WAEC Government 2016 past questions
Ten questions from the 2016 WAEC Government paper, with answers and explanations. We hold 49 questions from this paper, and the Skolra app has all of them.
WAEC Government 2016 questions and answers
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1.A political party can contest and win a widely accepted election if it has
- Afinancial backing from foreign governments
- Bmilitary protection during the campaign period
- Ca broad and popular membership baseCorrect
- Dsupport limited to the educated urban elite
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Answer: C
A broad and popular membership base translates directly into votes, grassroots mobilisation, and public legitimacy. A party rooted across different regions, classes, and demographics is better positioned to win and have its victory accepted by the wider population. Relying on a narrow elite, foreign sponsors, or military backing undermines the democratic credibility of the party's electoral performance.
- A
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2.Which of the following hinders the establishment of a representative government in a state?
- AWidespread illiteracyCorrect
- BFree and fair elections
- CHigh literacy rate among citizens
- DAn independent judiciary
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Answer: A
Widespread illiteracy hinders representative government because citizens who cannot read or write struggle to understand political manifestos, evaluate candidates, or appreciate their civic rights. This makes them susceptible to manipulation, reduces meaningful participation, and weakens the informed consent that representative democracy requires.
- A
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3.An association whose ultimate aim is to influence government policies is known as
- Aa civic association
- Ba pressure groupCorrect
- Ca political party
- Da trade union
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Answer: B
A pressure group is an organised body that seeks to shape or influence government decisions and policies without itself seeking to hold governmental power. This distinguishes it from a political party, which aims to capture government by winning elections. Trade unions are a type of pressure group concerned specifically with labour interests, while the broader category that fits the description is the pressure group.
- A
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4.The judicial order requiring a detained person to be brought before a judge is the writ of
- AQuo warranto
- BCertiorari
- CHabeas corpusCorrect
- DMandamus
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Answer: C
Habeas corpus (Latin: you shall have the body) is a writ that commands any authority holding a person in custody to bring that individual before a court so the legality of their detention can be examined. It is a fundamental safeguard of personal liberty, preventing unlawful or arbitrary imprisonment by the state or any other authority.
- A
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5.Which of the following policies was replaced by the French policy of association?
- AassimilationCorrect
- Bpaternalism
- Csegregation
- Dcolonisation
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Answer: A
France's original colonial doctrine was assimilation — the belief that Africans could be fully absorbed into French culture and granted equal citizenship if they adopted French language, religion, and customs. By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries it was replaced by the policy of association, which acknowledged cultural differences and governed through African institutions rather than trying to turn Africans into Frenchmen. Paternalism, segregation, and generic colonisation are not the specific policy that association replaced.
- A
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6.When an action of the executive is declared ultra-vires, it is a control exercised by the
- ALegislature
- BPolitical parties
- CJudiciaryCorrect
- DCivil service
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Answer: C
Declaring an executive action ultra vires — beyond the powers conferred by law — is a power of judicial review exercised by the judiciary. Courts examine whether the executive acted within its constitutional and statutory authority; where it did not, the offending action is nullified. This is a key mechanism through which the judiciary checks executive overreach.
- A
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7.Which of the following is not an attribute of a state?
- ATerritory
- BSovereignty
- CPopulation
- DPolitical partyCorrect
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Answer: D
The four classic attributes of a state, as identified in the 1933 Montevideo Convention, are population, territory, government, and sovereignty. A political party is an organisation within the state that contests for power; it is not a defining element that constitutes statehood.
- A
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8.The system that allows the opposition to participate in governance is
- ACoalition governmentCorrect
- BTotalitarianism
- CTheocracy
- DOligarchy
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Answer: A
A coalition government is formed when two or more political parties agree to govern together, giving the opposition or minority parties a share in executive power. This power-sharing arrangement is the mechanism through which opposition groups formally participate in governance rather than being excluded from it.
- A
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9.Membership of pressure groups is usually limited because they
- Arepresent specific sectional interestsCorrect
- Bare funded directly by the government
- Chave no clearly defined objectives
- Dactively contest elections for public office
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Answer: A
Pressure groups are formed around specific, sectional interests — a profession, a trade, an ideology, or a community concern. Because their purpose is narrow and focused, membership is naturally restricted to those who share that particular interest. Political parties, by contrast, seek broad mass membership in order to win elections and form government.
- A
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10.In a democracy political sovereignty is vested in the
- AExecutive
- BPeopleCorrect
- CLegislature
- DJudiciary
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Answer: B
Democracy is government by the consent of the governed. Political sovereignty — the ultimate authority to determine how the state is ruled — is therefore vested in the people. Citizens exercise this sovereignty directly through referenda or indirectly by electing representatives to govern on their behalf.
- A
The questions come from past JAMB, WAEC and NECO papers. We use software to help write the answer options and explanations, and every answer is checked twice before it goes on the site. How we check
Spotted a wrong answer? Tell us from the app or on the contact page and we check it.
Practise all 49 questions we hold from the 2016 paper, on a timed CBT screen
Every question has the answer and an explanation, in the Skolra app.