American Government

What this category covers

The USCIS Policy Manual, which applies the federal law on naturalization, says every applicant must show "a knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of the history, the principles, and the form of government of the United States." This category answers the second and third parts of that sentence. It is where USCIS checks whether you understand how the country you are joining makes decisions, who makes them, and what it expects from the people who live under them.

The questions start with ideas and move toward machinery. First come the founding documents and the reasons behind them: what the Constitution does, what "We the People" means, what the rule of law asks of leaders. Then the structure: who writes laws, who signs them, who can veto them, who interprets them, and which powers belong to the national government and which to the states. The last group turns to you: who may vote, what new citizens promise in the Oath of Allegiance, and the ways people take part in civic life.

Some answers here are not fixed. A few depend on the state where you live, and a few depend on who holds an office on the day of your interview. The official list does not print those answers. It says "Answers will vary," or it points to the USCIS test updates page, and you are expected to know the current name or the one for your state.

Which answers are fixed and which are not

• 12 of the 72 are on the 65/20 list, the shorter set of questions for applicants who qualify for the special consideration: 2, 7, 12, 20, 30, 36, 38, 39, 44, 52, 61, 66.
• 4 depend on the state where you live, and the official answer reads "Answers will vary": 23, 29, 61, 62.
• 4 ask who holds an office now: 30, 38, 39, 57. USCIS posts those names on its test updates page, and the guide to current officeholders follows them.
• 64 have their answers printed in the official list.

How to study this category

Principles of American Government

Two documents carry most of this group, and the questions move between them. The Declaration of Independence is the one that broke with Britain and named rights such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (question 9, question 11). The Constitution is the one that built the government and stands as the supreme law of the land (question 2, question 3). When a question asks about a founding document, decide first whether it is about leaving Britain or about running the country, and the answer usually follows.

The question that asks for ideas shared by both documents (question 10) accepts words like equality and liberty, so there you do not have to choose between them. Learn how amendments are made together with how many there are (question 5, question 7): the officer may ask either one, and the process gives the number a place to live in your memory. For the questions about why there are three branches and what the rule of law means (question 15, question 13), pick one of the short official phrases, such as "checks and balances" or "No one is above the law," and practice saying it aloud.

Three more questions ask for ideas in plain words rather than names. "We the People" stands for self-government, popular sovereignty or the consent of the governed (question 4); the economic system is capitalism or a free market economy (question 12); and the documents that influenced the Constitution (question 14) include the Articles of Confederation, the Federalist Papers and the Mayflower Compact along with the Declaration. If a term like popular sovereignty is hard to pronounce, the list also accepts "People should govern themselves," which carries the same idea in everyday English.

System of Government

This is the longest group on the list, and its traps come in pairs. The Senate and the House each get a question about size and a question about term length (question 21, question 24, question 22, question 25). Study them as a two-column table, Senate on one side and House on the other, and then read question 26, which asks why one term is shorter than the other. The questions about who represents whom and who elects whom follow the same pattern (question 31, question 33).

The president is the answer to a run of questions that look alike: who signs bills, who vetoes them, who commands the military, who appoints federal judges (question 43, question 44, question 42, question 45). Noticing that they share one answer frees your attention for the questions nearby where the answer changes, such as who becomes president if the president can no longer serve (question 40).

Around the president sits the rest of the executive branch. The Cabinet advises the president (question 47), and the question that asks for two Cabinet-level positions (question 48) accepts a long list of titles, from Attorney General to Secretary of Labor, so settle on two you find easy to say and keep them. The Electoral College question (question 49) asks why it matters, and the shorter of its two accepted answers is that it decides who is elected president.

The judicial questions mix numbers with reasons: how many seats the Supreme Court has, how many justices usually decide a case, and why justices serve for life (question 53, question 54, question 56). After them come the questions on federalism, which ask for a power held only by the federal government and one held only by the states (question 58, question 59). Printing money and declaring war are national; schooling, police protection and driver's licenses belong to the states. The 10th Amendment question (question 60) is the rule behind that split.

This group also holds every question without a fixed answer. Your senators, your representative, your governor and your state capital depend on your address, while the Speaker of the House, the President, the Vice President and the Chief Justice change with elections and appointments. Look those up close to your interview date instead of memorizing them months ahead.

Rights and Responsibilities

Several questions in this group ask for more than one item. The rights of everyone living in the United States (question 65), the promises in the Oath of Allegiance (question 67) and the examples of civic participation (question 69) each need two or three answers. Keep one spare for each, so a word that slips away at the interview does not cost you the question.

Separate what belongs to everyone here from what only citizens can do. Freedom of speech, of religion and of assembly are rights of everyone living in the country; voting in federal elections, running for federal office and serving on a jury are reserved for citizens (question 64). The question about the voting amendments (question 63) asks you to describe just one of them, so a single clear answer, such as "Citizens eighteen and older can vote," is enough. The Selective Service question (question 72) already states the age range, and what it wants back is a reason: it is required by law, or it makes the draft fair if one is needed.

One question here describes your own path. Asked how people become United States citizens (question 68), you can answer that they naturalize, which is exactly what your interview is part of; birth in the country under the conditions of the 14th Amendment and deriving citizenship are also on the list. The questions about serving the country and paying federal taxes (question 70, question 71) share some ground, since paying taxes appears in both, but the tax question asks why, and its answers point to the law, to funding the federal government and to civic duty.

Guides for this category

• A study plan for the 128 civics questions: where this category fits in the order of study.
• How the naturalization test is scored: how many correct answers you need.
• Civics test answers that change with elections: the names behind the questions above that change.