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. Programs that the Federal government requires States to implement without Federal funding.






2. 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.






3. Written defamation of another person. For public officials and public figures - the constitutional tests designed to restrict libel actions are especially rigid.






4. Belief in the superiority of one's nation or ethnic group.






5. A career government employee.






6. An economic and governmental system based on public ownership of the means of production and exchange.






7. The rights of an individual to own - use - rent - invest in - buy - and sell property.






8. Federal program that provides medical benefits for low-income persons.






9. Period at the beginning of the new president's term during which the president enjoys generally positive relations with the press and Congress - usually lasting about six months.






10. Presidential staff the agency that serves as a clearinghouse for budgetary requests and management improvements for government agencies.






11. The Federal government's primary intelligence officer - responsible for overseeing all national intelligence agencies and providing advice to the President on terrorist threats.






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






13. Literally - a 'friend of the court' brief - filed by an individual or organization to present arguments in addition to those presented by the immediate parties to a case.






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






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






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






17. A belief that government can and should achieve justice and equality of opportunity.






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






19. The right of a federal law or a regulation to preclude enforcement of a state or local law or regulation.






20. These are broad state grants to states for prescribed activities—welfare - child care - education - social services - preventive health care - and health services—with only a few strings attached. States have greater flexibility in deciding how to sp






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






22. The number of Americans who are out of work but actively looking for a job. The number does not usually include those who are not looking.






23. Mutual aid and vote trading among legislators.






24. A philosophy that encourages individual nations tacked together to solve international problems.






25. An explanation of the decision of the Supreme Court or any other appellate court.






26. A PAC formed by an officeholder that collects contributions from individuals and other PACs and then makes contributions to other candidates and political parties.






27. Constitutional arrangement in which power is distributed between a central government and subdivisional governments - called states in the United States. The national and the subdivisional governments both exercise direct authority over individuals.






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






29. Theory based on the principles of John Maynard Keynes - stating that government spending should increase during business slumps and the curve during booms.






30. Advertisements and commercials for products and services; they receive less First Amendment protection - primarily to discourage false and misleading ads.






31. Widespread agreement on fundamental principles of democratic governance and the values that undergird them.






32. 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.






33. A legal action conferring citizenship on an alien.






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






35. The tendency of presidents to lose support over time.






36. The distribution of individual preferences or evaluations of a given issue - candidate - or institution within a specific population.






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






38. The boost that candidates may get in an election because of the popularity of candidates above them on the ballot - especially the president.






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






40. The idea that the rights of the nation are supreme over the rights of the individuals who make up the nation.






41. 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






42. 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.






43. Exemption from prosecution for a particular crime in return for testimony pertaining to the case.






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






45. A national meeting of delegates elected in primaries - caucuses - or state conventions who assemble once every four years to nominate candidates for president and vice president - ratify the party platform - elect officers - and adopt rules.






46. Federal laws (starting with the Sherman Act of 1890) that tried to prevent a monopoly from dominating an industry and restraining trade.






47. Media that emphasize the news.






48. The constitutional requirement (in Article II - Section 3) that presidents take care that the laws are faithfully executed - even if they disagree with the purpose of those laws.






49. The drawing of election districts so as to ensure that members of a certain race are a minority in the district; ruled unconstitutional in Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960).






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