Free AP® United States Government and Politics Practice Test

Question 1

In Federalist No. 10, how does James Madison argue that the dangers of faction can best be controlled?

Accepted Answer

By a large republic, where many competing factions make it hard for any one to form an oppressive majority

Answer

By banning political parties and interest groups

Answer

By a pure democracy in which citizens vote directly on every law

Answer

By giving the states most of the power instead of the national government

Question 2

Which power belongs to the Senate but not to the House of Representatives?

Accepted Answer

Approving treaties by a two-thirds vote

Answer

Starting bills to raise revenue

Answer

Bringing articles of impeachment

Answer

Overriding a presidential veto

Question 3

A voter decides to vote against the incumbent president because the economy got worse during the president’s term. Which model of voting does this illustrate?

Accepted Answer

Retrospective voting

Answer

Prospective voting

Answer

Party-line voting

Answer

Rational-choice voting based on future promises

Question 4

In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), what did the Supreme Court decide?

Accepted Answer

Students who wore black armbands to protest the Vietnam War were engaging in protected symbolic speech.

Answer

Public schools may punish any student speech that school officials find offensive.

Answer

Organized prayer led by teachers in public schools is unconstitutional.

Answer

Students lose their First Amendment rights at the school door.

Question 5

What is required in the Senate to end a filibuster under the cloture rule for most legislation?

Accepted Answer

A vote of three-fifths of the senators, usually 60

Answer

A simple majority of senators present

Answer

A two-thirds vote of both chambers

Answer

The approval of the Speaker of the House

Question 6

In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), what did the Supreme Court rule?

Accepted Answer

Congress could create a national bank under the necessary and proper clause, and Maryland could not tax it.

Answer

States could tax federal institutions inside their borders.

Answer

Congress could not create a national bank, because that power is not listed in the Constitution.

Answer

The Supreme Court had the power of judicial review over acts of Congress.

Question 7

Which agent of political socialization usually has the strongest early influence on a person’s party identification?

Accepted Answer

The family

Answer

The news media

Answer

Peer groups at work

Answer

Political advertising

Question 8

Why do interest groups often struggle with the free-rider problem?

Accepted Answer

People can enjoy the benefits a group wins without joining it or paying dues.

Answer

Members are not allowed to donate to political campaigns.

Answer

Groups must give their benefits only to people who vote.

Answer

Federal law limits groups to a fixed number of members.

Question 9

In Federalist No. 70, what does Alexander Hamilton argue about the executive branch?

Accepted Answer

A single executive provides the energy, speed and accountability that good government needs.

Answer

The executive should be a council of several people to prevent tyranny.

Answer

The executive is the least dangerous branch because it has neither force nor will.

Answer

The president should be chosen directly by Congress.

Question 10

In United States v. Lopez (1995), why did the Supreme Court strike down the Gun-Free School Zones Act?

Accepted Answer

Carrying a gun near a school was not an economic activity that substantially affected interstate commerce.

Answer

The law violated the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

Answer

States had not ratified the law.

Answer

The president had vetoed the law.

Question 11

What is selective incorporation?

Accepted Answer

The process by which the Supreme Court applies Bill of Rights protections to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause

Answer

The process by which Congress adds new rights to the Bill of Rights

Answer

The power of states to decide which federal laws they will follow

Answer

The process by which states ratify constitutional amendments

Question 12

In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), what did the Supreme Court decide?

Accepted Answer

The government cannot ban independent political spending by corporations and unions, because it is protected speech.

Answer

Corporations may give unlimited money directly to candidates.

Answer

Campaign contributions are not a form of speech.

Answer

All campaign spending must be paid for with public funds.

Question 13

Which describes an iron triangle?

Accepted Answer

A stable, cooperative relationship among a congressional committee, a bureaucratic agency and an interest group

Answer

The relationship among the three branches of government under checks and balances

Answer

A temporary alliance of many groups formed around one issue

Answer

The three parts of a political party: voters, leaders and officeholders

Question 14

Which of these is an example of monetary policy?

Accepted Answer

The Federal Reserve lowers interest rates to encourage borrowing.

Answer

Congress cuts income tax rates.

Answer

The president signs a large infrastructure spending bill.

Answer

Congress raises the federal minimum wage.

Question 15

What did the Anti-Federalist essay Brutus No. 1 argue?

Accepted Answer

A large republic could not protect liberty, and the necessary and proper and supremacy clauses would give the national government too much power.

Answer

A large republic was the best protection against faction.

Answer

The Constitution needed a stronger, single executive.

Answer

The federal courts should have the final word on the Constitution because they are the weakest branch.

Question 16

Which election rule is most closely linked to the dominance of two major parties in the United States?

Accepted Answer

Single-member districts in which the candidate with the most votes wins

Answer

Proportional representation in Congress

Answer

Compulsory voting for all citizens

Answer

Public funding of all campaigns

Question 17

In Brown v. Board of Education (1954), what did the Supreme Court decide?

Accepted Answer

Racially segregated public schools violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Answer

Separate public facilities are constitutional if they are equal.

Answer

Congress may ban racial discrimination in private businesses under the commerce clause.

Answer

States must provide lawyers to poor defendants in felony cases.

Question 18

Which is true of an executive order?

Accepted Answer

It directs how the executive branch carries out the law, does not need congressional approval and can be reversed by a later president.

Answer

It must be approved by a majority of the Senate.

Answer

It has the same permanence as a constitutional amendment.

Answer

It can be issued only during a declared war.

Question 19

Which amendment lowered the minimum voting age to 18 in all elections?

Accepted Answer

The Twenty-sixth Amendment

Answer

The Fifteenth Amendment

Answer

The Nineteenth Amendment

Answer

The Twenty-fourth Amendment

Question 20

Compared with categorical grants, what do block grants give state governments?

Accepted Answer

More freedom to decide how to spend the money within a broad policy area

Answer

Less freedom, because every dollar has a specific required use

Answer

Money that must be repaid to the federal government

Answer

Money that can be spent only on federal employees

Question 21

In Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), what did the Supreme Court decide?

Accepted Answer

States must provide a lawyer to defendants in felony cases who cannot afford one.

Answer

Police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning.

Answer

Evidence from an illegal search cannot be used in state courts.

Answer

States may require students to salute the flag.

Question 22

Baker v. Carr (1962) is significant because the Supreme Court ruled that

Accepted Answer

federal courts can hear challenges to how legislative districts are drawn, opening the way to “one person, one vote.”

Answer

racial gerrymandering is always constitutional.

Answer

the Senate must be apportioned by population.

Answer

state legislatures cannot draw district lines at all.

Question 23

Which feature makes a public opinion poll most likely to reflect the views of the whole population?

Accepted Answer

A sample in which every member of the population has an equal chance of being chosen

Answer

A very large sample of people who choose to respond online

Answer

Questions worded to help respondents reach the correct view

Answer

Interviews done only in the area where the pollster works

Question 24

Which characteristic has long been one of the strongest predictors that an American will vote?

Accepted Answer

A higher level of education

Answer

Being under 25 years old

Answer

Renting rather than owning a home

Answer

Having moved recently

Question 25

In Federalist No. 78, Alexander Hamilton describes the judiciary as the “least dangerous” branch. What reason does he give?

Accepted Answer

It has neither the power of the purse nor the sword, only judgment.

Answer

Its judges are elected and can be removed by voters.

Answer

It can only advise Congress and cannot decide cases.

Answer

Its decisions must be approved by the president.

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