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






2. A formal agreement between the U.S. president and the leaders of other nations that does not require Senate approval.






3. The president's annual statement to Congress and the nation.






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






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






6. The widely shared beliefs - values - and norms about how citizens relate to governments and to one another.






7. 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).






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






9. Advisory council for the president consisting of the heads of the executive departments - the vice president - and a few other officials selected by the president.






10. God's or nature's law that defines right from wrong and is higher than human law.






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






12. An official document - published every weekday - which lists the new and proposed regulations of executive departments and regulatory agencies.






13. Programs that the Federal government requires States to implement without Federal funding.






14. 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.






15. Theory that opposes governmental interference in economic affairs beyond what is necessary to protect life and property.






16. The right of women to vote.

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17. The study of the characteristics of populations.






18. The Federal government's primary intelligence officer - responsible for overseeing all national intelligence agencies and providing advice to the President on terrorist threats.






19. 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.






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






21. The constitutional requirement (in Article II - Section 3) that presidents take care that the laws are faithfully executed - even if they disagree with the purpose of those laws.






22. Largely banned party soft money - restored a long-standing prohibition on corporations and labor unions for using general treasury funds for electoral purposes - and narrowed the definition of issue advocacy.






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






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






25. Alternative means of health care in which people or their employers are charged a set amount and the HMO provides health care and covers hospital costs.






26. Method whereby representatives of the union and employer determine wages - hours - and other conditions of employment through direct negotiation.






27. The number of Americans who are out of work but actively looking for a job. The number does not usually include those who are not looking.






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






29. 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.






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






31. 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.






32. 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.






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






34. The desire to avoid international entanglement altogether.






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






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






37. A minor party founded by Ross Perot in 1995. It focuses on national government reform - fiscal responsibility - and political accountability. It has recently struggled with internal strife and criticism that it lacks an identity.






38. Those citizens who follow public affairs carefully.






39. 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.






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






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






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






43. Trial or punishment for the same crime by the same government; forbidden by the Constitution.






44. Political contributions given to a party - candidate - or interest group that are limited in amounts and fully disclosed. Raising such limited funds is harder than raising unlimited funds - hence the term 'hard money.'






45. Electoral system used in electing the president and vice president - in which voters vote for electors pledged to cast their ballots for particular party's candidates.






46. Clause in the Constitution that states that 'Congress should have the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers. . . .' This clause is also known as the elastic clause as is a major and significant p

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47. Federal statute barring Federal employees from active participation in certain kinds of politics and protecting them from being fired on partisan grounds.






48. The boost that candidates may get in an election because of the popularity of candidates above them on the ballot - especially the president.






49. Aid to the poor; 'welfare.'






50. 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.