• 60 questions

AP Gov Practice Test

Unofficial AP US Government practice test: all five units, with every required Supreme Court case and most required documents.

A court in Ohio orders a company to pay a debt. The company moves its accounts to Texas, and a Texas court enforces the Ohio judgment. Which clause requires that?

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the College Board. Bank checked October 12, 2026.

Next step More on Unit 1: FoundationsU.S. Constitution practice test

All 60 questions

Unit 1: Foundations of American Democracy 11

  • A court in Ohio orders a company to pay a debt. The company moves its accounts to Texas, and a Texas court enforces the Ohio judgment. Which clause requires that? U.S. Constitution, Article IV, Section 1; course topic 1.7
  • Among its charges against the king, the Declaration of Independence lists: "For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent". On which ideal of the Declaration does the charge rest? Declaration of Independence, National Archives transcript; course topic 1.1
  • Article VII reads: "The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same." Compared with the rule for changing the Articles of Confederation, Article VII U.S. Constitution, Article VII; Articles of Confederation, Article XIII; course topic 1.5
  • Article XIII of the Articles of Confederation allowed no change to them "unless such alteration be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every State." Which weakness of the Articles does the clause show? Articles of Confederation, Article XIII, Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 1.4
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Unit 1: Foundations of American Democracy, continued

  • Brutus No. 1 warns: "In a republic of such vast extent as the United-States, the legislature cannot attend to the various concerns and wants of its different parts." What did the author want instead? Brutus No. 1 (1787), Teaching American History; course topic 1.3
  • Federalist No. 51 says: "In republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates. The remedy for this inconveniency is to divide the legislature into different branches". Which feature of Congress answers to that remedy? Federalist No. 51, Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 1.6
  • The House impeaches a federal judge for taking bribes. The Senate tries the case, and more than two thirds of the senators present vote to convict. The sequence shows U.S. Constitution, Article I, Sections 2 and 3; course topic 1.6
  • In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) the Court concluded that "the states have no power, by taxation or otherwise, to retard, impede, burden, or in any manner control, the operations of the constitutional laws enacted by congress". Which principle does the sentence state? McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. 316 (1819), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School; course topic 1.8
  • In United States v. Lopez (1995) the Court wrote that "the possession of a gun in a local school zone is in no sense an economic activity". What followed from that finding? United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School; course topic 1.8
  • Madison wrote in Federalist No. 10 that one great difference between a democracy and a republic is "the delegation of the government, in the latter, to a small number of citizens elected by the rest". What did he expect that delegation to do? Federalist No. 10, Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 1.3
  • The original Constitution had each state's two senators "chosen by the Legislature thereof". Which model of representative democracy does that method fit best? U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 3; College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 1.2.A.1; course topic 1.2

Unit 2: Interactions Among Branches of Government 18

  • A House committee, unhappy with how an agency spent last year's money, cuts the agency's funds in the next appropriations bill. Which check on the bureaucracy is the committee using? College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 2.14.A.1; course topic 2.14
  • A president signs a pact on fishing rights with another head of state and puts it into effect without sending it to the Senate. The president is using U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 2; College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 2.4.A.2; course topic 2.4
  • A representative votes for a trade agreement that most of her district opposes. She explains that she has studied it and judges it good for the country. Which role is she taking? College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 2.3.A.4; course topic 2.3
  • A senator drafts a bill to raise the federal income tax and wants the Senate to vote on it first. What does the Constitution say? U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 7; course topic 2.2
  • Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist No. 70: "Energy in the Executive is a leading character in the definition of good government." From that he argued for Federalist No. 70, Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 2.6
  • Article III gives the Supreme Court appellate jurisdiction "with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make." What check does the clause create? U.S. Constitution, Article III, Section 2; course topic 2.11
  • Article III says federal judges "shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour" and that their pay "shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office." What are the two protections meant to secure? U.S. Constitution, Article III, Section 1; Federalist No. 78; course topic 2.9
  • Census Bureau figures after the 2020 census: Texas gained two House seats, five states gained one each, and seven states, among them California and New York, lost one each. The House stayed at 435 seats. What do the figures show? U.S. Census Bureau, "2020 Census Apportionment Results Delivered to the President" (April 26, 2021); course topic 2.1
  • Chief Justice Marshall wrote in Marbury v. Madison (1803): "It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is." The sentence is the basis of Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School; course topic 2.8
  • Congress passes a law telling an agency to keep drinking water "safe" and leaves the limit for each chemical to the agency. When the agency sets those limits it is using College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 2.12.A.1 and topic 2.13; course topic 2.13
  • Congress sets up a national system of air traffic control, though no clause of the Constitution mentions aircraft. Which clause, read with the power to regulate commerce, supports the law? U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8; course topic 2.2
  • Hamilton wrote in Federalist No. 78 that the judiciary "may truly be said to have neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment". What did he conclude? Federalist No. 78, Avalon Project, Yale Law School; course topic 2.8
  • In Shaw v. Reno (1993) the Court wrote: "we believe that reapportionment is one area in which appearances do matter." What may voters do under the ruling? Shaw v. Reno, 509 U.S. 630 (1993), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School; course topic 2.3
  • In the Emancipation Proclamation Abraham Lincoln acted "by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion". Which kind of presidential power did he claim? Emancipation Proclamation (1863), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 2.4
  • The Senate adjourns for a month without voting on the president's nominee to head an agency. The president appoints the nominee anyway while the senators are away. What does the Constitution say about such an appointment? U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 2; course topic 2.5
  • The share of the federal budget that goes to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid keeps rising. Tax revenue and the deficit stay the same. What happens to the money Congress can vote each year for defense, education and roads? College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 2.2.A.4; course topic 2.2
  • Tennessee had not redrawn its legislative districts since 1901, and city voters said their votes had lost weight. In Baker v. Carr (1962) the Supreme Court decided that Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186 (1962), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School; course topic 2.3
  • Which amendment answers the worry that a popular president could hold office for too long? U.S. Constitution, Amendment XXII; course topic 2.6

Unit 3: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights 9

  • The Court wrote in Tinker v. Des Moines (1969): "It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate." Which act did the ruling protect? Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School; course topic 3.3
  • Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) called it an obvious truth that "lawyers in criminal courts are necessities, not luxuries." What must a state do as a result? Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School; course topic 3.8
  • In Brown v. Board of Education (1954) the Court asked whether segregating children in public schools solely by race, even where buildings and other tangible factors are equal, deprives minority children of equal educational opportunities. It answered: "We believe that it does." What followed from that answer? Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), National Archives, Milestone Documents; course topic 3.10
  • In Engel v. Vitale (1962) the Court wrote that "it is no part of the business of government to compose official prayers for any group of the American people to recite as a part of a religious program carried on by government." Which clause did the school prayer violate? Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School; course topic 3.2
  • In McDonald v. Chicago (2010) the Court said: "we hold that the Second Amendment right is fully applicable to the States." Which doctrine does the holding apply? McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010), opinion of the Court, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School; course topic 3.7
  • In New York Times Co. v. United States (1971) the Court repeated that "Any system of prior restraints of expression comes to this Court bearing a heavy presumption against its constitutional validity." What did the government fail to do? New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School; course topic 3.4
  • Martin Luther King Jr. wrote from the Birmingham jail in 1963: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." He was answering critics who called him Martin Luther King Jr., "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" (16 April 1963), African Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania; course topic 3.10
  • Schenck v. United States (1919) set this test: "whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent." What does the test allow? Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School; course topic 3.3
  • Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) said that "only those interests of the highest order and those not otherwise served can overbalance legitimate claims to the free exercise of religion." Applying that test, the Court ruled that Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School; course topic 3.2

Unit 4: American Political Ideologies and Beliefs 8

  • A campaign asks the same questions of a fresh sample of voters every night for the last three weeks before the election, to see whether its candidate is gaining. Which kind of poll is it running? College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 4.5.A.1; course topic 4.5
  • A first-time voter registers with the party her parents have always backed and says she never thought of choosing another. What best explains her choice? College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 4.2.A.1; course topic 4.2
  • A poll asks: "Do you agree that the city should stop wasting money on the failing bus system?" Why should a reader doubt the result? College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 4.5.A.2; course topic 4.5
  • A scientific poll of 1,000 randomly chosen adults finds that 52% approve of the governor, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 points. Which statement do the figures support? College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 4.5.A.2; course topic 4.5
  • A senator says: "Government should not promise anyone a result. Its job is to see that every child starts with the same chance to compete." Which core value is the senator stating? College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 4.1.A.1; course topic 4.1
  • Adam Smith wrote in The Wealth of Nations that a man who employs his capital in industry "intends only his own gain; and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention." Which core value does the course tie to Smith? Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Book IV, Chapter 2, Project Gutenberg; College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 4.1.A.1; course topic 4.1
  • People who entered the job market during a deep recession remain more doubtful about free markets, for decades, than people a few years older or younger. Political scientists call the pattern College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 4.3.A.1; course topic 4.3
  • Unemployment is rising. Which response would be monetary policy? College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 4.9.B.1 and 4.9.B.2; course topic 4.9

Unit 5: Political Participation 14

  • A candidate wins a state's popular vote by 50.1% to 49.9%. Under the rule used by every state except Maine and Nebraska, how many of that state's electors does she win? National Archives, Electoral College, "Distribution of Electoral Votes" and "What is the Electoral College?"; course topic 5.8
  • A House member seeking a sixth term has a known name, a staff that answers district mail and a full campaign account. Her challenger has none of these. The course calls her edge College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 5.8.A.1 and 5.9.A.1; course topic 5.9
  • A registered voter skips every election because, she says, "nothing I do at the polls changes what the government does." What is she low in? College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 5.2.A.1; course topic 5.2
  • A state lets only voters registered with a party vote in that party's presidential primary. A voter registered with no party may not take part. The state holds USA.gov, "Presidential primaries and caucuses"; College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 5.8.A.1; course topic 5.8
  • A voter gets all her political news from a feed that shows her more of whatever she has clicked on before. Which effect on democratic debate does the course warn of? College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 5.13.A.3; course topic 5.13
  • A voter says: "Prices rose and my pay did not during the last four years, so I am voting against the party in the White House." Which model of voting behavior fits? College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 5.1.B.1; course topic 5.1
  • Before an election a county party office signs up new voters, mails out a guide to the party's candidates and offers rides to the polls. Which function of political parties is the office carrying out? College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 5.3.B.1; course topic 5.3
  • Census Bureau figures for the 2020 presidential election: turnout was 76.0% among citizens ages 65 to 74 and 51.4% among those ages 18 to 24. Which conclusion do the figures support? U.S. Census Bureau, "2020 Presidential Election Voting and Registration Tables Now Available" (April 29, 2021); course topic 5.2
  • The Court wrote in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) that "the Government may not suppress political speech on the basis of the speaker's corporate identity." What did the ruling permit? Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 310 (2010), opinion of the Court, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School; course topic 5.11
  • For a month before an election, a news program opens each night with the latest poll and who is "pulling ahead", and says little about the candidates' plans. The course calls this kind of coverage College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 5.12.A.2; course topic 5.12
  • In one presidential election a large bloc of voters leaves the party it has backed for a generation, and the new pattern holds for decades. Political scientists call such a contest College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 5.4.A.3; course topic 5.4
  • The Twenty-Fourth Amendment says the right to vote in federal elections "shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax." What kind of obstacle did it remove? U.S. Constitution, Amendment XXIV; College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 5.1.A.1; course topic 5.1
  • Two groups want the same committee to change a bill. One has millions of members and a large treasury. The other was founded last year by a few volunteers. What does the course say about their likely influence? College Board, AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, EK 5.6.B.1; course topic 5.6
  • What sets a Super PAC apart from other political action committees, by the Federal Election Commission's description? Federal Election Commission, "Types of nonconnected PACs"; course topic 5.11

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the five units of 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, to the course page https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-united-states-government-and-politics (unit weightings) and to the exam page https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-united-states-government-and-politics/exam, all read 2026-10-12. Each fact was read on 2026-10-12 in the public page named under its question: the National Archives transcripts of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and its amendments, and its pages on the Emancipation Proclamation, Brown v. Board of Education and the Electoral College; the Federalist papers and the Articles of Confederation at the Avalon Project (Yale Law School); Brutus No. 1 at Teaching American History; Supreme Court opinions at the Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School); the Letter from a Birmingham Jail at the University of Pennsylvania's African Studies Center; The Wealth of Nations at Project Gutenberg; the U.S. Census Bureau; the Federal Election Commission; USA.gov; and the course description itself for the terms it defines. Licence: Own work. Short quotations from the public documents and opinions named under each question.

How it works

This AP Gov practice test, on screen or printed, has 60 questions of our own on the five units of AP U.S. Government and Politics, half quoting required documents or cases. It is unofficial and not affiliated with or endorsed by the College Board.

Read the full guide

The real multiple-choice section

Section I of the AP U.S. Government and Politics Exam has 55 questions in 1 hour 20 minutes for 50% of the exam score, by the College Board's exam page, read October 12, 2026. Exam mode draws 55 questions with 80 minutes on the clock.

Five units, weighted like the exam

The course page gives Unit 1 15 to 22% of the multiple-choice section, Unit 2 25 to 36%, Unit 3 13 to 18%, Unit 4 10 to 15% and Unit 5 20 to 27%. The bank has 11, 18, 9, 8 and 14 questions.

Where the answers come from

Quotations come from the National Archives, the Avalon Project's Federalist papers and court opinions at Cornell's Legal Information Institute. Data questions use Census Bureau releases, and definitions follow the course description.

  • For each required case, learn the clause it turned on. Most case questions can be answered from the clause alone.
  • About 30 of the real 55 questions stand alone; the rest come in sets on one table, text or image.

Questions and answers

Is this AP Government practice test the real exam?

No. Every question was written for this page from the College Board's published course description and public sources. None copies or rewords a real, released or sample question, and a result here predicts no AP score.

Is this AP Gov practice test multiple choice?

Yes. All 60 questions have four choices, like Section I. The four free-response questions (concept application, quantitative analysis, SCOTUS comparison and the argument essay) are the other half of the exam score and are not practiced here.

How long is the AP Gov exam?

3 hours: 1 hour 20 minutes for 55 multiple-choice questions and 1 hour 40 minutes for four free-response questions. Each section is half of the exam score. The exam is fully digital, taken in the Bluebook app.

Which documents and cases does AP Gov require?

The course description, effective fall 2026, lists 13 foundational documents, among them the Emancipation Proclamation and core principles of The Wealth of Nations, and 14 Supreme Court cases. This bank has a question on each of the 14 cases and on 11 of the documents.

Is there an AP Gov practice test PDF?

Print the question sheet opens 55 questions as a paper test, with an answer key if you tick it. Choose Save as PDF in your browser's print window to keep a copy.

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