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. Committee appointed by the presiding officers of each chamber to adjust differences on a particular bill passed by each in different form.






2. Largely banned party soft money - restored a long-standing prohibition on corporations and labor unions for using general treasury funds for electoral purposes - and narrowed the definition of issue advocacy.






3. Constitutional arrangement that concentrates power in a central government.






4. An ideology that cherishes individual liberty and insists on minimal government - promoting a free market economy - a noninterventionist foreign policy - and an absence of regulation in moral - economic - and social life.






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






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






7. Presidential custom of submitting the names of perspective appointees for approval to senators from the states in which the appointees are to work.






8. The study of the characteristics of populations.






9. A congressional committee created for a specific purpose - sometimes to conduct an investigation.






10. 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






11. A type of policy that takes benefits (usually through taxes) from one group of Americans and gives them to another (usually through spending).






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






13. A government that enforces recognized limits on those who govern and allows the voice of the people to be heard through free - fair - and relatively frequent elections.






14. A social division based on national origin - religion - language - and often race.






15. 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.






16. Clause in the Constitution (Article 4 - Section 1) requiring each state to recognize the civil judgments rendered by the courts of the other states and to accept their public records and acts as valid.






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






18. Clause of the Constitution (Article 1 - Section 8 - Clause 3) setting forth the implied powers of Congress. It states that Congress - in addition to its express powers has the right to make all laws necessary and proper to carry out all powers the Co






19. Procedure for submitting to popular vote the removal of officials from office before the end of their term.






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






21. Literacy requirements some states imposed as a condition of voting - generally used to disqualify black voters in the South; now illegal.






22. Alternative means of health care in which people or their employers are charged a set amount and the HMO provides health care and covers hospital costs.






23. 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.






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






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






26. An electoral district in which voters choose one representative or official.






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






28. 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.






29. A court with appellate jurisdiction that hears appeals from the decisions of lower courts.






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






31. Procedure for submitting to popular vote measures passed by the legislature or proposed amendments to a state constitution.






32. A president's claim of broad public support.






33. Divisions within society that reinforce one another - making groups more homogenous or similar.






34. The process - most notably in families and schools - by which we develop our political attitudes - values - and beliefs.






35. General tax on sales transactions - sometimes exempting food and drugs.






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






37. Consumer tax on a specific kind of merchandise - such as tobacco.






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






39. Conceives of federalism as a marble cake in which all levels of government are involved in a variety of issues and programs - rather than a layer cake - or dual federalism - with fixed divisions between layers or levels of government.






40. An agency of Congress that analyzes presidential budget recommendations and estimates the cost of proposed legislation.






41. 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.






42. Elections in which voters elect officeholders.






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






44. Economic theory based on the principles of John Maynard Keynes stating that government spending should increase during business slumps and be curbed during booms.






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






46. The right to vote.






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






48. A tax whereby people with lower incomes pay a higher fraction of their income than people with higher incomes.






49. An official who is expected to represent the views of his or her constituents even when personally holding different views; one interpretation of the role of legislator.






50. 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