Questions
. What is the primary duty of the arm of government that puts laws into practice?
A. Judiciary
B. Legislature
C. Electorate
D. Executive
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. How can government most accurately be described?
A. the machinery through which the will of the state is formulated and carried out
B. a group of people who own a country’s resources
C. an institution that only makes laws
D. a body that organizes elections alone
. Which of these is NOT considered one of the three essential organs of government?
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A. Executive
B. Legislature
C. Press
D. Judiciary
. Which arm of government is charged with the responsibility of creating laws?
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A. Executive
B. Legislature
C. Judiciary
D. Civil Service
. Which body is mainly responsible for interpreting laws and resolving disputes?
A. Executive
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B. Judiciary
C. Legislature
D. Political parties
. What is the name of the principle that stops power from being concentrated in just one
arm of government?
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A. separation of powers
B. federalism
C. rule of law
D. fundamental human rights
. In a presidential system, the Head of State is typically
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A. elected by parliament
B. a ceremonial figure only
C. also the Head of Government
D. appointed by the judiciary
. Which arm is often described as the “watchdog” that monitors the other two arms of
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government?
A. Executive
B. Civil Service
C. Judiciary
D. Legislature
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. The complete set of shared attitudes, beliefs and values that influence political behaviour
in a society is called
A. political socialization
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.
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B. political culture
C. public opinion
D. political ideology
. Through what process is political culture passed from one generation to the next?
A. political socialization
B. legislation
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C. judicial review
D. taxation
. A “parochial” political culture is best characterised by citizens who
A. are highly aware and actively participate in politics
B. are aware but passive
C. control government directly
D. have little or no awareness of the political system
. The process by which people learn political values, beliefs and attitudes is known as
A. political culture
B. civic education
C. political socialization
D. propaganda
. Which of the following is NOT an agent of political socialization?
A. Family
B. Judiciary
C. School
D. Mass media
. How does the family mainly shape a child’s political outlook?
A. early informal transmission of values and attitudes
B. formal lectures on the constitution
C. court judgements
D. taxation policies
. A political party is best defined as
A. an association of people who share economic interests only
B. a group that protects members’ welfare without contesting elections
C. an agency of the judiciary
D. a group organized to gain and exercise political power through elections
. Unlike a pressure group, the chief aim of a political party is to
A. influence government policy from outside
B. remain non-political
C. contest and win elections to control government
D. provide social services only
. One important function performed by political parties is
A. political recruitment and education of citizens
B. adjudicating disputes
C. printing currency
D. declaring war
. A system that permits only one political party to exist is called a
A. bi-party system
B. one-party system
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C. multi-party system
D. coalition system
. The arrangement in which two major parties dominate politics (as in the USA) is known as
a
A. one-party system
B. multi-party system
C. no-party system
D. two-party system
. A frequent weakness of the multi-party system is
A. dictatorship
B. absence of opposition
C. political instability due to coalition government
D. lack of elections
. An organised group that seeks to influence government policy without itself trying to take
control of government is called a
A. pressure group
B. political party
C. electoral commission
D. cabinet
. Which of the following is an example of a pressure group operating in Nigeria?
A. Independent National Electoral Commission
B. Federal Executive Council
C. National Assembly
D. Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)
. The main difference between pressure groups and political parties is that pressure groups
A. sponsor candidates and contest elections
B. do not contest elections but seek to influence policy
C. form the government
D. control the judiciary
. One of the principal methods pressure groups use to achieve their objectives is
A. impeachment
B. adjudication
C. lobbying
D. dissolution of parliament
. The principle that every person, including those in government, is subject to and
accountable under the law is known as
A. rule of law
B. federalism
C. political culture
D. separation of powers
. Which of the following is NOT one of A.V. Dicey’s elements of the rule of law?
A. supremacy of the law
B. equality before the law
C. protection of individual rights by ordinary courts
D. concentration of power in the executive
. Under the rule of law, a person may be punished only for
.
A. presidential order
B. definite breach of law established in an ordinary court
C. military decree
D. party directive
. A system in which power is shared between a central government and constituent units,
each having constitutionally defined powers, is called
A. unitary government
B. confederal government
C. federal government
D. monarchical government
. In a unitary system, governmental power is
A. concentrated in a single central authority
B. shared equally among states
C. divided among independent nations
D. held by the judiciary alone
. A confederation is best described as
A. a single centralized state
B. a state ruled by one political party
C. a military alliance only
D. a loose union of independent states retaining sovereignty
. In a parliamentary system the Head of Government is normally the
A. President
B. Chief Justice
C. Prime Minister
D. Speaker
. A distinctive feature of the parliamentary system is
A. strict separation of powers
B. fusion of executive and legislative powers
C. fixed tenure for the executive
D. absence of a cabinet
. A monarchy is a form of government in which
A. power belongs to the people directly
B. leadership is elected every four years
C. power is shared among several states
D. leadership is hereditary, vested in a king or queen
. At the federal level, Nigeria operates which system of government?
A. Presidential
B. Parliamentary
C. Confederal
D. Monarchical
. One clear advantage of federalism compared with a unitary system is that it
A. eliminates all local differences
B. concentrates all powers at the centre
C. allows for local autonomy and unity in diversity
D. abolishes state governments
. The body that performs the legislative function at the federal level in Nigeria is the
.
A. Federal Executive Council
B. National Assembly
C. Supreme Court
D. Council of State
. Political recruitment, as a function of government, means the process of
A. collecting taxes from citizens
B. drafting the constitution
C. settling boundary disputes
D. selecting and preparing individuals for political roles
. What mainly distinguishes a democratic political culture from an authoritarian one?
A. citizens’ active participation and respect for civil liberties
B. absence of elections
C. concentration of power in a single ruler
D. suppression of opposition parties
. The purpose of checks and balances among the three arms of government is to
A. weaken the government entirely
B. eliminate the judiciary’s role
C. prevent abuse of power and promote accountability
D. merge all arms into one body
. A defining feature of a totalitarian one-party system is that
A. opposition parties freely contest elections
B. the ruling party controls all aspects of political and social life
C. power rotates peacefully between parties
D. the judiciary operates independently of the party