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Matura Civics / Social Studies study materials
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Matura Civics / Social Studies practice questions

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Question 1Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

A teenager learns table manners and birthday customs by watching and imitating family members at home. Which concept best describes this process?

  1. Primary socialization Correct answer.
  2. Anticipatory socialization
  3. Resocialization
  4. Secondary socialization

Explanation

Primary socialization happens in early childhood within the family, where children absorb basic norms, values and language through imitation and interaction. It forms the foundation of personality before other institutions take over. Later socialization in schools or workplaces is called secondary socialization.

Question 2Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

Which statement best captures the sociological distinction between a social group and an aggregate?

  1. A social group is always larger than an aggregate
  2. A social group exists only when members are legally registered
  3. A social group involves interaction and shared expectations, while an aggregate is a set of people merely sharing a location Correct answer.
  4. An aggregate has shared norms while a social group merely shares space

Explanation

A social group is defined by regular interaction, shared goals and mutual expectations among members. An aggregate is simply a collection of people in the same place at the same time, such as passengers on a platform, who do not interact as members. Size and legal status do not define the difference.

Question 3Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

A sociologist describes the family into which a person is born and raised. Which term is standard for this family?

  1. Nuclear family
  2. Extended family
  3. Family of orientation Correct answer.
  4. Family of procreation

Explanation

The family of orientation is the family in which a person is born and socialized. By contrast, the family of procreation is the family a person establishes through partnership and childbearing. The other terms describe household composition, not the person's position in the family cycle.

Question 4Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

In a society, a person's occupation and income depend mainly on educational credentials and individual effort rather than inherited title. Which concept does this illustrate?

  1. Ascribed status
  2. Achieved status Correct answer.
  3. Social stigma
  4. Caste closure

Explanation

Achieved status is a social position gained through personal effort, choice or merit, such as education and occupation. Ascribed status is assigned at birth, for example by family lineage or caste. The scenario describes mobility based on credentials, so achieved status fits.

Question 5Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

Which of the following is the clearest example of a secondary group?

  1. A married couple
  2. A large workplace team organized around a production target Correct answer.
  3. A small group of siblings
  4. A close circle of childhood friends

Explanation

Secondary groups are large, impersonal and task-oriented, with relationships serving practical goals, as in a workplace team. Primary groups are small, intimate and emotionally significant, such as family and close friends. The production target marks the relationship as instrumental.

Question 6Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

Which term refers to the movement of individuals or families between social classes over their lifetime?

  1. Intergenerational mobility
  2. Horizontal mobility
  3. Intragenerational mobility Correct answer.
  4. Geographic mobility

Explanation

Intragenerational mobility is movement within a single person's lifetime, such as a worker becoming a manager. Intergenerational mobility compares the position of parents and children. Horizontal and geographic mobility refer to changes without a rise or fall in class position.

Question 7Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

A school rewards pupils who follow rules and arrive on time, and sanctions those who do not. Which function of education does this illustrate?

  1. Provision of health care services
  2. Economic selection through credential inflation
  3. Socialization into shared norms and discipline Correct answer.
  4. Cultural reproduction of elite language only

Explanation

Schools transmit shared norms, values and disciplined behavior, which is a core socialization function of education. Pupils learn punctuality and rule-following that society expects of its members. The other options name different functions or are not functions of schooling.

Question 8Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

Which statement best defines social stratification?

  1. A society's ranking of categories of people into unequal layers with differing access to resources Correct answer.
  2. The process of learning the norms of a new workplace
  3. The temporary gathering of people in one place
  4. The biological inheritance of physical traits

Explanation

Social stratification is the structured, persistent ranking of social categories into layers with unequal access to wealth, power and prestige. It is a property of whole societies rather than of individuals or temporary situations. Biology alone does not define social layers.

Question 9Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

A village community loses its young people to city jobs, and the remaining residents reorganize local institutions around an older population. Which concept of social change does this best illustrate?

  1. Demographic change through migration Correct answer.
  2. Technological innovation
  3. Cultural diffusion from abroad
  4. Political revolution

Explanation

Migration reshapes the age structure and institutions of communities, which is a demographic driver of social change. The reorganization follows from population movement rather than from new ideas, inventions or regime overthrow. Demographic change is therefore the most precise label.

Question 10Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

According to the sociological concept of the looking-glass self, how does a person develop a sense of self?

  1. By copying the behavior of the most powerful person present
  2. By passing through fixed biological stages of maturation
  3. By imagining how others perceive and judge them and reacting to that imagined judgment Correct answer.
  4. By inheriting personality traits genetically from parents

Explanation

The looking-glass self holds that people form their self-image by imagining how others see them and by adjusting to perceived judgments. The self is thus socially constructed through interaction. Genetic inheritance and biological maturation do not explain the reflective process described.

Question 11Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

In a study, children from low-income households perform worse on a test administered in an unfamiliar formal setting. Which methodological concern does this raise for measuring social class differences?

  1. Reliability of the researcher's political views
  2. Ethical problems with informed consent
  3. Cultural bias in the measurement instrument Correct answer.
  4. Sampling error caused by too small a sample

Explanation

When a test format is unfamiliar to one group, scores may reflect cultural distance from the instrument rather than the underlying ability being measured. This is cultural bias in measurement. Sample size, consent and researcher politics are separate methodological issues not raised by the scenario.

Question 12Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

Which pattern describes a matrilineal kinship system?

  1. Women hold all political offices in the society
  2. Descent and inheritance are traced through the mother's line Correct answer.
  3. Authority always rests with the mother in every household
  4. Couples always live with the husband's parents

Explanation

Matrilineal descent traces kinship, inheritance and group membership through the mother's line. It does not automatically mean female political dominance or that mothers hold household authority. Residence patterns are a separate dimension from descent rules.

Question 13Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

A sociologist argues that poverty persists because poor neighborhoods lack jobs, good schools and transport links, which limits residents' opportunities. Which explanation of stratification does this reflect?

  1. Biological explanation focusing on inherited ability
  2. Structural explanation focusing on blocked opportunities Correct answer.
  3. Individual-deficit explanation focusing on personal motivation
  4. Cultural explanation focusing on family values alone

Explanation

The argument locates the cause of poverty in the organization of society, namely unequal access to jobs, schools and transport. This is a structural explanation of stratification. Individual-deficit and biological explanations place the cause inside the person, which the scenario does not do.

Question 14Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

Which change in family structure is most closely associated with industrialization in many societies?

  1. The disappearance of marriage as an institution
  2. A complete end to the division of household labor
  3. A universal return to large multi-generational farms
  4. A shift toward smaller nuclear households and greater geographic mobility Correct answer.

Explanation

Industrialization is associated with movement to cities, smaller nuclear households and greater mobility as work moved outside the home. Extended kinship networks often became less central to daily economic life. The other options overstate or contradict observed trends.

Question 15Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

A person moves from a rural farm to a city and takes a factory job, changing dress, speech and daily routines to fit urban life. Which concept best names this adaptation?

  1. Resocialization Correct answer.
  2. Desocialization of the whole society
  3. Anticipatory socialization
  4. Primary socialization

Explanation

Resocialization is the process of learning new norms and roles that replace or modify earlier ones, as when moving into a very different social environment. The rural-to-urban shift requires new routines and self-presentation. Primary socialization refers to early childhood, which has already occurred.

Question 16Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

Which statement correctly distinguishes a caste system from a class system?

  1. Caste systems permit more mobility than class systems
  2. Class systems forbid marriage outside one's group by law
  3. Caste systems are based only on income differences
  4. Caste membership is ascribed and closed, while class position is partly achieved and allows mobility Correct answer.

Explanation

In caste systems, membership is fixed at birth and strongly restricts marriage and occupation, limiting mobility. Class systems allow some movement based on achievement, wealth and education. The other options reverse or misstate these features.

Question 17Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

A government introduces free public schooling and finds that children of poorer families still attend less than wealthier children. Which concept best explains the persistence of this gap?

  1. Cultural and social capital differences affecting how families use schooling Correct answer.
  2. The complete absence of formal education policy
  3. The natural disappearance of social inequality over time
  4. Genetic differences between income groups

Explanation

Even with equal formal access, families differ in the cultural and social resources that help children benefit from schooling, so gaps persist. This reflects unequal capital rather than the absence of policy. Genetic and natural-disappearance explanations lack sociological support.

Question 18Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

Which of the following best describes the sociological meaning of a role?

  1. The biological sex of an individual
  2. The set of expected behaviors attached to a particular social status Correct answer.
  3. The total income of a household
  4. The physical location where interaction occurs

Explanation

A role is the bundle of norms and expectations that accompany a status, such as the role of a teacher or a parent. Status is the position itself, while role is what one is expected to do in it. Income, sex and location are separate from this concept.

Question 19Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

A community experiences rapid population growth, housing shortages and rising rents, and residents begin to organize protests demanding rent controls. Which sequence best reflects a sociological analysis of this social change?

  1. Rent controls are purely a matter of personal taste
  2. Protests occur randomly without any social conditions
  3. Individual personality traits alone explain the protests
  4. Structural strain produces collective action aimed at changing institutions Correct answer.

Explanation

Sociological analysis links social change and collective action to structural conditions such as housing shortages and strain on residents. Organized protest is a response to shared grievances, not random or purely personal. This connects social structure with mobilization.

Question 20Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

In a survey, researchers find that children of parents in professional occupations are far more likely to enter professional occupations themselves. Which concept does this pattern most directly illustrate?

  1. Complete meritocracy
  2. Random sampling error
  3. Horizontal mobility between regions
  4. Intergenerational transmission of social advantage Correct answer.

Explanation

When parents' occupational position strongly predicts children's position, social advantage is being transmitted across generations. This is the opposite of complete meritocracy, in which origins would not matter. It is not horizontal mobility, which involves no change in rank.

Question 21Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

Which situation best illustrates the sociological idea of anomie?

  1. A person who deliberately breaks a rule while accepting its validity
  2. A community with strong shared rituals and clear expectations
  3. A society undergoing rapid change in which shared norms become unclear and people feel aimless Correct answer.
  4. A family that follows the same routine for decades

Explanation

Anomie refers to a condition of weakened or unclear norms, often during rapid social change, leaving people without firm guidance. It differs from simple rule-breaking, where norms are still acknowledged. Strong shared rituals and stable routines represent the opposite condition.

Question 22Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

A researcher compares two societies and claims that one is more stratified than the other. Which evidence would most strongly support that claim?

  1. A higher average age in the first society
  2. More television ownership in the first society
  3. A larger total population in the first society
  4. A larger gap in income, wealth and prestige between the top and bottom categories in the first society Correct answer.

Explanation

The degree of stratification is shown by the size of inequalities in valued resources such as income, wealth and prestige across social categories. Larger gaps indicate greater stratification. Population size, average age and consumer goods do not measure the distribution of advantage.

Question 23Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

Two theories explain gender differences in household labor: one emphasizes early socialization into gendered roles, the other emphasizes bargaining power based on income. Which observation would most directly support the bargaining-power explanation over the socialization explanation?

  1. Children imitate their same-sex parent's chores
  2. Partners report learning household tasks from their parents in childhood
  3. Household labor divides more equally when both partners earn similar incomes, even where both were socialized similarly Correct answer.
  4. Couples describe housework as a natural duty of women

Explanation

The bargaining-power explanation predicts that relative earnings shape who does housework, so equal incomes should produce more equal division. An observation showing this, while holding socialization constant, supports that explanation. The other options all point to learned roles rather than to bargaining resources.

Question 24Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

A society's schools, media and workplaces consistently present one group's culture as normal and another's as deficient. Which concept best describes this process?

  1. Complete assimilation with no hierarchy
  2. Random cultural variation without power effects
  3. Cultural hegemony reproducing stratification Correct answer.
  4. Horizontal mobility between classes

Explanation

When dominant institutions present one group's culture as the standard and another's as deficient, they reproduce unequal status through cultural hegemony. This is a mechanism of stratification, not neutral variation. Horizontal mobility and assimilation do not capture the power-laden ranking described.

Question 25Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

A government wants to reduce the reproduction of social inequality through education. Which measure most directly targets the mechanism identified by cultural-capital theory?

  1. Raising tuition fees for all students equally
  2. Making admissions depend on parental occupation
  3. Providing extra academic support and cultural resources to students whose families lack them Correct answer.
  4. Reducing the number of teachers in disadvantaged schools

Explanation

Cultural-capital theory holds that unequal access to the cultural resources valued by schools helps reproduce inequality. Supplying those resources and support to disadvantaged students directly addresses that mechanism. The other measures would widen rather than narrow the gap.

Question 26Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

A teenager learns table manners, dress codes and greeting customs by watching parents and being corrected at home. Which process does this best illustrate?

  1. Secondary socialization in a workplace
  2. Primary socialization within the family Correct answer.
  3. Anticipatory socialization for a future role
  4. Resocialization in a total institution

Explanation

Primary socialization is the early, largely emotional learning of basic norms and values that occurs mainly in the family during childhood. Workplace learning, total institutions and rehearsal of future roles all describe later or forward-looking processes.

Question 27Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

Which term describes a married couple living together with their children in their own household, apart from either partner's parents?

  1. Nuclear family household Correct answer.
  2. Extended family household
  3. Patrilocal household
  4. Consanguineous household

Explanation

A nuclear family household consists of parents and their dependent children living independently of wider kin. Extended and consanguineous households include additional relatives, and patrilocal residence concerns where a couple settles rather than household composition.

Question 28Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

A person's income, occupational prestige and years of education are combined into a single measure. Which concept does this measure most directly capture?

  1. Cultural capital
  2. Social mobility
  3. Social control
  4. Socio-economic status Correct answer.

Explanation

Socio-economic status is a composite ranking based on economic resources, occupational prestige and educational attainment. Mobility describes movement between positions, cultural capital refers to embodied knowledge and credentials, and social control concerns enforcing norms.

Question 29Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

A young woman begins wearing business suits and using professional vocabulary before starting her first graduate job, in order to be accepted by colleagues. Which concept best describes this behaviour?

  1. Secondary deviance
  2. Social reproduction
  3. Anticipatory socialization Correct answer.
  4. Role conflict

Explanation

Anticipatory socialization is the adoption of the values, dress and language of a group one expects to join, easing later entry into that role. The other options concern rule-breaking, competing role demands and the transmission of advantage across generations.

Question 30Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

In many industrializing societies, the household shifted from a large kin-based unit producing goods together to a smaller unit organized around wage-earning and consumption. Which interpretation of this change is most consistent with sociological accounts of family change?

  1. Household size grew because wage labour required more resident workers
  2. The family ceased to perform any function once factories took over production
  3. Kinship ties disappeared entirely and were replaced by formal legal contracts
  4. The family lost some productive functions while gaining importance in emotional support and consumption Correct answer.

Explanation

Industrialization separated paid work from the home, so families lost many productive functions but retained and intensified emotional, reproductive and consumption roles. Claims of total loss of function or complete disappearance of kinship overstate the evidence and are not supported by household data.

Question 31Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

A sociologist studies how a person's chances in life are shaped by the wealth, connections and credentials inherited from parents. Which concept is being examined?

  1. Intergenerational transmission of advantage Correct answer.
  2. Status inconsistency
  3. Horizontal mobility
  4. Intragenerational mobility

Explanation

Intergenerational transmission of advantage describes how parental resources shape a child's later life chances. Intragenerational mobility concerns movement within one lifetime, horizontal mobility concerns movement between similar-status positions, and status inconsistency concerns mismatched ranks on different dimensions.

Question 32Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

Residents of a declining mining town develop shared rituals, a local dialect and a strong sense of collective identity that persists even after the mines close. Which concept best captures this?

  1. Community as a form of social organization based on shared identity and interaction Correct answer.
  2. An aggregate of people who happen to share a location
  3. Bureaucracy as a form of rational-legal organization
  4. A formal organization defined by written rules and offices

Explanation

A community is a form of social organization in which members interact regularly and share identity, norms and culture, which can outlast the economic base that created it. Bureaucracy and formal organization refer to rule-governed structures, while a mere aggregate lacks sustained interaction.

Question 33Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

A charity reports that people relying on food banks must spend hours queuing and navigating forms, which makes them feel ashamed and reluctant to seek help again. Which concept best describes this effect of institutional practice?

  1. Role distance from a professional identity
  2. Symbolic violence through institutional design Correct answer.
  3. Social mobility through welfare provision
  4. Voluntary association as a source of solidarity

Explanation

When institutional procedures communicate inferiority to those who depend on them, sociologists describe this as symbolic violence embedded in organizational design. The other options describe movement, solidarity or detachment from a role, none of which fits the shame produced by administrative practice.

Question 34Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

Two researchers disagree about why women in a society do more unpaid care work. One points to early childhood messages about nurturing; the other points to the absence of affordable childcare and the gender pay gap. Which distinction best captures their disagreement?

  1. Functionalist explanations versus symbolic interactionist explanations
  2. Micro-level explanations versus macro-level explanations
  3. Quantitative explanations versus qualitative explanations
  4. Socialization explanations versus structural and material explanations Correct answer.

Explanation

The first researcher emphasizes internalized norms learned through socialization, while the second emphasizes material constraints and labour-market structure. The disagreement is therefore between cultural socialization and structural-material accounts, not between methods or levels alone.

Question 35Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

In a society, membership of a group determines access to land and marriage partners, and individuals cannot leave that group. Which feature most clearly marks this as a closed system of stratification?

  1. Status is ascribed at birth and mobility between groups is effectively blocked Correct answer.
  2. Prestige varies with occupation but movement is permitted
  3. Status is achieved through education and open competition
  4. Income differences exist but legal equality is guaranteed

Explanation

Closed systems such as caste are defined by ascribed status and blocked mobility, so birth determines life chances. Open class systems permit achievement-based movement, occupational prestige differences and formal equality, none of which describes the blocked group membership here.

Question 36Society and social structures (groups, family, socialization, social stratification, social change)

A new social movement recruits members through online networks, avoids formal hierarchy and pursues broad goals such as environmental protection rather than the interests of a single occupational group. Which contrast with older movements does this illustrate?

  1. New social movements recruit only through face-to-face contact in local branches
  2. New social movements focus exclusively on wages and working conditions of unionized employees
  3. New social movements are always organized as bureaucratic mass parties with paid officials
  4. New social movements typically emphasize identity and quality-of-life issues and use decentralized organization Correct answer.

Explanation

Theorists distinguish new social movements by their concern with identity, lifestyle and universal goals such as the environment, often combined with looser, network-based organization. Bureaucratic mass parties, narrow wage demands and exclusively local face-to-face recruitment describe older labour or party models.

Question 37Politics and political systems (state, democracy, ideologies, parties, elections, political culture)

Which feature is generally regarded as a defining characteristic of a democratic political system?

  1. Competitive elections with universal adult suffrage Correct answer.
  2. A single party holding a constitutional monopoly on power
  3. Rule by an unelected council of religious leaders
  4. Selection of the legislature by hereditary succession

Explanation

Democracy is conventionally defined by popular sovereignty expressed through regular, competitive elections under universal adult suffrage, combined with the rule of law and protected civil liberties. Systems that exclude competition or popular choice fail the minimal procedural test of democracy.

Question 38Politics and political systems (state, democracy, ideologies, parties, elections, political culture)

In political science, what does the term 'legitimacy' refer to?

  1. The legal power of a court to strike down legislation
  2. The belief that a ruler's authority is rightfully held and ought to be obeyed Correct answer.
  3. The capacity of a government to win elections by a large margin
  4. The ability of a state to enforce its laws through coercion

Explanation

Legitimacy is a normative and sociological concept: it describes the acceptance by those governed that power is exercised rightfully. Coercion and legal competence are different from legitimacy, because a regime can command obedience without being regarded as rightful.

Question 39Politics and political systems (state, democracy, ideologies, parties, elections, political culture)

A political party that competes for votes and office primarily to implement a coherent programme of policies is best described as which type of party?

  1. Catch-all party
  2. Cartel party
  3. Cadre party
  4. Programmatic party Correct answer.

Explanation

A programmatic party is organised around a relatively consistent ideological or policy platform that structures its appeals and behaviour in office. Catch-all parties deliberately dilute ideology to attract broad sections of the electorate, whereas cadre and cartel types describe organisational rather than programmatic features.

Question 40Politics and political systems (state, democracy, ideologies, parties, elections, political culture)

Which electoral formula is most likely to produce a two-party system in a national legislature?

  1. Multi-member districts using the single transferable vote
  2. Proportional representation with a low threshold
  3. Single-member districts decided by plurality Correct answer.
  4. A nationwide party-list system with no threshold

Explanation

Duverger's tendency holds that plurality elections in single-member districts penalise small parties and push the system toward two competitors. Proportional systems generally lower the barrier to entry for new parties and tend to multiply the number of relevant parties.

Question 41Politics and political systems (state, democracy, ideologies, parties, elections, political culture)

Which thinker is most closely associated with the argument that a sovereign must hold undivided and unlimited authority to prevent civil conflict?

  1. Thomas Hobbes Correct answer.
  2. Montesquieu
  3. John Locke
  4. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Explanation

Hobbes argued in Leviathan that the dangers of the state of nature require a single sovereign with indivisible authority. Locke and Montesquieu instead defended limited government and institutional checks, while Rousseau located sovereignty in the general will of the people.

Question 42Politics and political systems (state, democracy, ideologies, parties, elections, political culture)

What distinguishes a 'failed state' from a merely authoritarian state?

  1. It has lost the effective capacity to control its territory and provide basic public order Correct answer.
  2. It holds no elections of any kind
  3. It lacks a written constitution
  4. It is excluded from international organisations

Explanation

State failure refers to the breakdown of the basic functions of statehood, notably territorial control, security, and public administration. Authoritarian regimes may be repressive yet still effective in governing their territory, so repression alone does not indicate failure.

Question 43Politics and political systems (state, democracy, ideologies, parties, elections, political culture)

Which concept describes the set of shared beliefs, values, and norms about politics held by a population?

  1. Political recruitment
  2. Political socialisation
  3. Political culture Correct answer.
  4. Political efficacy

Explanation

Political culture refers to the aggregate orientations of a population toward political objects such as institutions and authority. Socialisation is the process by which those orientations are transmitted, while efficacy and recruitment describe individual attitudes and career paths.

Question 44Politics and political systems (state, democracy, ideologies, parties, elections, political culture)

In a parliamentary system, how is the head of government normally chosen?

  1. By the legislature, typically from the party or coalition commanding a majority Correct answer.
  2. By hereditary succession within a royal family
  3. By appointment from a supranational body such as the European Commission
  4. By direct popular vote in a separate executive election

Explanation

In parliamentary systems the executive emerges from and is accountable to the legislature, so the prime minister is normally the leader who can command a legislative majority. Direct election of the chief executive is characteristic of presidential systems.

Question 45Politics and political systems (state, democracy, ideologies, parties, elections, political culture)

A country uses a closed party-list proportional system with a 5% national threshold. Which consequence is most consistent with comparative evidence?

  1. Small parties below the threshold are excluded from representation Correct answer.
  2. The party with the most votes always wins a legislative majority
  3. Constituencies elect exactly one member each
  4. Every party with any national vote share is guaranteed seats

Explanation

A legal threshold sets a minimum vote share for winning seats, so parties falling below 5% nationally receive no representation from the list. This reduces fragmentation but can leave significant minorities unrepresented.

Question 46Politics and political systems (state, democracy, ideologies, parties, elections, political culture)

A voter supports a small green party but votes for a large social democratic party because the green party has never won a seat. This behaviour best illustrates which phenomenon?

  1. Electoral volatility
  2. Compulsory voting
  3. Strategic voting Correct answer.
  4. Ticket splitting

Explanation

Strategic, or tactical, voting occurs when a voter abandons a preferred party seen as unelectable in favour of a viable alternative. The choice is driven by the expected outcome rather than by sincere preference alone.

Question 47Politics and political systems (state, democracy, ideologies, parties, elections, political culture)

In a federal state, which arrangement is essential?

  1. Uniform local government structures without fiscal autonomy
  2. Direct rule of all regions by the central ministry of the interior
  3. Constitutionally guaranteed powers exercised by regional governments Correct answer.
  4. A single national legislature with no regional chambers

Explanation

Federalism requires that regional units hold constitutionally entrenched powers they exercise in their own right, not merely delegated authority. This distinguishes federal systems from decentralised unitary states, where the centre can legally reclaim local competences.

Question 48Politics and political systems (state, democracy, ideologies, parties, elections, political culture)

What is the principal function of an independent constitutional court in a liberal democracy?

  1. To review whether laws and actions comply with the constitution Correct answer.
  2. To draft government legislation
  3. To select the prime minister after elections
  4. To manage the national budget

Explanation

Constitutional courts protect the supremacy of the constitution by reviewing legislation and public action for conformity with it. Independence from the political branches is what allows them to check majorities that overstep constitutional limits.

Question 49Politics and political systems (state, democracy, ideologies, parties, elections, political culture)

Which statement best captures the difference between a referendum and a plebiscite as used in political analysis?

  1. A referendum is held only in authoritarian states, a plebiscite only in democracies
  2. A referendum typically decides a constitutional or legislative question, while a plebiscite often serves to endorse a leader or regime Correct answer.
  3. A referendum is always legally binding, while a plebiscite never concerns policy
  4. A referendum requires a supermajority, a plebiscite requires only a plurality

Explanation

The terms overlap, but analysts often use referendum for a vote on a specific constitutional or policy question and plebiscite for a vote that chiefly confers or confirms legitimacy on a ruler or regime. Binding force and thresholds vary by country and are not what separates the terms.

Question 50Politics and political systems (state, democracy, ideologies, parties, elections, political culture)

A coalition government forms after an election in which no party wins a majority. Which factor most directly shapes which coalitions are feasible?

  1. The number of official languages
  2. The age of the constitution
  3. The number of seats each party holds and the ideological distance between them Correct answer.
  4. The physical size of the country

Explanation

Coalition formation depends on arithmetic, meaning whether the partners together control a majority, and on policy compatibility, meaning whether they can agree on a programme. Size, constitutional age, and language count do not determine coalition viability.