2013 - WAEC Government Past Questions and Answers - page 2

A (writ of) mandamus is an order from a court to an inferior government official ordering the government official to properly fulfill their official duties or correct an abuse of discretion. 

Coup d'etat, the sudden, violent overthrow of an existing government by a small group.  It is not included in the constitution and doesn't have the backings of the law.

Unitary state, a system of political organization in which most or all of the governing power resides in a centralized government. 

A unitary state is a state governed as a single entity in which the central government is ultimately supreme.

A parliamentary system of government means that the executive branch of government has the direct or indirect support of the parliament. This support is usually shown by a vote of confidence. The relationship between the executive and the legislature in a parliamentary system is called responsible government. 

collective responsibility, also known as collective ministerial responsibility, is a constitutional convention in Parliamentary systems that members of the cabinet must publicly support all governmental decisions made in Cabinet, even if they do not privately agree with them.

A presidential system is a democratic and republican government in which a head of government leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch. This head of government is in most cases also the head of state, which is called president.

Conditions for the formation of a federation

• Desire for Union
• Geographical Vicinity
• Affinity in Language, Religion, Culture and Economic Interests
• Equal Strength of the Federating Units
• Political Competence

A confederation is made up of two or more independent states. The component states are allowed to remain as separate international entities reserving for them the power to handle their own foreign policy. The central government is usually weak while the component units are rather strong.

The exeutive arm of government is saddled with the responsibilities of formulating and implementation of policies.

A bicameral system is a reference to a government with two legislative houses or chambers. A practical reason for a bicameral system is to prevent the legislative branch from having too much power and making arbitrary laws.

An arbitrary law refers to law imposed by the mere will of the legislature