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






2. Interpretation of the First Amendment that holds that the government cannot interfere with speech unless the speech presents a clear and present danger that it will lead to evil or illegal acts.






3. A government entity that is independent of the legislative - executive - and judicial branches.






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






5. Tax required to vote; prohibited for national elections by the Twenty-Fourth Amendment (1964) and ruled unconstitutional for all elections in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966).






6. Election system in which each party running receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of the vote.






7. Constitutional requirement that governments proceed by proper methods; limits how government may exercise power.






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






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






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






11. The widespread belief that the United States is a land of opportunity and that individual initiative and hard work can bring economic success.






12. Constitutional grant of powers that enables each of the three branches of government to check some acts of the others and therefore ensure that no branch can dominate.






13. An election system in which the candidate with the most votes wins.






14. The tendency of presidents to learn more about doing their jobs over time.






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






16. 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






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






18. 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.






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






20. Conservative Christians who (as a group) have become more active in politics in the last two decades and were especially influential in the 2000 presidential election.






21. Elections in which voters elect officeholders.






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. A legal action conferring citizenship on an alien.






24. 30-second statements on the evening news shows. The media have been accused of simplifying complicated political issues by relying on sound bites to explain them to the public.






25. Interest groups organized under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code may advertise for or against candidates. If their source of funding is corporations or unions - they have some restrictions on broadcast advertising. 527 organizations were impo






26. A philosophy that encourages individual nations to act on their own when facing threats from other nations.






27. Government in which the people elect those who govern and pass laws; also called a republic.






28. Agency that administers civil service laws - rules - and regulations.






29. Government in which citizens vote on laws and select officials directly.






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






31. A procedural practice in the Senate whereby a senator temporarily blocks the consideration of the bill or nomination.






32. A career government employee.






33. Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice.






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






35. 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.






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






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






38. System designed to reduce voter fraud by limiting voting to those who have established eligibility to vote by submitting the proper documents.






39. Libel - obscenity - fighting words - and commercial speech - which are not entitled to constitutional protection in all circumstances.






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






41. Stresses federalism as a system of intergovernmental relations in delivering governmental goods and services to the people and calls for cooperation among various levels of government.






42. A company with a labor agreement under which union membership is a condition of employment.






43. A commission created by the 1974 amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act to administer election reform laws. It consists of six commissioners appointed by president and confirmed by the Senate. Its duties include overseeing disclosure of camp






44. The current holder of the elected office.






45. 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.






46. A procedural practice in the Senate whereby a senator refuses to relinquish the floor and thereby delays proceedings and prevents a vote on a controversial issue.






47. A veto exercised by the president after Congress has adjourned; if the president takes no action for 10 days - the bill does not become law and does not return to Congress for possible override.






48. Unlimited amounts of money that political parties previously could raise for party-building purposes. Now largely illegal except for limited contributions to state and local parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts.






49. 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.






50. Elections held midway between presidential elections.