• 61 questions

AP Gov Bureaucracy Practice Test

Unofficial practice on the federal bureaucracy, topics 2.12 to 2.15 of Unit 2 in AP Government.

How does the head of a cabinet department get the job?

Pick an answer, then press Check answer. Then you see Correct or Not quite, with the reason. Keys: A to D pick, Enter checks.

Print covers the next 25 questions. Share this set copies a link to the same questions in the same order.

More options

Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the College Board. Bank checked October 11, 2026.

Next step AP Gov presidency practice testAll of Unit 2: AP Gov practice test

All 61 questions

Topic 2.12: What the bureaucracy is 14

  • A candidate for the Senate accepts a donation larger than federal law allows. Which agency enforces the law that was broken? USA.gov, "Federal Election Commission"; course topic 2.13
  • A commission comes to favor the broadcasters it licenses, since broadcasters are well organized and viewers are not. What is this danger called? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.1, "What Is Bureaucracy?"; course topic 2.12
  • A company hides its losses from the people who buy its stock. Which agency exists to require disclosure of market information and to prevent such fraud? USA.gov, "Securities and Exchange Commission"; course topic 2.13
  • A satellite television company and a radio network both need federal licenses. Which commission regulates interstate and international communications by cable, radio, television, satellite and wire? USA.gov, "Federal Communications Commission"; course topic 2.12
  • Besides federal employees, who carries out many federal responsibilities, according to the textbook? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.1, "What Is Bureaucracy?"; course topic 2.12
Show all 61 questions (56 more)

Topic 2.12: What the bureaucracy is, continued

  • The Constitution does not set out a federal bureaucracy. How did the bureaucracy come to exist? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.1, "What Is Bureaucracy?"; course topic 2.12
  • How does the head of a cabinet department get the job? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.1, "What Is Bureaucracy?"; course topic 2.12
  • NASA and the Social Security Administration answer to the president but sit outside the cabinet departments, with narrower jurisdictions. What kind of agency are they? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.1, "What Is Bureaucracy?"; course topic 2.12
  • The Postal Service and the passenger railroad Amtrak charge fees for what they do and are meant to pay their own way. What kind of agency are they? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.1, "What Is Bureaucracy?"; course topic 2.12
  • Scientists, reporters, advocacy groups and congressional staff join for one season to press for a clean-water bill, then go their own ways. What have they formed? College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, EK 2.12.A.1; course topic 2.12
  • The sociologist Max Weber listed four marks of an ideal bureaucracy. Which of these is one of them? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.1, "What Is Bureaucracy?"; course topic 2.12
  • Which agency, not a cabinet department, develops and enforces the federal rules on air and water pollution? USA.gov, "Environmental Protection Agency"; course topic 2.13
  • Which kind of agency is charged with writing rules and settling disputes for one specific part of the economy? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.1, "What Is Bureaucracy?"; course topic 2.12
  • Which of these is NOT among the ways the course description says the bureaucracy implements policy? College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, EK 2.12.A.1; course topic 2.12

Topic 2.12: Civil service, merit and patronage 12

  • A federal employee believes she was demoted for a reason the merit rules do not allow. Which body hears her appeal? USA.gov, "Merit Systems Protection Board"; course topic 2.12
  • A reform of 1978 set up a merit pool of highly trained and well paid senior officers whom managers may move and transfer freely. What is the pool called? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.1, "What Is Bureaucracy?"; course topic 2.12
  • A supervisor in a federal agency tells her staff to spend their evenings working for a candidate or lose their next promotion. Which merit system principle does she break? U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, "Merit System Principles (5 U.S.C. 2301)"; course topic 2.12
  • Besides hiring by competitive examination, what did the Pendleton Act forbid? National Archives, Milestone Documents, "Pendleton Act (1883)"; course topic 2.12
  • By the course description, which three qualities does the merit system put first in hiring and promotion? College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, EK 2.12.A.2; course topic 2.12
  • By the merit system principles in federal law, on what should selection and advancement be decided? U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, "Merit System Principles (5 U.S.C. 2301)"; course topic 2.12
  • In the mid-1800s, when the party in power changed, federal officials were replaced wholesale by the party faithful. What did critics name the practice? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.1, "What Is Bureaucracy?"; course topic 2.12
  • Political appointees average just over two years in their posts. What advantage does that give career civil servants? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.14
  • What is political patronage? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.1, "What Is Bureaucracy?"; course topic 2.12
  • When the Pendleton Act took effect in 1883, how much of the federal workforce did its hiring reforms cover? National Archives, Milestone Documents, "Pendleton Act (1883)"; course topic 2.12
  • Which agency manages the federal civil service and coordinates the recruiting of new government employees? USA.gov, "Office of Personnel Management"; course topic 2.12
  • Which law of 1939 bars most civil service employees of the executive branch from some forms of political activity? Wikipedia, "Hatch Act"; course topic 2.12

Topic 2.13: Rulemaking and discretion 14

  • A new administration dislikes a rule that the last one finished. How can the agency change the rule? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.13
  • A safety agency was pressed by labor groups to act on health hazards, yet its early rules dealt mostly with safety. What reason does the textbook give? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.13
  • A workplace safety law tells a new agency to write whatever regulations are needed to put the law into effect. What is the agency's work of issuing those statements called? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.13
  • The Administrative Procedure Act sets how agencies make rules and decide cases. What does it give the federal courts? Wikipedia, "Administrative Procedure Act"; course topic 2.13
  • An agency brings a complaint against a company before its own administrative law judge, who hears both sides and issues a decision. Which power is the agency using? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.13
  • An agency has published a preliminary decision on a new rule. What does it do next, before the final rule? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.13
  • The course description says agencies use discretionary power "as delegated by Congress." What does this mean for an agency's authority to make rules? College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, EK 2.13.A.1; course topic 2.13
  • Policy goals are often vague. How do civil servants usually show from day to day that they are doing their jobs? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.13
  • Since the 1930s one government publication has printed the rules and decisions of all agencies. Which is it? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.13
  • Tax agents decide which returns to audit, and immigration agents choose which foreigners receive asylum. What do these choices show? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.13
  • What is a notice of proposed rulemaking? Wikipedia, "Notice of proposed rulemaking"; course topic 2.13
  • What standing does a final rule printed in the Federal Register have? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.13
  • Where are the general and permanent rules of federal departments and agencies collected by subject, in 50 titles? Wikipedia, "Code of Federal Regulations"; course topic 2.13
  • Why do laws so often leave the details to an agency, according to the textbook? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.13

Topic 2.14: Holding the bureaucracy accountable 12

  • A majority in Congress dislikes how an agency is using a program. Which constitutional rule gives Congress the means to stop the spending? U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 9; course topic 2.14, EK 2.14.A.1
  • A president creates a small agency by executive order after Congress fails to act on the request. What does the agency still need from Congress? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.14
  • A president dislikes an agency's program but cannot get Congress to end it. Which quiet tool does the textbook say presidents have used? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.14
  • A president whose bill is blocked in Congress turns to appointments, reorganization and budget cuts inside the agencies to reach the same end. What is this approach called? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.14
  • Besides cutting its budget, what can Congress do to an agency it finds wanting? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.14
  • The Constitution nowhere says that Congress may investigate the executive branch. What is the standing of that power? U.S. Senate, "About Investigations"; course topic 2.14
  • How does the textbook describe congressional oversight as a whole? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.14
  • Members of Congress learn of most agency failures when interest groups and citizens alert them, often through news reports. What is this style of oversight called? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.14
  • Reporters draw stories of waste and fraud from congressional hearings and from the Government Accountability Office. Which official inside each agency is the third source the textbook names? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.1, "What Is Bureaucracy?"; course topic 2.14
  • Under Executive Order 12866, which office reviews an agency's significant regulatory actions before they take effect? Reginfo.gov (Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs), "Frequently Asked Questions"; course topic 2.14
  • Which agency gathers information to help Congress judge how effectively executive branch agencies are doing their jobs? USA.gov, "Government Accountability Office"; course topic 2.14
  • Why do cabinet secretaries often press their departments' programs more than the president's own plans? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.14

Topic 2.15: Policy and the branches 9

  • A law lets one house of Congress cancel an agency's decision by passing a resolution on its own. What did the Supreme Court hold about such a legislative veto in 1983? Legal Information Institute, Wex, "legislative veto"; course topic 2.15
  • After an agency issues a final rule, on what ground may a court annul it, according to the textbook? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.15
  • An arts agency facing abolition moved its grants from a few large cities to community groups in many states. How did this protect it? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.15
  • Congress and the president disagree about how a program should be run. What position does that leave the agency in, by the textbook? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.15
  • For about forty years federal courts deferred to an agency's reasonable reading of an unclear statute. What did the Supreme Court decide in 2024? Legal Information Institute, Wex, "Chevron deference"; course topic 2.15
  • Several presidents have proposed ending the money for the passenger railroad Amtrak, which loses money every year, yet Congress keeps funding it. Why, by the textbook? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.15
  • Which is one of the three signs of an agency's power that the textbook lists? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.15
  • Who holds powers that keep the bureaucracy accountable, by the course description? College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, EK 2.15.A.1; course topic 2.15
  • With which kind of program does the administrative presidency work best, and why? American Government and Politics in the Information Age (open textbook, Saylor Academy edition), section 14.2, "Policymaking, Power, and Accountability in the Bureaucracy"; course topic 2.15

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the bureaucracy topics of Unit 2, Interactions Among Branches of Government (2.12 The Bureaucracy; 2.13 Discretionary and Rulemaking Authority; 2.14 Holding the Bureaucracy Accountable; 2.15 Policy and the Branches of Government), in the College Board's AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-us-government-and-politics-course-and-exam-description.pdf, read 2026-10-11. Each fact was read on 2026-10-11 in the public page named under its question: an open college textbook (American Government and Politics in the Information Age, Saylor Academy edition), the agency pages of USA.gov, the National Archives (the Constitution and the Pendleton Act), the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Senate, Reginfo.gov, Cornell's Legal Information Institute, an essential knowledge statement of the course description, or a Wikipedia article. Licence: Own work. Short quotations from the public documents named under each question.

How it works

This AP Gov bureaucracy practice test has 61 questions of our own on the federal bureaucracy: what it is, who works in it, how it writes rules and who holds it to account. It is unofficial and not affiliated with the College Board.

Read the full guide

What the questions cover

The College Board's course description, effective fall 2026 and read October 11, 2026, closes Unit 2, Interactions Among Branches of Government, with four topics on the bureaucracy. The bank follows them: 2.12, the bureaucracy (14 questions on agencies and 12 on the civil service), 2.13, discretionary and rulemaking authority (14), 2.14, holding the bureaucracy accountable (12), and 2.15, policy and the branches (9). The description gives topics no weights, so the spread is ours.

Sources you can open

Most answers cite a chapter of an open college textbook. The rest cite USA.gov's agency pages, the National Archives, the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Senate, Reginfo.gov, Cornell's Legal Information Institute, the course description, or a Wikipedia article.

  • Keep an agency's three powers apart: rulemaking writes the rule, implementation applies it, adjudication judges a dispute under it.
  • For every check on an agency, name the branch: the purse and hearings belong to Congress, appointments to the president, lawsuits to the courts.
  • An iron triangle lasts and stays in one policy area. An issue network forms around one issue and dissolves.

Questions and answers

What unit is the bureaucracy in AP Gov?

Unit 2, Interactions Among Branches of Government, topics 2.12 to 2.15. The unit also covers Congress, the presidency and the courts, and it carries 25 to 36% of the multiple-choice section.

What is on an AP Government bureaucracy practice test?

The kinds of federal agencies, the merit system and patronage, rulemaking and discretionary authority, iron triangles and issue networks, and the ways Congress, the president and the courts hold agencies to account.

What should an AP Gov bureaucracy study guide cover?

The seven agencies the course description names, among them the Department of Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Election Commission; the merit system; oversight, the power of the purse and compliance monitoring.

How does the bureaucracy make policy?

Congress delegates authority by law, and agencies use it to write regulations that have the force of law, to apply them to cases and to judge disputes. A final rule can be challenged in court.

Does this practice test use real AP Gov exam questions?

No. The College Board owns the real questions, and none appears here, even in other words. Every question was written for this page from topics 2.12 to 2.15 of the course description.

More tests

Show 8 more

Browse Civics and Law