WAEC Government 2010 Theory Past Questions

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Feudalism is a system of government based on the ownership and control of land, in which a hierarchical relationship exists between lords who own the land and landless serfs who work it and owe loyalty and services to the lords.

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Demerits of feudalism include: (i) It was undemocratic - the serfs had no say in how government was formed and run, and their interests were not represented by the lords. (ii) It made the formation of a strong central government difficult, since political authority was split among many lords with autonomous powers over their own fiefdoms. (iii) It thrived on the exploitation of the serfs, who had to perform duties and give tribute to the lords in exchange for the use of land they did not own. (iv) Social mobility was almost non-existent - a person born a serf had little chance of becoming anything other than a serf. (v) It encouraged endless conflict between rival lords competing for land and power (any five).

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A government can violate the rule of law by: (i) Arresting and detaining people without trial. (ii) Interfering in the activities and independence of the judiciary, such as by influencing or intimidating judges. (iii) Granting immunity from prosecution to certain public office holders (e.g. the President, Vice-President, Governors and their deputies) while in office, which violates the principle of equality before the law. (iv) Setting up special tribunals outside the regular court system to try individuals, bypassing due process. (v) Declaring a state of emergency and using it to curtail citizens' rights beyond what is necessary. (vi) Making retroactive laws that criminalize actions that were legal when they were committed.

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An absolute majority system is an electoral system in which a candidate must obtain more than half (over 50%) of the total votes cast in order to be declared the winner.

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Disadvantages of the absolute majority system: (i) When none of the candidates score half of the total votes cast, a run-off election (second or third election) will be conducted for the two leading candidates. (ii) The system is unfair to 'third' parties. Political parties that came third in the first ballot are not considered in the second ballot. (iii) The holding of another election considered in the second ballot increases the cost of another election. (iv) It is complex in terms of computation of results compared with other electoral systems. (v) The two candidates in the run-off election are often defeated in the run-off election after being defeated in the run-off election, in order to gain the support of their supporters. This makes politics very expensive, costly, and tiresome for voters.

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Opinion Poll refers to a method of administering questionnaires, conducting in-depth interviews with respondents, with a view to accurately determine the views of the public on any policy or programme of government.

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Factors that could make the conduct of opinion polls unreliable in West Africa: (i) Illiteracy and language barrier is a major factor - other people are not sincere, they are not accurate, or write in English. Many people cannot leave many responses unanswered. (ii) Rural areas are often not covered because opinion polls are marred by manipulated ceptions used by the researchers. The views about opinion polls admitted in West Africa are often not sincere - some people who are manipulated usually manipulate the responses. (iii) Many of the opinion polls conducted in West Africa are affected by the problem of funding on the part of government and other corporate bodies. Shortage of funds makes the conduct of opinion polls in West Africa unreliable because it hinders the researchers from reaching many respondents that are vital for the poll. (iv) People get suspicious when asked questions about government and its policies. They are not sincere about controlling the government and it questions the sincerity and conduct of the interviews with respondents. (v) The lack of adequate training on the part of officials responsible for conducting opinion polls is another factor that makes the conduct of opinion polls in West Africa unreliable.

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Public corporations are government owned enterprises created through an act of parliament to provide essential services to people at lower cost.

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Reasons for setting up public corporations in Nigeria: (i) Provision of essential services: public corporations are established to provide essential services to the people at lower cost. Such services, if left to private corporations, will be beyond the reach of the common man. (ii) Employment: the setting up of public corporations provides the citizens of a country with employment opportunities, as many people will find employment in the public corporation established. (iii) Financial cost: public corporations are set up to provide services that require heavy financial cost, which may be too costly for other private companies. Such services as railways are provided for the government because it is too costly for private investors. (iv) To prevent exploitation of the citizens: the services provided by public corporations, if provided by private investors, would be too expensive. In order to prevent the exploitation of members of the public by private firms, public corporations are set up to provide services at lower cost. (v) Revenue generation: public corporations are also established by the government as a means of generating revenue for the government. Money paid by the people for services rendered by public corporations goes into the purse of the government in the form of revenue.

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Roles of traditional rulers in pre-colonial West Africa: (i) Making laws: most of the traditional rulers in pre-colonial West Africa performed both executive and legislative roles. As the political head of their domain, the traditional rulers made laws which their subjects had to obey. (ii) Taxation or payment of tribute: traditional rulers in the pre-colonial era raised money and other resources through taxation. They imposed taxes on their subjects or demanded tribute. Through taxation and tribute, the traditional rulers maintained their control over their subjects. (iii) Settlement of disputes: disputes between and among the people were brought before traditional rulers in pre-colonial West Africa for judgement. In this way, the traditional rulers performed the role of the judiciary. (iv) Appointment of local chiefs: another role which traditional rulers in the pre-colonial era perform is appointing subordinate chiefs to administer their domains. (v) Ceremonial functions: the traditional rulers in the pre-colonial era performed ceremonial functions during important festive celebrations. Their presence is required for the staging of festive celebrations. (vi) Administration of their domain: the traditional rulers during the pre-colonial era in West Africa were responsible for the day to day running of their territories within their domain.

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The Executive Council of the 1922 Clifford Constitution was made up of ten European officials as members. The head of the Executive Council was the Governor-General. No Nigerian was a member of the Executive Council during the period.

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The following are the ways by which the Clifford Constitution was significant to Nigeria: (i) The Clifford constitution established for the first time, elective principle, which made it possible for the election of representatives into the legislative council. Thus, this constitution made it possible for Nigerians in Lagos and Calabar to elect their representatives, for the first time anywhere in British West Africa. (ii) The constitution was also very significant because it created the legislative council for the colony and protectorate of southern Nigeria. This was the first time a legislative body will be created in the history of the country. (iii) The Clifford constitution galvanised political participation in Nigeria which resulted into the formation of the first political party in Nigeria, the NNDP, and the establishment of newspapers. (iv) The constitution is also significant in that it remains to date the longest serving constitution in Nigeria. (v) The constitution remains very significant in the political and constitutional development of Nigeria for it is the first constitution in the history of the country (any five).

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The changes introduced into the politics of the Nigerian political system by the 1954 Constitution are as follows: (i) The 1954 constitution provided for a division of powers between the central government and the government of the regions in line with the principles of federalism. Legislative powers were divided into exclusive, concurrent and residual list. The constitution established true federalism in Nigeria. (ii) The Lyttleton constitution of 1954 made provision for the regionalisation of the civil service. Each of the regions had its civil service which was different from the civil service of the central government. (iii) The constitution provided for the post of Premiers in three regions. The premiers who were Nigerians were the Head of government in the regions. (iv) The Lyttleton constitution of 1954 removed Lagos as part of the Western region and made it the Federal Capital Territory. Also, Southern Cameroon was removed from the Eastern region and made a semi-autonomous region. (v) Nigerians were appointed as ministers with full ministerial responsibilities under the Lyttleton constitution of 1954. (vi) One of the features of a true federal state is the existence of component units in the federation. The 1954 constitution created three regions with a central government that was not domineering. The relationship between the regions and the central government was one of cooperation and not a master-servant relationship.

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The Secretary of State for the colonies was a cabinet member (a minister) who was responsible for the general supervision of all British colonies. The Governor-General, on the other hand, was an appointee of the British government and was in charge of a colony of Britain. While the colony was under the Governor-General as the head, he was answerable to the Secretary of State for the colonies.

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The functions of the Governor-General shortly after independence are as follows: (i) Ceremonial functions: the Governor-Generals of many West African countries were black Africans who represented the Queen of England. They perform ceremonial functions as they were seen as a symbol of the British Crown. (ii) Assent: the Governor-General, after independence, in his capacity as acting for the Queen of England, gave assent to bills passed by the legislature. In this regard, they perform a legislative function. (iii) Appointments: the Governor-General, on the advice of the Prime-minister, appointed certain officials of the state such as ministers and heads of agencies of government. (iv) Representing the country abroad: the Governor-General shortly after independence, as representative of the Head of State (the Queen), represented the country abroad as well as at other international fora. He also signed treaties on behalf of the country. (v) Dissolution of the parliament: the Governor-General, on the advice of the Prime-minister, had the power to dissolve the parliament after a vote of no confidence had been passed on the cabinet by the parliament.

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The National Party of Nigeria (NPN) was the ruling party in the Second Republic. The following are the achievements of the party: I. The NPN won the Presidential elections conducted in 1979 and 1983. In this way, the party is responsible for the emergence of the first executive president in the history of Nigeria. II. The Party won a majority of seats in both the House of Representatives and Senate. III. The National Party of Nigeria (NPN) also won the gubernatorial election in seven states out of the nineteen states in the country. The party thus controlled more states than any other political party in the Second Republic. IV. As part of its manifesto, the NPN established a number of housing estates in each state of the federation. This was in furtherance of the party's Housing for all scheme. V. The NPN was instrumental in the establishment of Unity schools throughout Nigeria. VI. The NPN also has membership spread that cut across all sections of the country. For example, the party won at least one seat in all the states' House of Assemblies except in Lagos and Ogun states.

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Foreign policy can be defined as a set of objectives which a state seeks to achieve in the course of its interactions with other states. It is the instrument which states employed to achieve their national interests.

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According to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the following are the foreign policy objectives of Nigeria: I. Promotion and protection of the national interest. II. Promotion of African integration and support for African unity. III. Promotion of international co-operation for the consolidation of universal peace and mutual respect among all nations and elimination of discrimination in all its manifestation. IV. Respect for international law and treaty obligations as well as the seeking of settlement of international disputes by negotiation, conciliation, arbitration and adjudication. V. Promotion of a just world economic order.

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The General Assembly of the United Nations is made up of all the countries that are member-states of the United Nations. All countries, irrespective of their size and population, are represented by five representatives. The General Assembly is headed by a President who is elected by the members of the assembly for a period of one year. The General Assembly meets once a year in the third Tuesday of the month of September. Currently the United Nations General Assembly is composed of 193 member-states.

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The following are the functions of the General Assembly: I. The General Assembly discusses issues that are vital to world peace, conflict resolution and security. The body makes recommendations to the Security Council on needed action to be taken on issues discussed. II. The General Assembly also discusses and approves the budget of the United Nations Organisation. III. The General Assembly elects members of other organs of the United Nations. It elects the ten non-permanent members of the Security Council, the 15 judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and members of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). IV. The General Assembly appoints the Secretary-General of the United Nations based on the recommendation of the Security Council. V. The General Assembly also admits new members into the United Nations. The organ also has the power to suspend erring member-states (any four).