2018 WAEC (WASSCE) Government Past Questions & Answers

Question 1

Which of the following agencies helps the most in shaping public opinion?

Accepted Answer

B. mass media

Answer

A. pressure groups

Answer

C. college and universities

Answer

D. peer groups

Question 2

Which of the following is the primary function of a parliament?

Accepted Answer

B. making of laws

Answer

A. impeachment of the president

Answer

C. ratifying international treaties

Answer

D. acting as an electoral college

Question 3

A country with homogeneous societies and a small population is suitable for the establishment of ____________.

Accepted Answer

A. a unitary state

Answer

B. a nation state

Answer

C. a federal state

Answer

D. an autonomous state

Question 4

A political system in which the state owns and controls the major means of production is known as?

Accepted Answer

B. socialism

Answer

A. feudalism

Answer

C. fascism

Answer

D. capitalism

Question 5

Those who believe in democracy and good governance are opposed to a single party system because?

Accepted Answer

C. curtails personal liberty

Answer

A. encourages weak leadership

Answer

B. does not ensure national unity

Answer

D. encourages divisiveness

Question 6

Which of the following policies replaced Assimilation?

Accepted Answer

C. association

Answer

A. indigenat

Answer

B. loi cadre

Answer

D. indirect rule

Question 7

The basic purpose of setting up a state is to ___________.

Accepted Answer

A. maintain law and order

Answer

B. protect foreign interest

Answer

C. Promote development

Answer

D. provide social facilities

Question 8

Planning and formulation of government policies are first initiated at?

Accepted Answer

A. cabinet meetings

Answer

B. media houses

Answer

C. political rallies

Answer

D. open forum

Question 9

A federal government is a form of __________.

Accepted Answer

A. decentralization

Answer

B. centralization

Answer

C. confederation

Answer

D. revolution

Question 10

Which of the following factors usually leads to the collapse of a confederal state?

Accepted Answer

A. weak central government

Answer

B. absent of a confederal parliament

Answer

C. ill equipped armed forces

Answer

D. absence of a ceremonial head of state

Question 11

Nationalism prior to the second world war was led by?

Accepted Answer

A. educated elites and chiefs

Answer

B. chiefs and elders

Answer

C. aggrieved cocoa farmers

Answer

D. African merchants

Question 12

Communist governments aim at distributing goods and services according to _____________.

Accepted Answer

C. need and ability

Answer

A. gender and class

Answer

B. loyalty to the party

Answer

D. work and residence

Question 13

The fundamental law of a country refers to its?

Accepted Answer

C. constitution

Answer

A. acts of parliament

Answer

B. conventions

Answer

D. judicial precedence

Question 14

The class that controls and supervises the activities of the executive class in the civil service is?

Accepted Answer

D. administrative class

Answer

A. clerical class

Answer

B. manipulative class

Answer

C. professional class

Question 15

Which of the following is not a factor leading to military intervention in West African states?

Accepted Answer

A. excessive control of public enterprise

Answer

B. falsification of election results

Answer

C. mismanagement of the country's economy

Answer

D. corruption in high places

Question 16

The theory of separation of power is associated with?

Accepted Answer

B. Baron de Montesquieu

Answer

A. Jean Bodin

Answer

C. A.V Dicey

Answer

D. J.J Rousseau

Question 17

Indirect election is best described as?

Accepted Answer

C. electoral college electing legislators

Answer

A. only women electing legislators

Answer

B. the citizenry electing legislators

Answer

D. only adults electing legislators

Question 18

The rule of law can be limited by?

Accepted Answer

B. state of emergency

Answer

A. power

Answer

C. legitimacy

Answer

D. checks and balances

Question 19

A country's constitution could be derived from the following sources except?

Accepted Answer

D. party manifestoes

Answer

A. judicial precedents

Answer

B. customary sources

Answer

C. statutory sources

Question 20

The following were limitations imposed on traditional rulers under colonial rule except?

Accepted Answer

D. were no longer spiritual heads of the people

Answer

A. were not permitted to raise armed forces

Answer

B. had no power to impose tax

Answer

C. had no power to install or dispose a chief

Question 21

Pressure groups seek to influence the policies of the government ______________.

Accepted Answer

A. to the advantage of their members

Answer

B. so that all citizens can benefit

Answer

C. to suit the manifestos of political parties

Answer

D. to conform with electoral act

Question 22

The process of taking part in the selection of leaders in a country is political ___________.

Accepted Answer

B. participation

Answer

A. socialization

Answer

C. interaction

Answer

D. culture

Question 23

Which of the following does not militate against representative government in West Africa?

Accepted Answer

D. universal adult suffrage

Answer

A. electoral irregularities

Answer

B. coup d' etat

Answer

C. gagged media

Question 24

in modern democracy, a government is?

Accepted Answer

A. a contract between the rulers and the ruled

Answer

B. a preserve of the political party in power

Answer

C. monopoly of the ethnic groups in the majority

Answer

D. alternation of power between the minority and majority tribes

Question 25

A system of administration which allowed traditional rulers to rule their people under the supervision of the British officials in West Africa is?

Accepted Answer

C. indirect rule

Answer

A. divide and rule

Answer

B. colonization

Answer

D. assimilation

Question 26

One reason for the adoption of Indirect Rule in British West Africa was?

Accepted Answer

C. inadequate finance

Answer

A. availability of British officials

Answer

B. to ensure justice

Answer

D. to assimilate the indigenes

Question 27

The principle of separation of power becomes meaningful when it is linked with the concept of?

Accepted Answer

B. checks and balances

Answer

A. the certainty of the law

Answer

C. legality of the law

Answer

D. judicial independence

Question 28

Citizens can seek redress against injustice from the state through the?

Accepted Answer

A. ombudsman

Answer

B. head of civil service

Answer

C. civil service commission

Answer

D. titular executive

Question 29

To preserve individual liberties, the judiciary should _____________.

Accepted Answer

A. consist of honest and impartial judges

Answer

B. be appointed by the executives

Answer

C. be prosecuted for judgement against the executive

Answer

D. participate in partisan politics

Question 30

In order to promote democracy and  good governance, the commonwealth of Nations

Accepted Answer

D. sponsors election observer teams to monitor the conduct of elections.

Answer

A. prosecutes leaders who commit atrocities at the international criminal court

Answer

B. organises seminars and training programs on technical assistance to members

Answer

C. sanction members who do not pay their dues

Question 31

One of the problems of military administration in West Africa is that soldiers

Accepted Answer

D. are not trained for governance

Answer

A. are representatives of the people

Answer

B. lack discipline

Answer

C. are not well organized

Question 32

The United Nation Organisation (UNO) is primary regarded as successful because

Accepted Answer

B. of its control of outbreak of another world war

Answer

A. its members continue to increase

Answer

C. all member countries have veto power

Answer

D. more member countries acquire more nuclear power

Question 33

In a parliamentary system of government, the legislature and executive are fused to ensure  .

Accepted Answer

B. smoothness in the administration of the state

Answer

A. supremacy of the ruling party in administering the state

Answer

C. the constitution is read in parliament at all time

Answer

D. the judiciary consults parliament before ruling on cases

Question 34

The agency responsible for investigating allegations of maladministration and punishing offending career officers in the executive is the?

Accepted Answer

D. public/civil service commission

Answer

A. federal character commission

Answer

B. ethics commission

Answer

C. judicial commission

Question 35

Which of these is not a source of revenue for political parties?

Accepted Answer

C. tolls

Answer

A. dues

Answer

B. grants

Answer

D. donations

Question 36

In the presidential system of government, the chief executive is responsible to the _____________.

Accepted Answer

C. electorate

Answer

A. judiciary

Answer

B. monarch

Answer

D. senate

Question 37

The anonymity of civil servants means that they should not be?

Accepted Answer

D. praised or blamed publicly

Answer

A. prosecuted for any professional misconduct

Answer

B. disciplined because of their expertise

Answer

C. above the law of the land

Question 38

By comparison, a state is ______________.

Accepted Answer

B. more permanent than a government

Answer

A. less permanent than a government

Answer

C. more changeable than a government

Answer

D. equally permanent with a government

Question 39

Public opinion can be measured through all of the following except the?

Accepted Answer

A. imposition of laws without any debate

Answer

B. conduct of opinion

Answer

C. general review

Answer

D. holding of referendum in a state

Question 40

Which of the following is a reason for the failure of the assimilation policy in French West Africa?

Accepted Answer

B. the refusal of Africans to be culturally colonized

Answer

A. the change in the name of their culture

Answer

C. the democratic policy of the french

Answer

D. bribery of the opinion leaders by the french

Question 41

On which of the following grounds can a citizen abstain from voting?

Accepted Answer

A. religion

Answer

B. education

Answer

C. wealth

Answer

D. status

Question 42

Local government is established in order to _________

Accepted Answer

A. bring government nearer to the people

Answer

B. build churches and mosque

Answer

C. curb corruption in the society

Answer

D. promote political apathy

Question 43

Which of the following alternatives is a feature of a federation

Accepted Answer

C. supremacy of the constitution

Answer

A. unwritten constitution

Answer

B. unicameral legislature

Answer

D. right to secede

Question 44

Which of the following is not a problem faced by ECOWAS

Accepted Answer

C. larger market

Answer

A. financial security

Answer

B. political instability

Answer

D. colonial heritage

Question 45

A political system in which the government controls every aspect of a citizen's life is _________.

Accepted Answer

D. totalitarianism

Answer

A. feudalism

Answer

B. monarchy

Answer

C. democracy

Question 46

Which of these functions is performed by both political parties and pressure groups?

Accepted Answer

A. interest aggregation and articulation

Answer

B. source of mediation in a state

Answer

C. provision of specialized information

Answer

D. seeking to manage the affairs of the state

Question 47

An electoral system which allows party members to elect candidates for elective offices is called?

Accepted Answer

B. primary election

Answer

A. by election

Answer

C. general election

Answer

D. direct election

Question 48

A government performs the following functions except?

Accepted Answer

C. providing all the needs of its citizens

Answer

A. safeguarding life and property

Answer

B. maintaining law and order

Answer

D. providing basic welfare needs

Question 49

The foreign policy of a country could be influenced by?

Accepted Answer

A. personality of political leader

Answer

B. number of schools in a country

Answer

C. number of ministers in a country

Answer

D. national

Question 50

Judicial review is a mechanism for checking __________.

Accepted Answer

A. arbitrary use of power

Answer

B. irresponsible journalism

Answer

C. electoral malpractices

Answer

D. military adventures

2018 WAEC (WASSCE) Government Past Questions

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