WAEC Government 2016 past questions and answers

Government can mean a field of study, a process of ruling, or the institution that makes policy. A body of people with a common interest describes a pressure group or association.

Without government there is disorder and insecurity; planned development needs a government to plan and carry it out.

Political economy, comparative politics and public administration are branches of political science; ecological interaction belongs to biology.

Fascism concentrates power in one leader and party and suppresses opposition.

Democracy allows opposition parties to exist, criticise and offer alternatives.

Illiterate citizens may not understand issues or the voting process, which weakens representative government.

A state needs territory, population, government and sovereignty; many states, like Nigeria, have many languages.

In a democracy ultimate political power belongs to the people, who choose their rulers.

Montesquieu held that dividing powers prevents arbitrary (tyrannical) government.

A federation spreads power between the centre and the states.

Bye-laws are made by local councils under powers delegated by the legislature.

Unwritten constitutions, like Britain's, rely heavily on conventions (customs of government).

A flexible constitution is easy to change by a simple majority to meet new needs.

A rigid constitution needs special, difficult procedures to amend.

The whip makes sure party members attend and vote as the party wants.

Courts declare actions ultra vires (beyond legal powers) through judicial review.

The legislature can remove a president for gross misconduct by impeachment. A vote of no confidence applies in parliamentary systems.

A unitary constitution places supreme power in the central government.

An absolute monarch holds unlimited power and usually inherits the throne for life.

Cabinet ministers share responsibility for government decisions and defend them together.

Federalism suits diverse (heterogeneous) societies; a homogeneous people usually adopts a unitary system.

Franchise, the right to vote, is given to every qualified adult whatever their sex, tribe or religion (universal adult suffrage).

Habeas corpus ('produce the body') orders that a detained person be brought before a court.

Support across regions and groups wins a fair, nationally accepted victory.

Organising elections is the work of the electoral commission, not parties.

Schools are not meant to be used for party campaigns; parties use posters, newspapers and the internet.

A pressure group tries to influence government policy without seeking to take power.

Pressure groups cater for particular interests, so only people sharing that interest join.

Elections let the people choose who governs them. Counting people is a census.

Suffrage and franchise both mean the right to vote.

An independent commission can run elections without pressure from the government or parties.

Only qualified adult citizens vote; minors, foreigners and people of unsound mind cannot.

Civil servants are anonymous: the minister, not the civil servant, takes public praise or blame.

The civil service carries out government policies.

Public corporations provide essential services like power and water at affordable prices.

The supervising minister appoints the board and gives directives to make sure the corporation is run well.

Local councils make bye-laws for their areas.

Local government brings government and services nearer to the grassroots.

Indirect rule worked through traditional chiefs and left out the Western-educated elite.

France replaced assimilation with association, which respected some local institutions.

At its 1920 conference in Accra, the NCBWA demanded among other things that chiefs be appointed and deposed by their own people, not by the colonial government.

Nationalist pressure for self-government forced Britain to keep revising colonial constitutions.

Military regimes usually restrict rights; respect for human rights is not their feature.

Soldiers lack administrative and political experience, so they appoint civilians as ministers and advisers.

Many early parties were ethnic or regional, e.g. NPC, AG and NCNC were based mainly in one region.

Foreign policy is the set of principles guiding a country's dealings with other countries.

The Commonwealth began with Britain and its self-governing dominions and former colonies.

Germany was the defeated enemy in 1945; the UN was founded by the Allies (USA, Britain, USSR, China). Germany joined only in 1973.

(a) Fascism is an authoritarian, extreme nationalist ideology and system of government in which a single leader and party control the state and all aspects of life, opposition is suppressed, and the nation is placed above the individual (e.g. Mussolini's Italy).
(b) Any four:
1. One-party state; opposition banned.
2. Supreme leader with absolute power (personality cult).
3. Extreme nationalism and racial superiority.
4. Glorification of the military, violence and war.
5. Suppression of human rights and press freedom.
6. State control of economy, though private property is allowed.
7. Use of propaganda and secret police.
8. Rejection of democracy and of communism.

Mention Mussolini (Italy) and Hitler (Germany) as examples.

1. Drafting and first reading: the bill is introduced and its title read.
2. Second reading: general debate on its principles.
3. Committee stage: detailed clause-by-clause study and amendment.
4. Report stage: committee reports to the whole house.
5. Third reading: final debate and vote.
6. Passage in the other chamber (bicameral) and harmonisation by a conference committee.
7. Presidential assent; if vetoed, it can be overridden by two-thirds majority in each house (Nigeria).
8. Gazetting/publication.

Give the stages in order.

Any five:
1. Appointment of judges by the executive based on politics.
2. Executive control of judges' salaries and funding.
3. Insecure tenure; arbitrary removal of judges.
4. Military rule: ouster clauses and decrees.
5. Corruption and bribery.
6. Executive disobedience of court orders.
7. Poor conditions of service.
8. Partisanship / political affiliation of judges.
9. Delegated legislation and special tribunals bypassing courts.

These are things that weaken the judiciary's freedom.

Any five:
1. Act as opposition and alternative government.
2. Check the ruling party and expose abuses.
3. Offer alternative policies.
4. Represent minority interests.
5. Political education of the electorate.
6. Promote debate and public opinion.
7. Help sustain democracy by giving voters choice.
8. Form coalitions where no party has a majority.
9. Train leaders.

Minority (opposition) parties keep the ruling party accountable.

Any five:
1. Informing the public on government policies and events.
2. Educating citizens politically.
3. Promoting national unity and integration.
4. Shaping and expressing public opinion.
5. Watchdog: exposing corruption and abuse.
6. Link between government and people.
7. Mobilising people for development programmes.
8. Promoting culture and national values.
9. Entertainment; advertising that supports the economy.

Relate each role to building a united nation.

(a) Any three: Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso (Upper Volta), Niger, Benin (Dahomey), Mauritania, Togo (French trust territory).
(b) Any four:
1. Ability to read, write and speak French.
2. Western education / French culture.
3. Monogamy (one wife).
4. Christianity or renouncing customary status.
5. Good character; no criminal record.
6. Military or civil service to France (e.g. served in the French army or civil service).
7. Means of livelihood / employment.
8. Being born in one of the four communes (Dakar, Gorée, Rufisque, Saint-Louis).

Note: Togo was a French-administered trust territory rather than a colony.

Any five:
1. Introduction of Western education.
2. Infrastructure: roads, railways, ports.
3. Modern health care.
4. Western system of government and law; constitutions.
5. Unification of different peoples into larger states.
6. Abolition of slave trade and inhuman practices.
7. Introduction of modern currency, banking and trade.
8. Spread of Christianity and English/French as common languages.
9. Introduction of cash crops and modern agriculture.

Positive effects only; do not mix in negative effects.

(a) Any three (NPP, Second Republic 1978–83, led by Nnamdi Azikiwe): promote national unity and integration; welfare and social justice; free education at all levels; free health care; rapid industrial and agricultural development; protect fundamental rights; win power and form government.
(b) Any two: membership dues and registration fees; donations from members and supporters; fund-raising/launching; sale of party cards, souvenirs and publications; investments; levies on elected members.

NPP was a Second Republic party led by Nnamdi Azikiwe.

(a) National interest is the set of goals and needs a state seeks to protect and promote in its dealings with other states, such as security, territorial integrity, economic well-being and prestige.
(b) Any four (Nigeria):
1. Protection of sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
2. Africa as the centrepiece: decolonisation and end of apartheid (achieved by 1994).
3. Promotion of West African integration (ECOWAS) and African unity (AU).
4. Promotion of world peace and security (UN peace-keeping).
5. Economic development and attracting foreign investment.
6. Non-interference in internal affairs of other states.
7. Protection of Nigerians abroad (citizen diplomacy).
8. Promotion of a just world economic order.

Answer for Nigeria; Africa as centrepiece is the core principle.