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 theory that is based on creating enough military strength to convince other nations not to attack first.






2. A widely shared and consciously held view - like support for homeland security.






3. The rule of precedent - whereby a rule or law contained in a judicial decision is commonly viewed as binding on judges whenever the same question is presented.






4. A convention held in September 1786 to consider problems of trade and navigation - attended by five states and important because it issued the call to Congress and the states for what became the Constitutional Convention.






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






6. 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.






7. 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.






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






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






10. Electoral system used in electing the president and vice president - in which voters vote for electors pledged to cast their ballots for particular party's candidates.






11. Unlimited and undisclosed spending by an individual or group on communications that do not use words like 'vote for' or 'vote against -' although much of this activity is actually about electing or defeating candidates.






12. The right to renounce one's citizenship.






13. Elections in which voters elect officeholders.






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






15. 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.






16. An official document - published every weekday - which lists the new and proposed regulations of executive departments and regulatory agencies.






17. A close contest; by extension - any contest in which the focus is on who is ahead and by how much rather than on substantive differences between the candidates.






18. The difference between the political opinions or political behavior of men and of women.






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






20. A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Direct orders must be complied with under threat of criminal or civil sanction. An example is the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 - barring job discrimination by state and local gover






21. A provision attached to a bill






22. 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.






23. Citizenship in more than one nation.






24. 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.






25. A congressional district created to include a majority of minority voters; ruled constitutional so long as race is not the main factor in redistricting.






26. 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.






27. Legal process whereby an alleged criminal offender is surrendered by the officials of one states to officials of the state in which the crime is alleged to have been committed.






28. Loss of tax revenue due to Federal laws that provide special tax incentives or benefits to individuals or businesses.






29. 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






30. A rising public approval of the president that follows a crisis as Americans 'rally 'round the flag' and the chief executive.






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






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






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






34. The right to keep executive communications confidential - especially if they relate to National Security.






35. Elections held in years when the president is on the ballot.






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






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






38. Supporters of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government.






39. Segregation imposed by law.






40. Constitutional requirement that governments act reasonably and that the substance of the laws themselves be fair and reasonable; limits what the government may do.






41. The drawing of legislative district boundaries to benefit a party - group - or incumbent.






42. Financial contributions by individuals or groups in the hope of influencing the outcome of the election and subsequently influencing policy.






43. Views the national government - 50 states - and thousands of local governments as competing with each other over ways to put together packages of services and taxes. Applies the analogy of the marketplace: we have some choice about which state and ci






44. Views the Constitution as giving a limited list of powers—primarily foreign policy and national defense—to the national government - leaving the rest to the sovereign states. Each level of government is dominant within its own sphere. The Supreme Cou






45. Interpretation of the First Amendment that would permit legislatures to forbid speech encouraging people to engage in illegal action.






46. Election in which voters choose party nominees.






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






48. A procedure for terminating debate - especially filibusters - in the Senate.






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






50. Attempting to overthrow the government by force or use violence to interrupt its activities.