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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. Belief in the superiority of one's nation or ethnic group.
State's rights
Dual citizenship
Articles of Confederation
Ethnocentrism
2. The difference between the political opinions or political behavior of men and of women.
News media
Single-member district
Honeymoon
Gender gap
3. 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.
Original jurisdiction
Sound bites
Minor party
Cloture
4. A formal agreement between a U.S. president and the leaders of other nations that acquires approval by both houses of Congress.
Pluralism
Congressional-executive agreement
Fundamentalists
Majority rule
5. The residents of a congressional district or state.
Connecticut Compromise
Justiciable dispute
Constituents
Political socialization
6. An election system in which each party running receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of the vote.
Proportional representation
Confederation
Plurality
Cross-cutting requirements
7. Presidential custom of submitting the names of perspective appointees for approval to senators from the states in which the appointees are to work.
Lobbying
Senatorial courtesy
Articles of Confederation
Retrospective issue of voting
8. Interpretation of the First Amendment that would permit legislatures to forbid speech encouraging people to engage in illegal action.
Name recognition
Green party
Bad tendency test
Ex post facto law
9. Agreement signed by the United States - Canada - and Mexico in 1992 to form the largest free trade zone in the world.
Preferred position doctrine
Rally point
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
amicus curiae brief
10. An economic system characterized by private property - competitive markets - economic incentives - and limited government involvement in the production - distribution - and pricing of goods and services.
Capitalism
Rider
Deregulation
Stare decisis
11. Agency that administers civil service laws - rules - and regulations.
Regressive tax
Hold
Inherent powers
Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
12. Exemption from prosecution for a particular crime in return for testimony pertaining to the case.
Immunity
Medical savings account
Quid pro quo
Antitrust legislation
13. Federal laws (starting with the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890) that try to prevent a monopoly from dominating an industry and restraining trade.
Antitrust legislation
Hard power
Open primary
Poll tax
14. An election during periods of expanded suffrage and change in the economy and society that proves to be a turning point - redefining the agenda of politics and the alignment of voters within parties.
Caucus
Clear and present danger test
Realigning election
Independent expenditure
15. Essays promoting ratification of the Constitution - published anonymously by Alexander Hamilton - John Jay - and James Madison in 1787 and 1788.
Virginia Plan
The Federalist
Redistributive policy
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
16. A belief that ultimate power resides in the people.
Fiscal policy
Political socialization
Popular sovereignty
Eminent domain
17. The assigning by Congress of congressional seats after each census. State legislatures reapportion state legislative districts.
Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
Checks and balances
National party convention
Reapportionment
18. God's or nature's law that defines right from wrong and is higher than human law.
Sedition
Attentive public
Natural law
Cross-cutting cleavages
19. The presiding officer in the House of Representatives - formally elected by the House but actually selected by the majority party.
Open primary
Right of expatriation
Social insurance
Speaker
20. A formal - public agreement between the United States and one or more nations that must be approved by two thirds of the Senate.
White primary
Dealignment
Issue advocacy
Treaty
21. Synonymous with 'collective action -' it specifically studies how government officials - politicians - and voters respond to positive and negative incentives.
Necessary and proper clause
Public choice
Medicaid
Impeachment
22. A rise in the general price level (and decrease in dollar value) owing to an increase in the volume of money and credit in relation to available goods.
Inflation
Crossover voting
Prior restraint
Demographics
23. Voting based on what a candidate pledges to do in the future about an issue if elected.
Prospective issue voting
Public choice
Bad tendency test
Plurality
24. Divisions within society that cut across demographic categories to produce groups that are more heterogeneous or different.
Cross-cutting cleavages
Senatorial courtesy
Closed rule
Electoral college
25. The principle of a two-house legislature.
Soft money
Minority leader
Sound bites
Bicameralism
26. Programs that the Federal government requires States to implement without Federal funding.
Earmarks
Fiscal federalism
Sales tax
Unfunded mandates
27. Powers that grow out of the very existence of government.
Inherent powers
Veto
Precedent
Parliamentary system
28. An action taken by Congress to reverse the presidential veto - requiring a two-thirds majority in each chamber.
Writ of mandamus
Closed shop
Trustee
Override
29. Usually the largest organization in government with the largest mission; also the highest rank in Federal hierarchy.
Hatch Act
Department
Crossover voting
Impoundment
30. National Health Insurance program for the elderly and disabled.
Medicare
Writ of habeas corpus
Public choice
Proportional representation
31. The process of putting a law into practice through bureaucratic rules or spending.
Distributive policy
Implementation
Issue network
Party identification
32. The right to keep executive communications confidential - especially if they relate to National Security.
Plea bargain
Executive privilege
amicus curiae brief
Primary election
33. The powers of the national government in foreign affairs that the Supreme Court has declared do not depend on constitutional grants but rather grow out of the very existence of the national government.
Inherent powers
National Intelligence Director
Gender gap
Representative democracy
34. 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.
Sound bites
Chief of staff
Plea bargain
Presidential election
35. Literacy requirements some states imposed as a condition of voting - generally used to disqualify black voters in the South; now illegal.
Regressive tax
Literacy test
Ethnicity
New Jersey Plan
36. Economic theory based on the principles of John Maynard Keynes stating that government spending should increase during business slumps and be curbed during booms.
Rule
Keynesian economics
Conservatism
Gender gap
37. Primary election in which any voter - regardless of party - may vote.
Merit system
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
Open primary
Bicameralism
38. 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.
Attentive public
Dual federalism (layer cake federalism)
Tariff
Direct democracy
39. Weakening of partisan preferences that points to a rejection of both major parties and a rise in the number of independents.
Popular sovereignty
Monopoly
Dealignment
Judicial review
40. Party leader who is the liaison between the leadership and the rank-and-file in the legislature.
Whip
National Intelligence Director
Incumbent
Commercial speech
41. A policy adopted by the Bush administration in 2001 that asserts America's right to attack any nation that has weapons of mass destruction that might be used against U.S. interests at home or abroad.
Bush Doctrine
Minor party
Due process clause
Mass media
42. A consistent pattern of beliefs about political values and the role of government.
Political ideology
Centralists
Executive Office of the President
Implementation
43. A minor party that believes in extremely limited government. Libertarians call for a free market system - expanded individual liberties such as drug legalization - and a foreign policy of nonintervention - free trade - and open immigration.
Libertarian party
Community policing
Judicial restraint
Minor party
44. An electoral district in which voters choose one representative or official.
Interstate compact
Single-member district
Fiscal federalism
Closed rule
45. The rights of all people to dignity and worth; also called human rights.
Opinion of the Court
Rider
Enumerated powers
Natural rights
46. An agency of Congress that analyzes presidential budget recommendations and estimates the cost of proposed legislation.
Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
Justiciable dispute
National party convention
Democratic consensus
47. Widespread agreement on fundamental principles of democratic governance and the values that undergird them.
Democratic consensus
Civil disobedience
Trust
Democracy
48. 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
Party caucus
Bicameralism
Crossover sanctions
Naturalization
49. Procedure for submitting to popular vote the removal of officials from office before the end of their term.
Hold
Presidential election
Due process
Recall
50. An organization that seeks political power by electing people to office so that its positions and philosophy become public policy.
Marble cake federalism
Bad tendency test
Political party
Affirmative action