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. A court order forbidding specific individuals or groups from performing certain acts (such as striking) that the court considers harmful to the rights and property of an employer or community.






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






3. 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.






4. 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).






5. 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.






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






7. The rights of all people to dignity and worth; also called human rights.






8. A permanent committee established in a legislature - usually focusing on a policy area.






9. The principle of a two-house legislature.






10. Election in which voters choose party nominees.






11. A grouping of human beings with distinctive characteristics determined by genetic inheritance.






12. A decision made by a higher court such as a circuit court of appeals or the Supreme Court that is binding on all other federal courts.






13. Synonymous with 'collective action -' it specifically studies how government officials - politicians - and voters respond to positive and negative incentives.






14. Clause in the Fifth Amendment limiting the power of the national government; similar clause in the Fourteenth Amendment prohibiting state governments from depriving any person of life - liberty - or property without due process of law.






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






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






17. Elections held midway between presidential elections.






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






19. The effort to slow the growth of the federal government by returning many functions to the states.






20. The difference between the revenues raised annually from sources of income other than borrowing and the expenditures of government - including paying the interest on past borrowing.






21. An opinion disagreeing with a majority in a Supreme Court ruling.






22. Advisory council for the president consisting of the heads of the executive departments - the vice president - and a few other officials selected by the president.






23. The process of putting a law into practice through bureaucratic rules or spending.






24. 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.






25. Agreement signed by the United States - Canada - and Mexico in 1992 to form the largest free trade zone in the world.






26. Powers the Constitution specifically grants to one of the branches of the national government.






27. The authority of a court to review decisions made by lower courts.






28. Photo opportunities set up by the candidates. The media have been accused of simplifying complicated political issues by relying on photo ops to explain them to the public.






29. The residents of a congressional district or state.






30. Democratic party primary in the old 'one-party South' that was limited to white people and essentially constituted an election; ruled unconstitutional in Smith v. Allwright (1944).






31. 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.






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






33. A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Federal grants may establish certain conditions that extend to all activities supported by federal funds - regardless of their source. The first and most famous of these is Title VI of the 196






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






35. The idea that a just government must derive its powers from the consent of the people it governs.






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






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






38. The first governing document of the confederated states drafted in 1777 - ratified in 1781 - and replaced by the present Constitution in 1789.






39. The process by which we develop our political attitudes - values - and beliefs.






40. Inherent powers of state governments to pass laws to protect the public health - safety - and welfare; the national government has no directly granted police powers but accomplishes the same goals through other delegated powers.






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






42. A requirement the federal government imposes as a condition for receiving federal funds.






43. The list of potential cases that reach the Supreme Court.






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






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






46. 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.'






47. A national meeting of delegates elected at 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.






48. Statement required by Federal law from all agencies for any project using Federal funds to assess the potential affect of the new construction or development on the environment.






49. Candidate or party with the most votes cast in an election - not necessarily more than half.






50. A minor party founded by Ross Perot in 1995. It focuses on national government reform - fiscal responsibility - and political accountability. It has recently struggled with internal strife and criticism that it lacks an identity.