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Test your basic knowledge |
AP Government
Start Test
Study First
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 minor party that believes in extremely limited government. Libertarians call for a free market system - expanded individual liberties such as drug legalization - and a foreign policy of nonintervention - free trade - and open immigration.
Fiscal federalism
Cross-cutting cleavages
Executive privilege
Libertarian party
2. Arrangement whereby public officials are hired to provide legal assistance to people accused of crimes who are unable to hire their own attorneys.
New Jersey Plan
Indexing
State's rights
Public defender system
3. A provision attached to a bill
Policy agenda
Rider
Categorical-formula grants
Senatorial courtesy
4. A system of government in which the legislature selects the prime minister or president.
Constitutional democracy
Prospective issue voting
Parliamentary system
Interest group
5. Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice.
De facto segregation
Hard power
Trustee
Antifederalists
6. A procedure for terminating debate - especially filibusters - in the Senate.
Project grants
Cloture
Single-member district
Proportional representation
7. Usually the largest organization in government with the largest mission; also the highest rank in Federal hierarchy.
Independent agency
Political socialization
Department
Political action committee (PAC)
8. Officer of the Senate selected by the majority party to act as chair in the absence of the vice president.
Natural law
President pro tempore
'Our federalism'
Unitary system
9. Powers inferred from the express powers that allow Congress to carry out its functions.
Quid pro quo
Closed shop
Senatorial courtesy
Implied powers
10. A meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and to decide the platform.
Caucus
Oversight
Entitlement programs
National debt
11. Opponents of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government - generally.
Original jurisdiction
Impoundment
Antifederalists
Presidential ticket
12. An electoral district in which voters choose one representative or official.
Manifest destiny
Name recognition
Single-member district
Party identification
13. Divisions within society that cut across demographic categories to produce groups that are more heterogeneous or different.
Cross-cutting cleavages
Immunity
Cloture
Justiciable dispute
14. Primary election in which any voter - regardless of party - may vote.
Winner-take-all system
Open primary
Midterm election
Equal protection clause
15. Literally - a 'friend of the court' brief - filed by an individual or organization to present arguments in addition to those presented by the immediate parties to a case.
Senior Executive Service
Implied powers
amicus curiae brief
Statism
16. Views the Constitution as giving a limited list of powers—primarily foreign policy and national defense—to the national government - leaving the rest to the sovereign states. Each level of government is dominant within its own sphere. The Supreme Cou
Party identification
Issue advocacy
Dual federalism (layer cake federalism)
Bureaucrat
17. A requirement the federal government imposes as a condition for receiving federal funds.
Due process clause
Value-added tax (VAT)
Federal mandate
Racial profiling
18. 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.
Soft money
Civil law
Midterm election
Green party
19. General tax on sales transactions - sometimes exempting food and drugs.
Eminent domain
Sales tax
'Necessary and proper' clause
Nonpartisan election
20. The widespread belief that the United States is a land of opportunity and that individual initiative and hard work can bring economic success.
American dream
Rider
Treaty
Conference committee
21. 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.
Plea bargain
Soft money
'Our federalism'
Party identification
22. The cluster of presidential staff agencies that help the president carry out his responsibilities. Currently the office includes the Office of Management and Budget - the Council of Economic Advisers - and several other units.
Civil law
Virginia Plan
Executive Office of the President
Class action suit
23. The president's annual statement to Congress and the nation.
Due process
State of the Union Address
Natural rights
Immunity
24. Procedure for submitting to popular vote measures passed by the legislature or proposed amendments to a state constitution.
Referendum
Iron triangle
Soft money
Realism
25. An action taken by Congress to reverse the presidential veto - requiring a two-thirds majority in each chamber.
Override
Conservatism
Sedition
Nonpartisan election
26. Federal statute barring Federal employees from active participation in certain kinds of politics and protecting them from being fired on partisan grounds.
Creative federalism
Hatch Act
Quid pro quo
Marble cake federalism
27. Candidate or party with the most votes cast in an election - not necessarily more than half.
Gerrymandering
Nonprotected speech
Plurality
Representative democracy
28. The residents of a congressional district or state.
Constituents
Direct orders
Name recognition
Interstate compact
29. 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.
Dual citizenship
Trustee
Joint committee
Tax expenditure
30. The system created by Congress in 1913 to establish banking practices and regulate currency in circulation and the amount of credit available. It consists of 12 regional banks supervised by the Board of Governors. Often called simply the Fed.
Party registration
Logrolling
Federal Reserve System
Clear and present danger test
31. Programs in which eligibility is based on prior contributions to government - usually in the form of payroll taxes.
Right of expatriation
Social insurance
Candidate appeal
Closed primary
32. Supporters of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government.
Federalists
Writ of habeas corpus
Civil disobedience
Categorical-formula grants
33. Governance according to the expressed preferences of the majority.
Discharge petition
Political predisposition
Literacy test
Majority rule
34. Contributions to a state or local party for party-building purposes.
Soft money
National supremacy
Party registration
Federal mandate
35. A formal written statement from a grand jury charging an individual with an offense; also called a true bill.
Stare decisis
Bill of attainder
Antitrust legislation
Indictment
36. The dispensing of government jobs to persons who belong to the winning political party.
Class action suit
Monopoly
Patronage
Judicial review
37. The total amount of money the Federal government has borrowed to finance deficit spending over the years.
National debt
Majority leader
Cooperative federalism
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
38. 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.
Cabinet
Unfunded mandates
Lobbyist
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
39. The act of declaring party affiliation; required by some states when one registers to vote.
Public choice
Ethnicity
Unilateralism
Party registration
40. Those citizens who follow public affairs carefully.
Rule
Writ of certiorari
Social insurance
Attentive public
41. The distribution of individual preferences or evaluations of a given issue - candidate - or institution within a specific population.
Public opinion
Open shop
Due process clause
Soft power
42. The authority of a court to hear a case 'in the first instance.'
Original jurisdiction
Plea bargain
Restrictive covenant
Issue advocacy
43. Financial contributions by individuals or groups in the hope of influencing the outcome of the election and subsequently influencing policy.
Bicameralism
Interested money
Deficit
Opinion of the Court
44. A grouping of human beings with distinctive characteristics determined by genetic inheritance.
Race
Discharge petition
Filibuster
Independent expenditure
45. Incumbents have an advantage over challengers in election campaigns because voters are more familiar with them - and incumbents are more recognizable.
Name recognition
Voter registration
De facto segregation
Hold
46. Lawsuit brought by an individual or group of people on behalf of all those similarly situated.
Representative democracy
Class action suit
Federalists
Minority leader
47. Advertisements and commercials for products and services; they receive less First Amendment protection - primarily to discourage false and misleading ads.
Commercial speech
Immunity
Articles of Confederation
Treaty
48. The belief that nations must engage in international problem solving.
Internationalism
Concurring opinion
Reform party
Statism
49. 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.
Issue network
Monopoly
Sound bites
Extradition
50. 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.
Interest group
Unemployment
Initiative
Bush Doctrine