Government and Politics (GOPO) Practice Test 2026 – All-in-One Guide to Mastering Your Exam!

The concept being tested is incorporation, the idea that most of the protections in the Bill of Rights are applied to state governments through the Fourteenth Amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause says that no state can deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Over time, the Supreme Court has interpreted that clause to apply many of the rights originally limited to federal action to the states as well. This process—selective incorporation—uses the Fourteenth Amendment to bind state governments to those federal protections.

The Fifth Amendment also has a due process clause, but it restricts the federal government, not the states, which is why it isn’t the basis for applying rights to the states. The First Amendment protections are now binding on the states through incorporation, but the mechanism behind that is the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause, not its own separate clause.