectives.






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






29. A law that defines crimes against the public order.






30. 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.






31. Presidential power to strike - or remove - specific items from a spending bill without vetoing the entire package; declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.






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






33. A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that permits floor amendments within the overall time allocated to the bill.






34. Media that emphasize the news.






35. A formal decision to reject a bill passed by Congress after it adjourns






36. The belief that nations must engage in international problem solving.






37. 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






38. Trade status granted as part of an international trade policy that gives a nation the same favorable trade concessions and tariffs that the best trading partners receive.






39. Government in which the people elect those who govern and pass laws; also called a republic.






40. 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.






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






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






43. 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.






44. Powers that grow out of the very existence of government.






45. Initial proposal at the Constitutional Convention made by the Virginia delegation for a strong central government with a bicameral legislature dominated by the big states.






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






47. Programs such as unemployment insurance - disability relief - or disability payments that provide benefits to all eligible citizens.






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






49. The widely shared beliefs - values - and norms about how citizens relate to governments and to one another.






50. The president's annual statement to Congress and the nation.