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. During the Great Society - the marble cake approach of intergovernmental relations.






2. A provision in a deed to real property prohibiting its sale to a person of a particular race or religion. Judicial enforcement of such deeds is unconstitutional.






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






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. A formal agreement between a U.S. president and the leaders of other nations that acquires approval by both houses of Congress.






6. The set of arrangements - including checks and balances - federalism - separation of powers - rule of law - due process - and a bill of rights - that requires our leaders to listen - think - bargain - and explain before they act or make laws. We then






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






8. 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.






9. Election in which voters choose party nominees.






10. A landmark case in United States law and the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States - under Article Three of the United States Constitution. The case resulted from a petition to the Supreme Court by William Marbury - who had b






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






12. The legislative leader selected by the minority party as spokesperson for the opposition.






13. A court with appellate jurisdiction that hears appeals from the decisions of lower courts.






14. A judicial system in which the court of law is a neutral arena where two parties argue their differences.






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






16. The desire to avoid international entanglement altogether.






17. Alternative means of health care in which individuals make tax-deductible contributions to a special account that can be used to pay medical expenses.






18. Mutual aid and vote trading among legislators.






19. Assigning police to neighborhoods where they walk the beat and work with churches and other community groups to reduce crime and improve relations with minorities.






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






21. 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.






22. Compromise agreement by states at the Constitutional Convention for a bicameral legislature with a lower house in which representation would be based on population and an upper house in which each state would have two senators.






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






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






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






26. Presidential refusal to allow an agency to spend funds that Congress authorized and appropriated.






27. The candidate or party that wins more than half the votes cast in an election.






28. Literacy requirements some states imposed as a condition of voting - generally used to disqualify black voters in the South; now illegal.






29. 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






30. The powers of the national government in foreign affairs that the Supreme Court has declared do not depend on constitutional grants but rather grow out of the very existence of the national government.






31. Donations made to political candidates - party committees - or groups which - by law - are limited and must be declared.






32. Presidential power to strike - or remove - specific items from a spending bill without vetoing the entire package; declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.






33. Retroactive criminal law that works to the disadvantage of a person.






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






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






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






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






38. Primary election in which only persons registered in the party holding the primary may vote.






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






40. Formal accusation by the lower house of legislature against a public official - the first step in removal from office.






41. A jury of 6 to 12 persons that determines guilt or innocence in a civil or criminal action.






42. Interpretation of the First Amendment that holds that freedom of expression is so essential to democracy that governments should not punish persons for what they say - only for what they do.






43. The legislative leader selected by the majority party who helps plan party strategy - confers with other party leaders - and tries to keep members of the party in line.






44. The portion of the Federal budget that is spent on programs - such as Social Security - that the president and Congress are unwilling to cut.






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. The authority of a court to hear a case 'in the first instance.'






47. An official who is expected to vote independently based on his or her judgment of the circumstances; one interpretation of the role of the legislator.






48. 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.






49. 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






50. 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.