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 tax graduated so that people with higher incomes pay larger fraction of their income than people with lower incomes.






2. Review of all executive branch testimony - reports - and draft legislation by the Office of Management and Budget to ensure that each communication to Congress is in accordance with the president's program.






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






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






5. 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.






6. A belief that government can and should achieve justice and equality of opportunity.






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






8. The total amount of money the Federal government has borrowed to finance deficit spending over the years.






9. 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






10. 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.






11. Synonymous with 'collective action -' it specifically studies how government officials - politicians - and voters respond to positive and negative incentives.






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






13. Elections in which voters elect officeholders.






14. A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Total preemption rests on the national governments power under the supremacy and commerce clauses to preempt conflicting state and local activity. Building on this constitutional authority - f






15. Committee appointed by the presiding officers of each chamber to adjust differences on a particular bill passed by each in different form.






16. 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.






17. 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.






18. Legislative act inflicting punishment - including deprivation of property - without a trial - on named individuals or members of a specific group.






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






20. The study of the characteristics of populations.






21. 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.






22. The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census - to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population.






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






24. A policy adopted by the Bush administration in 2001 that asserts America's right to attack any nation that has weapons of mass destruction that might be used against U.S. interests at home or abroad.






25. 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.






26. A PAC formed by an officeholder that collects contributions from individuals and other PACs and then makes contributions to other candidates and political parties.






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






28. Contributions to a state or local party for party-building purposes.






29. The process by which individuals screen out messages that do not conform to their own biases.






30. A procedural rule in the House of Representatives that permits floor amendments within the overall time allocated to the bill.






31. Presidential staff the agency that serves as a clearinghouse for budgetary requests and management improvements for government agencies.






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






33. Programs in which eligibility is based on prior contributions to government - usually in the form of payroll taxes.






34. The process by which provisions of the bill of rights are brought within the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment and so applied to state and local governments.






35. 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.






36. An election system in which each party running receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of the vote.






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






38. Widespread agreement on fundamental principles of democratic governance and the values that undergird them.






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






40. 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






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






42. Lawsuit brought by an individual or group of people on behalf of all those similarly situated.






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






44. Photo opportunities set up by the candidates. The media have been accused of simplifying complicated political issues by relying on photo ops to explain them to the public.






45. A belief that ultimate power resides in the people.






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






47. 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.






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






49. Election in which voters choose party nominees.






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