AP US Government & Politics — Unit 5: Political Participation
Practice questions, answers, and key terms for Unit 5, aligned to the College Board CED.
Exam weighting: Unit 5 is 20-27% of the AP US Government & Politics exam.
What AP US Government & Politics Unit 5 covers
The College Board Course and Exam Description breaks Unit 5 into 14 topics:
- 5.1 Voting Rights and Models of Voting Behavior
- 5.2 Voter Turnout
- 5.3 Political Parties
- 5.4 How and Why Political Parties Change and Adapt
- 5.5 Third-Party Politics
- 5.6 Interest Groups Influencing Policymaking
- 5.7 Groups Influencing Policy Outcomes
- 5.8 Electing a President
- 5.9 Congressional Elections
- 5.10 Modern Campaigns
- 5.11 Campaign Finance
- 5.12 The Media
- 5.13 Changing Media Landscape
- 5.14 Social Media
AP US Government & Politics Unit 5 practice questions
A poll worker in 1962 turns away a Black sharecropper who can't afford the $2 fee charged at the booth. Two years later that fee is gone nationwide. Which amendment killed it?
The 24th Amendment (1964) banned poll taxes states had used to suppress voters.
Before 1913, you didn't vote for your U.S. senators — your state legislature picked them for you. One amendment handed that choice to the people. Which one?
The 17th Amendment established direct popular election of U.S. senators.
An 18-year-old gets drafted to fight in Vietnam but can't legally vote against the politicians who sent him. Public outrage over that gap produces which amendment?
The 26th Amendment (1971) lowered the voting age to 18 after Vietnam draft outrage.
A voter ignores party labels, looks at how the economy performed over the last four years, and votes to throw the incumbent out for poor results. Which model of voting behavior is this?
Retrospective voting — judging the party in power on its recent past record and results.
A first-time voter has no loyalty to either party. She weighs each candidate's promises against what she personally wants out of government and picks the one that benefits her most. Which model fits best?
Rational choice voting — picking whatever best serves the voter's own self-interest.
Turnout drops in a district and a pundit blames 'low political efficacy.' Your friend thinks that means people were too lazy or uninformed. What does it actually mean?
Political efficacy is a citizen's belief that their participation will actually make a difference. Low efficacy means people felt their vote wouldn't matter — not that they were lazy or ignorant.
One state offers same-day online registration; the next state over requires registering in person 30 days early. This kind of difference in the rules people must clear before voting is called what?
A structural barrier — a state law or procedure that makes voting easier or harder.
A graph shows 60% turnout in a presidential year but only 40% two years later for the same district. The candidates and laws didn't change. What best explains the drop?
Election type — midterm elections consistently draw lower turnout than presidential ones.
+ 32 more AP US Government & Politics cards in the app.
Key terms in Unit 5
These 12 terms show up in the Unit 5 cards. Each one links to its definition in the AP US Government & Politics key-term reference.
Drill all of Unit 5 with spaced repetition
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