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






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






3. Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice.






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






5. The distribution of individual preferences or evaluations of a given issue - candidate - or institution within a specific population.






6. A theory of international relations that focuses on the hope the nations will act together to solve international problems and promote peace.






7. The process of putting a law into practice through bureaucratic rules or spending.






8. A company with a labor agreement under which union membership can be a condition of employment.






9. Powers that the Constitution gives to both the national and state governments - such as the power to levy taxes.






10. A provision attached to a bill






11. 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






12. An electoral district in which voters choose one representative or official.






13. A court order forbidding specific individuals or groups from performing certain acts (such as striking) that the court considers harmful to the rights and property of an employer or community.






14. 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.






15. Voting by member of one party for a candidate of another party.






16. A nonprofit association or group operating outside of government that advocates and pursues policy objectives.






17. A meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and to decide the platform.






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






19. The authority of a court to hear a case 'in the first instance.'






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






21. A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Direct orders must be complied with under threat of criminal or civil sanction. An example is the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 - barring job discrimination by state and local gover






22. Governance according to the expressed preferences of the majority.






23. Powers expressly or implicitly reserved to the states.


24. An official who is expected to vote independently based on his or her judgment of the circumstances; one interpretation of the role of the legislator.






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






26. 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.






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






28. 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






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






30. 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.






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






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






33. 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






34. Media that emphasize the news.






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






36. Clause in the First Amendment that states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. The Supreme Court has interpreted this to forbid governmental support to any or all religions.






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






38. 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.






39. Authority given by Congress to the Federal bureaucracy to use reasonable judgment in implementing the laws.






40. Philosophy proposing that judges should interpret the Constitution to reflect what the framers intended and what its words literally say.






41. A requirement the federal government imposes as a condition for receiving federal funds.






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






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






44. 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.






45. 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.






46. Providing automatic increases to compensate for inflation.






47. Retroactive criminal law that works to the disadvantage of a person.






48. The study of the characteristics of populations.






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






50. 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.