Profit maximization is characteristic of

1. Analyze the question The question asks which political/economic system has profit maximization as its defining feature.

2. Explain the concept Each option is an economic and social system:

• Capitalism: Individuals and private firms own the means of production (land, factories, capital). Production is driven by the profit motive, with competition in a market economy.
• Communism: The state or community owns the means of production. There is no private profit motive, and wealth is shared according to need.
• Communalism: Society is organized around the community (as in many pre-colonial African societies). Land and resources are owned and used collectively, with an emphasis on cooperation and not on profit.
• Feudalism: Land is owned by lords or kings and worked by vassals or serfs in exchange for protection. The main basis is land ownership and loyalty, not profit-driven enterprise.

3. Solution

• Does the system encourage private ownership and the pursuit of gain? Only capitalism does.
• Communism and communalism stress collective ownership, so profit maximization is not their aim.
• Feudalism is based on land tenure and obligations, not market-driven profit.

So the system whose characteristic feature is profit maximization is capitalism.

4. Answer The correct option is A. capitalism.

5. Exam tip Link each system to its keyword:

• Capitalism → Capital/Profit
• Communism → Common ownership/Classless
• Communalism → Community/Cooperation
• Feudalism → Fief (land)/Lord and vassal

If a question mentions profit, private ownership, or competition, think capitalism.