2018 - WAEC Government Past Questions and Answers - page 1

1. Law Making
2. Military defence of the country
3. Provision of employment
4. Maintenance of law and order
5. Promotion of economic growth and development
6. Maintaining good relations with other sovereign states or countries (foreign diplomacy)
7. Protection of civil liberties
8. Protection of lives and properties
9. Administration of justice
10. Formulation and implementation of policies
11. Provision of social-welfare services

Totalitarianism is a political concept of a mode of government that prohibits opposition parties, restricts individual opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high degree of control over public and private life.

Socialism, social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources. it is a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Communism is a political and economic system that seeks to create a classless society in which the major means of production, such as mines and factories, are owned and controlled by the public. it is a system of government in which all property is owned by the community and each person contributes and receives according to their ability and needs.

The theory of Doctrine of Separation of Power was first propounded by Montesquieu, a French scholar in and 1747 published in his book ‘Espirit des Louis’ (The spirit of the laws). Montesquieu found that if the power is concentrated in a single person’s hand or a group of people then it results in a tyrannical form of government.

A state is a political organization with a centralized government that maintains a monopoly by use of force within a certain geographical territory. It must be able to maintain law and order, enforce obedient from its citizens and defend its territoery from external / internal attacks when the need arises.

Political participation is any activity that shapes, affects, or involves the political sphere. Political participation ranges from voting to attending a rally to committing an act of terrorism to sending a letter to a representative.

A state is a type of political entity.  The maindifference between state and government is that the government refers to a particular group of people who control the state at a given time whereas the state is an organized political community with sovereignty and more permanent. Basically, the state power is employed through the government.

In a modern democracy, a government is best described as a contract between the rulers and the ruled. This implies:

• The government operates based on the consent of the governed.
• The government's legitimacy comes from the people it governs.
• The government is expected to act in the interest of the citizens, and the citizens have rights and expectations that the government should respect.

A state of emergency is a situation of national danger or disaster in which a government suspends normal constitutional procedures in order to regain control. Once a state of emergnecy is declared, the the principle of the rule of law would be restrained as the actions may be taken that negates the principle to restore normalcy.