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






2. Election in which voters choose party nominees.






3. 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.






4. Government regulation of property so extensive that government is deemed to have taken the property by the power of eminent domain - for which it must compensate the property owners.






5. The process by which individuals perceive what they want to in media messages.






6. The formal instructions that government issues for implementing laws.






7. 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.






8. The formal process for making regulations.






9. Philosophy proposing that judges should interpret the Constitution to reflect what the framers intended and what its words literally say.






10. In a criminal action - the person or party accused of an offense.






11. The power of a court to refuse to enforce a law or government regulation that in the opinion of the judges conflicts with the U.S. Constitution or - in a state court - the state constitution.






12. 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






13. Something given with the expectation of receiving something in return.






14. Divisions within society that cut across demographic categories to produce groups that are more heterogeneous or different.






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






16. The convention in Philadelphia - May 25 to September 17 - 1787 - that debated and agreed upon the Constitution of the United States.






17. A decision by the president not to spend money appropriated by Congress - now prohibited under Federal law.






18. 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.






19. Deliberate refusal to obey law or comply with orders of public officials as a means of expressing opposition.






20. The cluster of presidential staff agencies that help the president carry out his responsibilities. Currently the office includes the Office of Management and Budget - the Council of Economic Advisers - and several other units.






21. Engaging in activities aimed at influencing public officials - especially legislators - and the policies they enact.






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






23. Theory that opposes governmental interference in economic affairs beyond what is necessary to protect life and property.






24. 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






25. 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.






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






27. Those citizens who follow public affairs carefully.






28. A company with a labor agreement under which union membership is a condition of employment.






29. Power of a government to take private property for public use; the U.S. Constitution gives national and state governments this power and requires them to provide just compensation for property so taken.






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






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






32. A policy-making alliance that involves a very strong ties among a congressional committee - an interest group - and a Federal Department or agency.






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






34. A consistent pattern of beliefs about political values and the role of government.






35. Congress appropriates funds for a specific purpose - such as school lunches or for building airports and highways. These funds are allocated by formula and are subject to detailed federal conditions - often on a matching basis; that is - the local go






36. 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.






37. In this type of sample - every individual has unknown and random chance of being selected.






38. A tax graduated so that people with higher incomes pay larger fraction of their income than people with lower incomes.






39. A legislative practice that assigns the chair of the committee or subcommittee to the member of the majority party with the longest continuous service on the committee.






40. A notion held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent - from the Atlantic the Pacific.






41. A meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and to decide the platform.






42. The power of a court to refuse to enforce a law or a government regulation that in the opinion of the judges conflicts with the U.S. Constitution or - in a state court - the state constitution.






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






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






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






46. A tax on increased value of the product at each stage of production and distribution rather than just at the point of sale.






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






48. An elected office that is predictably won by one party or the other - so the success of that party's candidate is almost taken for granted.






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






50. A formal decision to reject the bill passed by Congress.