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 tactic in which PACs collect contributions from like-minded individuals (each limited to $2000) and present them to a candidate or political party as a 'bundle -' thus increasing the PAC's influence.






2. Party leader who is the liaison between the leadership and the rank-and-file in the legislature.






3. Directive issued by a president or governor that has the force of law.






4. The clause of the Constitution (Article I - Section 8 - Clause 3) that gives Congress the power to regulate all business activities that cross state lines or affect more than one state or other nations.






5. Proposal at the Constitutional Convention made by William Paterson of New Jersey for a central government with a single-house legislature in which each state would be represented equally.






6. The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals - groups - and parties can spend unlimited amounts in campaigns for or against candidates as long as they operate independently from the candidates. When an individual - group - or party does so - they are






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






8. An international trade organization with more than 130 members - including the United States and the People's Republic of China - that seeks to encourage free trade by lowering tariffs and other trade restrictions.






9. The informal list of issues that Congress and the president consider most important for action.






10. Powers inferred from the express powers that allow Congress to carry out its functions.






11. God's or nature's law that defines right from wrong and is higher than human law.






12. Elections in which voters determine party nominees.






13. Court order directing an official to perform an official duty.






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






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






16. A provision attached to a bill






17. People who favor state or local action rather than national action.






18. People who favor national action over action at the state and local levels.






19. 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.






20. Democratic and civic habits of discussion - compromise - and respect for differences - which grow out of participation in voluntary organizations.






21. A form of organization that operates through impersonal - uniform rules and procedures.






22. How groups form and organize to pursue their goals or objectives - including how to get individuals and groups to participate and to cooperate. The term has many applications in the various social sciences such as political science - sociology - and






23. 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.






24. A dispute growing out of an actual case or controversy and that is capable of settlement by legal methods.






25. A court order requiring explanation to a judge why a prisoner is being held in custody.






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






27. A formal writ used to bring a case before the Supreme Court.






28. A collection of people who share a common interest or attitude and seek to influence government for specific ends. Interest groups usually work within the framework of government and try to achieve their goals through tactics such as lobbying.






29. Clause in the Constitution that states that 'Congress should have the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers. . . .' This clause is also known as the elastic clause as is a major and significant p


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






31. Elections in which voters elect officeholders.






32. A company with a labor agreement under which union membership cannot be required as a condition of employment.






33. Trade status granted as part of an international trade policy that gives a nation the same favorable trade concessions and tariffs that the best trading partners receive.






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






35. Programs such as Medicaid and welfare under which applicants must meet eligibility requirements based on need.






36. Powers expressly or implicitly reserved to the states.


37. A company in which new employees must join a union within a stated time period.






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






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






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






41. A policy promoting cutbacks in the amount of Federal regulation in specific areas of economic activity.






42. Censorship imposed before a speech is made or a newspaper is published; usually presumed to be unconstitutional.






43. A notion held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent - from the Atlantic the Pacific.






44. A theory of international relations that focuses on the hope the nations will act together to solve international problems and promote peace.






45. The assigning by Congress of congressional seats after each census. State legislatures reapportion state legislative districts.






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






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






48. 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.






49. Domination of an industry by a single company that fixes prices and discourages competition; also - the company that dominates the industry by these means.






50. Requirement that evidence unconstitutionally or illegally obtained be excluded from a criminal trial.