Politics Quiz

How many members sit in the United States Senate?

• 50
• 100
• 435
• 538

Answer: 100. Each of the 50 states elects two senators, giving 100. The House of Representatives has 435 voting members, and 538 is the number of Electoral College votes.

How many permanent members does the UN Security Council have?

• 5
• 7
• 10
• 15

Answer: 5. The five permanent members are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, each with a veto. The council has 15 members in all, 10 of them elected for two-year terms.

Who became the world's first woman Prime Minister, in 1960?

• Indira Gandhi
• Golda Meir
• Margaret Thatcher
• Sirimavo Bandaranaike

Answer: Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Sirimavo Bandaranaike became Prime Minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1960. Indira Gandhi followed in India in 1966 and Golda Meir in Israel in 1969.

The word 'democracy' comes from two Greek words that together mean what?

• Rule by the wise
• Rule by the people
• Rule by the wealthy
• Rule by one

Answer: Rule by the people. 'Demos' means people and 'kratos' means power or rule. Rule by the wealthy is plutocracy, and rule by one person is monarchy or autocracy.

Which of these countries does NOT have a single written (codified) constitution?

• United States
• India
• France
• United Kingdom

Answer: United Kingdom. The UK's constitution is spread across Acts of Parliament, court rulings and conventions rather than one document. India's, by contrast, is one of the longest written constitutions in the world.

Who elects the President of India?

• All citizens directly
• An electoral college of elected MPs and MLAs
• The Lok Sabha alone
• The Prime Minister and the Cabinet

Answer: An electoral college of elected MPs and MLAs. Under Article 54, the electoral college is made up of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and of the state Legislative Assemblies (including Delhi and Puducherry). Nominated members do not vote.

Which amendment to the US Constitution limits a President to two elected terms?

• 14th
• 19th
• 22nd
• 25th

Answer: 22nd. The 22nd Amendment was ratified in 1951, after Franklin D. Roosevelt won four elections. The 19th gave women the vote and the 25th deals with presidential succession.

A system in which power rests with a small group of people is called what?

• Oligarchy
• Theocracy
• Monarchy
• Anarchy

Answer: Oligarchy. Oligarchy comes from the Greek 'oligoi', meaning few. A theocracy is rule by religious authority, and anarchy means the absence of government.

Which political thinker wrote 'The Prince', a famous guide to gaining and keeping power?

• Thomas Hobbes
• John Locke
• Niccolo Machiavelli
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Answer: Niccolo Machiavelli. Machiavelli wrote 'The Prince' in 1513, after the Medici forced him out of office in Florence; it was published in 1532. Hobbes wrote 'Leviathan', Locke the 'Two Treatises of Government' and Rousseau 'The Social Contract'.

Members of the European Parliament are directly elected once every how many years?

• Three
• Four
• Five
• Six

Answer: Five. EU citizens have voted for MEPs every five years since the first direct elections in 1979. It is the only directly elected body of the European Union.

In a separation of powers, which of these is NOT one of the three branches of government?

• Legislature
• Executive
• Judiciary
• The press

Answer: The press. The legislature makes laws, the executive carries them out and the judiciary interprets them. The press is often called the 'fourth estate', an informal watchdog, not a branch of government.

In 1893, which country became the first self-governing nation to give women the vote in national elections?

• New Zealand
• Australia
• United Kingdom
• United States

Answer: New Zealand. New Zealand's Electoral Act of 1893 gave women the right to vote. The UK gave all adult women equal voting rights only in 1928, and the US in 1920.

What does a 'bicameral' legislature have?

• Two houses
• Two parties
• Two leaders
• Two capitals

Answer: Two houses. Bicameral means two chambers, like India's Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha or the US House and Senate. A legislature with a single chamber is unicameral.

Which house of India's Parliament can never be dissolved?

• Lok Sabha
• Rajya Sabha
• Both can be dissolved
• Vidhan Sabha

Answer: Rajya Sabha. The Rajya Sabha is a permanent body: about one-third of its members retire every two years. The Lok Sabha can be dissolved by the President before its five-year term ends.

The 'Diet' is the name of the national legislature of which country?

• Germany
• Israel
• Russia
• Japan

Answer: Japan. Japan's National Diet has two houses, the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors. Germany has the Bundestag, Israel the Knesset and Russia the Federal Assembly.