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 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.






2. The right to vote.






3. A consistent pattern of beliefs about political values and the role of government.






4. Quality or state of a work that taken as a whole appeals to a prurient interest in sex by depicting sexual conduct in a patently offensive way and that lacks serious literary - artistic - political - or scientific value.






5. 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.






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






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






8. An official who is expected to represent the views of his or her constituents even when personally holding different views; one interpretation of the role of legislator.






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






10. 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.






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






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






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






14. The presiding officer in the House of Representatives - formally elected by the House but actually selected by the majority party.






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






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






17. 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.






18. Election system in which the candidate with the most votes wins.






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






20. Government by the people - both directly or indirectly - with free and frequent elections.






21. Relationships among interest groups - congressional committees and subcommittees - and the government agencies that share a common policy concern.






22. Championed by Ronald Reagan - presumes that the power of the federal government is limited in favor of the broad powers reserved to the states.

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






24. 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).






25. An individual who does not to join a group representing his or her interests yet receives the benefit of the group's influence.






26. Constitutional arrangement in which sovereign nations or states - by compact - create a central government but carefully limit its power and do not give it direct authority over individuals.






27. International organization derived from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that promotes it free trade around the world.






28. Agreement between a prosecutor and a defendant that the defendant will plead guilty to a lesser offense to avoid having to stand trial for more serious offense.






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






30. An organization that seeks political power by electing people to office so that its positions and philosophy become public policy.






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






32. A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Federal grants may establish certain conditions that extend to all activities supported by federal funds - regardless of their source. The first and most famous of these is Title VI of the 196






33. Consumer tax on a specific kind of merchandise - such as tobacco.






34. Constitutional doctrine that whenever conflict occurs between the constitutionally authorized actions of the national government and those of a state or local government - the actions of the federal government will prevail.






35. Elections in which voters elect officeholders.






36. Essays promoting ratification of the Constitution - published anonymously by Alexander Hamilton - John Jay - and James Madison in 1787 and 1788.






37. Segregation imposed by law.






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






39. A congressional committee created for a specific purpose - sometimes to conduct an investigation.






40. An elected office that is predictably won by one party or the other - so the success of that party's candidate is almost taken for granted.






41. An informal and subjective affiliation with a political party that most people acquire in childhood.






42. Established by Congress in 1978 as a flexible - mobile corps of senior career executives who worked closely with presidential appointees to manage government.






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






44. Promoting a particular position or an issue 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 regulation.






45. A system of public employment based on rewarding party loyalists and friends.






46. Clause in the Fifth Amendment limiting the power of the national government; similar clause in the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the state governments from depriving any person of life - liberty - or property without due process of law.






47. Procedure whereby a certain number of voters may - by petition - propose a law or constitutional amendment and have it submitted to the voters.






48. An election during periods of expanded suffrage and change in the economy and society that proves to be a turning point - redefining the agenda of politics and the alignment of voters within parties.






49. The power of a court to refuse to enforce a law or a government regulation that in the opinion of the judges conflicts with the U.S. Constitution or - in a state court - the state constitution.






50. A system of government in which the legislature selects the prime minister or president.