New Curriculum Third Term Government examination for SS 1

Class: SS 1
Term: Third Term
Subject: Government
Time: 2 hours
Total Marks: 70

SECTION A: OBJECTIVES (40 Marks)
Instruction: Answer all 40 questions. Each question carries 1 mark.

1. Which factor may make coalition negotiation important after an election? (a) legislation is never debated by elected representatives    (b) the cabinet is permanently chosen by a court    (c) no single party holds a legislative majority    (d) all offices are constitutionally hereditary
2. The centre keeps final control while deploying officials across districts. Which administrative arrangement is closest? (a) complete political independence    (b) constitutional secession    (c) deconcentration    (d) confederal withdrawal
3. A government restricts movement during a genuine emergency. What legal conditions should govern the restriction? (a) lawful, necessary and proportionate to the stated public aim    (b) imposed solely by an officer’s personal opinion    (c) free from any possibility of review    (d) indefinite regardless of changing circumstances
4. ________ may broaden representation but also make majority formation more difficult when many parties win seats. (a) A fully appointed civil service    (b) A multiparty system    (c) A military command hierarchy    (d) An absolute hereditary monarchy
5. A constitution needs a special amendment procedure instead of an ordinary vote. How is this design described? (a) a policy circular without legal force    (b) rigid or entrenched in its amendment procedure    (c) wholly unwritten in every respect    (d) a private association’s internal rule
6. Which situation demonstrates a constitutional check rather than arbitrary discretion? (a) a court reviews whether an official acted within legal powers    (b) a minister overrules a judge without legal process    (c) a political party closes newspapers for criticism    (d) an officer changes constitutional rules by private memo
7. A constitutional text sets the duties and limits of governing institutions. What is its primary purpose? (a) to organise and constrain public authority    (b) to replace all ordinary laws with informal customs    (c) to prevent citizens from seeking remedies    (d) to guarantee that leaders never make policy mistakes
8. What is a major purpose of opposition parties in a multiparty system? (a) replace all professional public administrators    (b) ensure every policy becomes unanimously accepted    (c) offer alternatives and scrutinise government decisions    (d) prevent lawful votes from being counted
9. Which risk requires safeguards when powers are decentralised? (a) automatic removal of all corrupt practices    (b) unequal administrative capacity across local areas    (c) necessary abolition of every central standard    (d) the absolute impossibility of local participation
10. An elected cabinet repeatedly disobeys binding court rulings. Why is the existence of a written constitution insufficient? (a) control independent courts personally    (b) be free to suspend every legal restraint    (c) actually comply with enforceable limitations on authority    (d) govern solely through campaign announcements
11. All these are functions of parties EXCEPT ________. (a) policy formulation    (b) political recruitment    (c) mobilisation of voters    (d) delivering final court judgments in criminal trials
12. A pupil learns community attitudes at home and later debates politics at school. Identify the process illustrated. (a) political socialisation through different agents    (b) a guaranteed conversion into party leadership    (c) the transfer of national sovereignty to families    (d) the abolition of political culture
13. A person’s nationality is recognised through birth or parental status under law. Which acquisition route is illustrated? (a) party membership as the sole basis of nationality    (b) a permanent diplomatic appointment    (c) citizenship by birth as provided by law    (d) citizenship dependent only on tax arrears
14. Teachers collectively lobby parliament about wages but seek no electoral office. What organisation is this? (a) regional executive cabinet    (b) federal court of appeal    (c) pressure group    (d) political party contesting every constituency
15. A protest organiser is detained without charge or access to lawful review. Which safeguard is most immediately relevant? (a) administrative secrecy over all arrests    (b) restriction of all legal representation    (c) automatic guilt for public criticism    (d) due process and judicial protection of personal liberty
16. An official accused of abusing office receives an ordinary court hearing. What legal ideal does that demonstrate? (a) restriction of all private legal remedies    (b) accountability under the rule of law    (c) replacement of courts by cabinet directives    (d) automatic immunity of executive officers
17. All the following help safeguard rights EXCEPT ________. (a) public knowledge of constitutional protections    (b) accessible legal remedies    (c) independent courts    (d) punishing a citizen for seeking judicial redress
18. Why should a constitutional state limit the legal powers of otherwise popular officeholders? (a) make all citizens agree about every policy    (b) remove the need for a public service    (c) prevent arbitrary rule and protect accountable government    (d) prohibit lawful constitutional amendments
19. What central public benefit is expected from informed citizen participation in politics? (a) to transfer every public function to a single voter    (b) to guarantee unanimous policy opinions    (c) to eliminate all lawful opposition groups    (d) to improve responsiveness and accountability
20. What separates a pressure group from a party in its primary political goal? (a) working on questions of social welfare    (b) communicating with legislators    (c) influencing specific public policies rather than principally taking office    (d) organising citizens around shared interests
21. Which development can alter political culture over time? (a) new civic education and public political experiences    (b) permanent isolation from every political event    (c) removal of all communication among generations    (d) identical values transmitted unchanged to everyone
22. A government holds elections but repeatedly ignores court orders and legal limits. What is chiefly missing? (a) the existence of political parties    (b) constitutionalism in the exercise of power    (c) the text of an economic policy    (d) public discussion of national symbols
23. A pressure group publishes credible research to support its proposal. What is the principal benefit of that strategy? (a) the credibility of its policy advocacy    (b) its automatic entitlement to win elections    (c) its legal supremacy over elected officials    (d) its formal power to overturn court judgments
24. Which of the following is a central function of a political party rather than a court? (a) delivering binding criminal sentences    (b) issuing judicial arrest warrants    (c) interpreting the constitution in final appeals    (d) recruiting candidates and presenting a programme to voters
25. Why might assigning selected services to local authorities make public administration more responsive? (a) every locality becomes independent of the constitution    (b) regional inequality must disappear immediately    (c) national oversight is automatically unlawful    (d) decisions may respond more quickly to local conditions
26. A law is enforced retrospectively against critics but not supporters. What rule-of-law concern is strongest? (a) adequate public knowledge of future obligations    (b) regular review of administrative conduct    (c) arbitrariness and lack of predictable equal enforcement    (d) consistent treatment of similarly placed people
27. Which tactic would most undermine lawful and accountable pressure-group activity? (a) holding a lawful public awareness event    (b) using threats to silence opposing public views    (c) meeting public officers under disclosed rules    (d) submitting evidence to a committee
28. The proper next step when a rights dispute arises is to ________. (a) seek an available impartial legal remedy    (b) punish the complainant for questioning authority    (c) abolish the courts’ power to interpret law    (d) assume the accused official is beyond scrutiny
29. A party selects candidates through undisclosed meetings controlled by a few officials. What internal democratic weakness results? (a) too much public inspection of party selection    (b) weak intra-party accountability and transparency    (c) compulsory open debate in all decisions    (d) independent legal protection for party members
30. Two major parties win most seats despite the presence of smaller parties. Which party-system classification is most accurate? (a) the legal abolition of every smaller party    (b) the complete absence of electoral competition    (c) a compulsory one-party state    (d) a two-party system despite the possible existence of minor parties
31. How do family and mass media typically differ as agents of political socialisation? (a) family can communicate only through print broadcasts    (b) media transmit values exclusively before childhood    (c) neither can influence political opinions    (d) family introduces early interpersonal values while media circulates wider narratives
32. Residents petition lawmakers about a missing health centre. What kind of civic activity are they undertaking? (a) a formal declaration of state secession    (b) political participation outside election day    (c) automatic membership of the national cabinet    (d) a judicial sentence on public expenditure
33. Routine service decisions move to district offices while national standards remain. What administrative change does this illustrate? (a) administrative decentralisation    (b) automatic regional sovereignty    (c) abolition of central government    (d) personal rule by the head of state
34. The ________ of amendment rules helps protect a constitution against casual political alteration. (a) militarisation    (b) electoral financing    (c) entrenchment    (d) privatisation
35. A licensing agency treats identical applicants differently on political grounds. Which constitutional principle is breached? (a) equality before the law    (b) the definition of a confederal state    (c) the principle of a bicameral budget    (d) the role of ceremonial monarchy
36. Freedom of expression does NOT mean an individual may ________. (a) ignore generally applicable lawful limits that protect others’ rights    (b) participate in lawful public debate    (c) publish reasoned criticism of public policies    (d) question official decisions peacefully
37. All are possible sources of constitutional rules EXCEPT ________. (a) judicial precedent where recognised    (b) formal constitutional documents    (c) constitutional conventions    (d) a minister’s unofficial diary as binding law by itself
38. How should the concept of political culture be understood? (a) the private assets of elected politicians    (b) shared orientations, values and attitudes towards politics    (c) the timetable for annual elections alone    (d) the total number of local government buildings
39. Which is NOT, on its own, proof of citizenship? (a) recognition under citizenship laws    (b) attendance at a political rally    (c) citizenship acquired by lawful descent    (d) valid naturalisation under legal requirements
40. Without genuine electoral alternatives, what central risk accompanies a one-party system? (a) necessary alternation of government at each election    (b) automatic diversity of policy platforms    (c) constant coalition bargaining after elections    (d) weak electoral accountability of rulers

SECTION B: THEORY (30 Marks)
Instruction: Answer Question 1 and any other TWO questions. Each question carries 10 marks.

Question 1: Constitution and constitutionalism (10 Marks)
(a) Distinguish a constitution from constitutionalism and explain why the distinction matters when an elected executive ignores court orders. (5 marks)
(b) Explain one benefit and one risk of decentralisation and suggest a safeguard against the risk. (5 marks)

Question 2: Fundamental rights and the rule of law (10 Marks)
(a) Explain three rule-of-law principles applicable when peaceful demonstrators are detained without lawful process. (6 marks)
(b) State two conditions that make a restriction on rights more defensible in a constitutional democracy. (4 marks)

Question 3: Citizen participation and political culture (10 Marks)
(a) Describe three agents of political socialisation and how each may shape attitudes towards participation. (6 marks)
(b) Distinguish lawful citizenship status from membership of a political party and state two ways citizens can participate between elections. (4 marks)

Question 4: Parties, party systems and pressure groups (10 Marks)
(a) A trade union organises a campaign for hospital funding, while a party presents candidates. Compare their main political purposes. (4 marks)
(b) Explain three possible effects of a multiparty system on representation, coalition building and government accountability. (6 marks)

Objective Marking Scheme
Question 1 – ✅ (c) no single party holds a legislative majority
Question 2 – ✅ (c) deconcentration
Question 3 – ✅ (a) lawful, necessary and proportionate to the stated public aim
Question 4 – ✅ (b) A multiparty system
Question 5 – ✅ (b) rigid or entrenched in its amendment procedure
Question 6 – ✅ (a) a court reviews whether an official acted within legal powers
Question 7 – ✅ (a) to organise and constrain public authority
Question 8 – ✅ (c) offer alternatives and scrutinise government decisions
Question 9 – ✅ (b) unequal administrative capacity across local areas
Question 10 – ✅ (c) actually comply with enforceable limitations on authority
Question 11 – ✅ (d) delivering final court judgments in criminal trials
Question 12 – ✅ (a) political socialisation through different agents
Question 13 – ✅ (c) citizenship by birth as provided by law
Question 14 – ✅ (c) pressure group
Question 15 – ✅ (d) due process and judicial protection of personal liberty
Question 16 – ✅ (b) accountability under the rule of law
Question 17 – ✅ (d) punishing a citizen for seeking judicial redress
Question 18 – ✅ (c) prevent arbitrary rule and protect accountable government
Question 19 – ✅ (d) to improve responsiveness and accountability
Question 20 – ✅ (c) influencing specific public policies rather than principally taking office
Question 21 – ✅ (a) new civic education and public political experiences
Question 22 – ✅ (b) constitutionalism in the exercise of power
Question 23 – ✅ (a) the credibility of its policy advocacy
Question 24 – ✅ (d) recruiting candidates and presenting a programme to voters
Question 25 – ✅ (d) decisions may respond more quickly to local conditions
Question 26 – ✅ (c) arbitrariness and lack of predictable equal enforcement
Question 27 – ✅ (b) using threats to silence opposing public views
Question 28 – ✅ (a) seek an available impartial legal remedy
Question 29 – ✅ (b) weak intra-party accountability and transparency
Question 30 – ✅ (d) a two-party system despite the possible existence of minor parties
Question 31 – ✅ (d) family introduces early interpersonal values while media circulates wider narratives
Question 32 – ✅ (b) political participation outside election day
Question 33 – ✅ (a) administrative decentralisation
Question 34 – ✅ (c) entrenchment
Question 35 – ✅ (a) equality before the law
Question 36 – ✅ (a) ignore generally applicable lawful limits that protect others’ rights
Question 37 – ✅ (d) a minister’s unofficial diary as binding law by itself
Question 38 – ✅ (b) shared orientations, values and attitudes towards politics
Question 39 – ✅ (b) attendance at a political rally
Question 40 – ✅ (d) weak electoral accountability of rulers

Theory Marking Scheme

Question 1 — Constitution and constitutionalism
(a) Constitution system of superior rules (2); constitutionalism actual limitation by law (2); court orders illustrate implementation gap (1). [5 marks]
(b) Local responsiveness (2); uneven capacity/oversight (2); audit/clear standards/transparent coordination (1). [5 marks]

Question 2 — Fundamental rights and the rule of law
(a) Equal treatment, due process/legal authority, independent review/remedies, presumption of innocence, each explained 2 marks any three. [6 marks]
(b) Lawful basis/publicly accessible law (2), necessity/proportionality with effective review (2). [4 marks]

Question 3 — Citizen participation and political culture
(a) Family, school, peer group, media, religion etc. any three with accurate mechanism 2 each. [6 marks]
(b) Citizenship legal nationality vs voluntary party membership (2); petitions, hearings, advocacy, civic monitoring or peaceful assembly, two at 1 each. [4 marks]

Question 4 — Parties, party systems and pressure groups
(a) Pressure group influences particular policies (2); party seeks governmental office to shape broad programmes (2). [4 marks]
(b) Any three developed effects 2 marks each: wider views, coalition bargaining, possible fragmentation, scrutiny, voter choices. [6 marks]