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. 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.






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






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






4. The precise legal definition of how government will implement a policy.






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






6. A type of policy that takes benefits (usually through taxes) from one group of Americans and gives them to another (usually through spending).






7. Constitutional arrangement in which power is distributed between a central government and subdivisional governments - called states in the United States. The national and the subdivisional governments both exercise direct authority over individuals.






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






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






10. 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.






11. Biological - chemical - or nuclear weapons that can cause a massive number of deaths in a single use.






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






13. The current holder of the elected office.






14. Legal process whereby an alleged criminal offender is surrendered by the officials of one states to officials of the state in which the crime is alleged to have been committed.






15. Media that emphasize the news.






16. The head of the White House staff.






17. Elections in which voters elect officeholders.






18. The convention in Philadelphia - May 25 to September 17 - 1787 - that debated and agreed upon the Constitution of the United States.






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






20. Governance divided between the parties - especially when one holds the presidency and the other controls one or both houses of Congress.






21. A tax whereby people with lower incomes pay a higher fraction of their income than people with higher incomes.






22. A writ issued by a magistrate that authorizes the police to search a particular place or person - specifying the place to be searched and the objects to be seized.






23. 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.






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






25. An international trade organization with more than 130 members - including the United States and the People's Republic of China - that seeks to encourage free trade by lowering tariffs and other trade restrictions.






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






27. The principle of a two-house legislature.






28. The political arm of an interest group that is legally entitled to raise funds on a voluntary basis from members - stockholders - or employees to contribute funds to candidates or political parties.






29. Clause of the Constitution (Article 1 - Section 8 - Clause 3) setting forth the implied powers of Congress. It states that Congress - in addition to its express powers has the right to make all laws necessary and proper to carry out all powers the Co






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






31. Congress appropriates funds for a specific purpose - such as school lunches or for building airports and highways. These funds are allocated by formula and are subject to detailed federal conditions - often on a matching basis; that is - the local go






32. 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.






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






34. Financial contributions by individuals or groups in the hope of influencing the outcome of the election and subsequently influencing policy.






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






36. The practice of exporting U.S. jobs to lower paid employees in other nations.






37. Government by religious leaders - who claim divine guidance.






38. 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.






39. The authority of a court to review decisions made by lower courts.






40. Proposal at the Constitutional Convention made by William Paterson of New Jersey for a central government with a single-house legislature in which each state would be represented equally.






41. 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






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






43. A committee composed of members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate; such committees oversee the Library of Congress and conduct investigations.






44. Formal orders issued by the president to direct action by the Federal bureaucracy.






45. Directive issued by a president or governor that has the force of law.






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






47. 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.






48. Segregation imposed by law.






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






50. In a criminal action - the person or party accused of an offense.