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 provision attached to a bill






2. The head of the White House staff.






3. An agency of Congress that analyzes presidential budget recommendations and estimates the cost of proposed legislation.






4. Election in which voters choose party nominees.






5. The current holder of the elected office.






6. Remedial action designed to overcome the effects of discrimination against minorities and women.






7. Promoting a particular position or an issue paid for by interest groups or individuals but not candidates. Much issue advocacy is often electioneering for or against a candidate - and until 2004 had not been subject to any regulation.






8. Government policy that attempts to manage the economy by controlling the money supply and thus interest rates.






9. Literally - a 'friend of the court' brief - filed by an individual or organization to present arguments in addition to those presented by the immediate parties to a case.






10. Words that by their very nature inflict injury on those to whom they are addressed or insight them to acts of violence.






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






12. 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).






13. 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






14. A formal written statement from a grand jury charging an individual with an offense; also called a true bill.






15. The proportion of the voting age public that votes - sometimes defined as the number of registered voters that vote.






16. 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.






17. A government agency or commission with regulatory power whose independence is protected by Congress.






18. Written defamation of another person. For public officials and public figures - the constitutional tests designed to restrict libel actions are especially rigid.






19. Special spending projects that are set aside on behalf of individual members of Congress for their constituents.






20. A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that prohibits any amendments to bills or provides that only members of the committee reporting the bill may offer amendments.






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






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






23. Compromise between northern and southern states at the Constitutional Convention that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for determining direct taxation and representation in the House of Representatives.






24. 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






25. Through different grant programs - slices up the marble cake into many different pieces - making it even more difficult to differentiate the functions of the levels of government.






26. Engaging in activities aimed at influencing public officials - especially legislators - and the policies they enact.






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






28. A jury of 12 to 23 persons who - in private - hear evidence presented by the government to determine whether persons shall be required to stand trial. If the jury believes there is sufficient evidence that a crime was committed - it issues an indictm






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






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






31. Opponents of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government - generally.






32. Money government provides to parents to pay their children's tuition in a public or private school of their choice.






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






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






36. A meeting of the members of a party in a legislative chamber to select party leaders and to develop party policy. Called a conference by the Republicans.






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






38. A tax on increased value of the product at each stage of production and distribution rather than just at the point of sale.






39. Citizenship in more than one nation.






40. Initial proposal at the Constitutional Convention made by the Virginia delegation for a strong central government with a bicameral legislature dominated by the big states.






41. A system of public employment in which selection and promotion depend on demonstrated performance rather than political patronage.






42. 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.






43. Election in which voters choose party nominees.






44. Holding incumbents - usually the president's party - responsible for their records on issues - such as the economy or foreign policy.






45. The power to keep executive communications confidential - especially if they relate to national security.






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






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






48. Usually the largest organization in government with the largest mission; also the highest rank in Federal hierarchy.






49. A decision by the president not to spend money appropriated by Congress - now prohibited under Federal law.






50. Providing automatic increases to compensate for inflation.