Getting ready for the AP U.S. Government and Politics exam? These 20 free practice questions cover the big ideas from every unit of the course, including the foundational documents and required Supreme Court cases, each with a clear explanation. Try each question on your own first, then tap Show answer to check your thinking.
The questions are written in the style of the multiple-choice section of the exam. They’re a quick way to find out which units you’ve mastered and which ones need more review.
What the AP U.S. Government and Politics exam covers
- Foundations of American Democracy: democratic ideals, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, federalism and the foundational documents
- Interactions Among Branches of Government: Congress, the presidency, the federal courts and the bureaucracy, and how each branch checks the others
- Civil Liberties and Civil Rights: the Bill of Rights, selective incorporation, equal protection and the required Supreme Court cases
- American Political Ideologies and Beliefs: political socialization, public opinion polling, political ideology and economic policy
- Political Participation: voting and turnout, political parties, interest groups, elections, campaign finance and the media
How to use these questions
Work through the questions without notes, the way you would on test day. Keep track of the ones you miss, and note which unit each one comes from. Two or three misses in the same unit is a sign to review that unit before moving on.
Don’t just check whether you got the right letter. Read every explanation, even for questions you answered correctly. AP questions often ask you to apply a concept, document or court case to a new situation, so understanding why an answer is right matters more than memorizing it.
Practice questions
Question 1
Which of the following was a major weakness of the national government under the Articles of Confederation?
A. A single president held too much power over the states.
B. Congress could not levy taxes directly on citizens.
C. National courts frequently struck down state laws.
D. Large states controlled Congress because representation was based on population.
Show answer
Answer: B. Under the Articles, Congress could only request money from the states, so it had no reliable way to pay debts or fund an army. There was no president or national court system, and each state had one vote in Congress regardless of population, which rules out the other choices.
Question 2
In Federalist No. 10, James Madison argues that the most effective way to control the effects of factions is to
A. ban political parties and interest groups.
B. give the states power to nullify national laws.
C. allow citizens to vote directly on every law.
D. establish a large republic in which many competing factions make it hard for any one of them to dominate.
Show answer
Answer: D. Madison says the causes of faction cannot be removed without destroying liberty, so the goal is to control their effects. A large republic contains so many interests that no single faction can easily form a majority and oppress others. He rejected direct democracy because small, direct systems let one faction take over.
Question 3
In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the Supreme Court ruled that
A. Congress had the implied power to create a national bank, and Maryland could not tax it.
B. states could tax any federal institution located within their borders.
C. Congress could not create a national bank because the Constitution does not mention one.
D. the Tenth Amendment gives the states final authority over banking.
Show answer
Answer: A. The Court held that the Necessary and Proper Clause gives Congress implied powers beyond those listed, including chartering a bank. Under the Supremacy Clause, a state cannot tax a federal institution, since “the power to tax involves the power to destroy.” The ruling expanded national power.
Question 4
Marbury v. Madison (1803) is significant because it
A. applied the Bill of Rights to the states.
B. created the system of federal district courts.
C. established the Supreme Court’s power of judicial review.
D. gave Congress the power to remove Supreme Court justices by majority vote.
Show answer
Answer: C. In Marbury, Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that part of the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional, establishing the Court’s power to strike down laws that conflict with the Constitution. The federal district courts were created by Congress in 1789, not by this case, and judges can be removed only through impeachment.
Question 5
Which of the following is a power held by the Senate but not by the House of Representatives?
A. Introducing bills to raise revenue
B. Holding the trial to decide whether an impeached official should be removed from office
C. Bringing articles of impeachment against a federal official
D. Choosing the president when no candidate wins a majority in the Electoral College
Show answer
Answer: B. The House impeaches (brings the charges), and the Senate holds the trial, with a two-thirds vote needed to remove. Revenue bills must start in the House, and the House chooses the president if no candidate wins an Electoral College majority. A common trap is mixing up impeachment, which is the House’s job, with removal, which is the Senate’s.
Question 6
In McDonald v. Chicago (2010), the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms applies to state and local governments, not just the national government. The Court reached this result through
A. selective incorporation under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
B. the Commerce Clause.
C. the Supremacy Clause alone.
D. the Tenth Amendment’s reservation of powers to the states.
Show answer
Answer: A. The Bill of Rights originally limited only the national government. Through selective incorporation, the Court has applied most of its protections to the states one case at a time using the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. McDonald did this for the Second Amendment.
Question 7
Brown v. Board of Education (1954) overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson. The Court based its decision on
A. the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
B. the Fifteenth Amendment’s protection of voting rights.
C. the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
D. the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Show answer
Answer: D. The Court held that state-sponsored segregation in public schools is inherently unequal and violates the Equal Protection Clause. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a tempting trap, but it was passed ten years after Brown.
Question 8
Which of the following is an example of monetary policy?
A. Congress passes a tax cut to boost consumer spending.
B. The president signs a bill that increases spending on highways.
C. The Federal Reserve lowers interest rates to encourage borrowing during an economic slowdown.
D. Congress raises tariffs on imported steel.
Show answer
Answer: C. Monetary policy is how the Federal Reserve manages the money supply and interest rates. Taxing and spending decisions made by Congress and the president are fiscal policy, so the tax cut and highway spending are fiscal, not monetary.
Question 9
Political scientists generally find that which agent of political socialization has the strongest early influence on a person’s party identification?
A. Family
B. Coworkers
C. Television advertising
D. College professors
Show answer
Answer: A. Children often absorb their parents’ political values and party loyalty long before they can vote, so family is usually the earliest and strongest influence. Schools, peers, media and work experiences can shape views later, but they tend to build on what was learned at home.
Question 10
In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), the Supreme Court held that
A. corporations may give unlimited amounts of money directly to candidates’ campaigns.
B. the government may not limit independent political spending by corporations and unions, because that spending is protected speech.
C. every campaign donation must be publicly disclosed within 24 hours.
D. states may ban political advertising during the final month of a campaign.
Show answer
Answer: B. The Court ruled that the First Amendment protects independent expenditures, meaning spending that is not coordinated with a candidate. The decision did not allow unlimited direct contributions to candidates, which remain limited. That difference is a common trap on the exam.
More practice from the AP+ workbook
These next 10 questions come straight from our AP+ Review Workbook, with the same explanations you’ll find in its answer key.
Question 11
If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.
Federalist No. 51 (James Madison), excerpt
The “auxiliary precautions” the author refers to are best described as
A. constitutional checks that let each branch resist the others.
B. the military’s power to keep order.
C. direct popular votes on all major laws.
D. emergency powers held by the president.
Show answer
Answer: A. Elections, the “dependence on the people,” are the primary control on government, but Madison says they are not enough. Separation of powers and checks and balances supplement elections as a control on government by giving each branch the means to resist the others.
Question 12
Congress gives states money for “community development” and lets each state decide which projects to fund. This is a
A. categorical grant.
B. mandate.
C. block grant.
D. earmark.
Show answer
Answer: C. A block grant covers a broad policy area and leaves the details to the states. A categorical grant, by contrast, is money for a specific purpose that comes with conditions attached.
Question 13
A majority of House members sign a petition to force a bill out of a committee whose chair refuses to act. This is a
A. cloture motion.
B. conference report.
C. hold.
D. discharge petition.
Show answer
Answer: D. A discharge petition lets a majority of the House, 218 members, force a bill out of committee and onto the floor. Cloture and holds are Senate procedures, and a conference report reconciles House and Senate versions of a bill.
Question 14
A representative votes as her district wants on local farm issues but follows her own judgment on foreign policy. She is acting as a
A. delegate.
B. trustee.
C. lame duck.
D. politico.
Show answer
Answer: D. A politico shifts between the delegate role (voting as constituents want) and the trustee role (using personal judgment), depending on the issue. Because she does both, neither delegate nor trustee alone describes her.
Question 15
In United States v. Nixon (1974), the Court ruled that the president had to turn over tape recordings. The ruling limited
A. executive privilege.
B. the pardon power.
C. the veto power.
D. the power to make treaties.
Show answer
Answer: A. The Court recognized that presidents have some executive privilege to keep communications confidential, but held that it is not absolute. It cannot be used to withhold evidence needed in a criminal case.
Question 16
After Congress passes a vehicle-safety law, the Department of Transportation writes detailed standards for airbags. This is
A. oversight.
B. rulemaking.
C. a signing statement.
D. an executive agreement.
Show answer
Answer: B. Writing detailed regulations to carry out a statute is rulemaking. Congress passes a general law and delegates the technical details to the bureaucratic agency with expertise in the area.
Question 17
Police search a suspect’s phone without a warrant, and a court excludes the evidence. The court is applying
A. the Miranda rule.
B. the right to counsel.
C. double jeopardy.
D. the exclusionary rule.
Show answer
Answer: D. The exclusionary rule enforces the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures by keeping illegally obtained evidence out of court. The Miranda rule deals with statements made during police questioning, not searches.
Question 18
A speaker tells a crowd that the government “will someday deserve to be overthrown.” Under current doctrine, the speech is most likely
A. unprotected because it threatens national security.
B. protected because it does not incite imminent lawless action.
C. unprotected under the clear and present danger test alone.
D. protected only if a permit was obtained.
Show answer
Answer: B. Under Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), only speech that incites imminent lawless action that is likely to occur may be punished. A vague statement about “someday” does not meet that standard, so it is protected. The older clear and present danger test from Schenck is no longer the controlling rule.
Question 19
A man who opposed property taxes in his twenties begins to support them after his children start public school. This best illustrates
A. a generational effect.
B. a life-cycle effect.
C. selective exposure.
D. a push poll.
Show answer
Answer: B. Views that shift as a person moves through stages of life, such as becoming a parent, are life-cycle effects. A generational effect comes from shared experiences of an age group, like living through a war or a depression.
Question 20
A state lets only registered party members vote in that party’s primary. This is a(n)
A. open primary.
B. caucus.
C. blanket primary.
D. closed primary.
Show answer
Answer: D. Only registered party members may vote in a closed primary. In an open primary, voters can choose which party’s primary to vote in without being registered with that party.
How did you do?
If you got 17 or more right, you have a strong foundation. Focus your review on the explanations for any you missed. If you got 12 to 16 right, you’re on track, but a few units need more practice. If you got 11 or fewer right, start with the unit reviews before doing more practice questions.
Our AP+ U.S. Government and Politics Review Workbook covers every unit with clear lesson summaries, all of the required foundational documents and Supreme Court cases, practice for all four free-response question types and a full-length practice exam with answers and explanations. It’s available as an instant PDF download or a paperback.
See the AP+ U.S. Government and Politics Review Workbook →
Studying for more than one AP exam? Browse the full AP+ Exam Prep series.
Frequently asked questions
Are these questions like the real AP U.S. Government and Politics exam?
They’re written in the style of the multiple-choice section and cover the same units and skills. Official practice materials from the College Board are also worth using alongside them.
What’s the best way to study for AP U.S. Government and Politics?
Review one unit at a time, learn the required foundational documents and Supreme Court cases well enough to apply them to new situations, and do mixed practice questions regularly. Reading the explanation for every question, including ones you get right, builds the understanding the exam rewards.
When is the AP U.S. Government and Politics exam?
AP exams are given each May. Check the College Board’s AP website for the current exam schedule.
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