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Question 1

What is legal positivism?

a) The belief that only laws which benefit the whole population are legitimate.

b) The idea that the law is what the state says it is.

c) The claim that laws cannot embody moral principles.

d) The idea that lawyers should be in charge of government.

Question 2

What does the principle of secularism assert?

a) Government should be based on religious principles.

b) Religions are always a threat to social stability and, therefore, should be banned.

c) The state should promote one form of religious belief and ban the others .

d) The state authorities should have precedence over competing sources of authority, especially religious ones.

Question 3

What does the phrase 'the rule of law' mean?

a) Everyone is equal in the eyes of the law.

b) The law should be effective enough to keep everyone in order.

c) Laws should reflect the will of the majority.

d) Lawyers should never be prosecuted.

Question 4

Which three states do not have a codified constitution?

a) The UK, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

b) The UK, the US, and Zimbabwe.

c) The UK, New Zealand, and Israel.

d) Cuba, China, and Russia.

Question 5

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)...

a) was influenced by French Revolutionary principles.

b) lays down social rights as well as the relationship between the citizen and the state.

c) contains clauses which are open to a variety of interpretations.

d) All of the above are correct.

Question 6

A major difference between Islamic states and their counterparts in the West is that...

a) citizens of some Islamic states can appeal to diverse legal systems.

b) Islamic judges are less bound by legal precedent.

c) Islamic judges are more influenced by religious considerations.

d) All of the above.

Question 7

Where has the influence of the European legal system been felt?

a) Only in the areas which Europeans have colonized.

b) Only in areas where Europeans formed the majority of the population.

c) In European states and areas colonised by Europeans, but also in many places which have never been ruled by Europeans.

d) Only in states with a tradition of respect for the rule of law.

Question 8

The relatively large number of lawyers in the US is partly a product of...

a) the high level of corruption in that country.

b) the fact that citizens of the US can go to law relatively easily.

c) the higher proportion of clever people in the US.

d) the deficiencies of the US constitution.

Question 9

What does federalism entail?

a) The decentralization of power within a state.

b) The centralization of power within a state.

c) The dictatorship of the EU Commission.

d) An elected President rather than a monarch.

Question 10

Which of the following is not a typical feature of consociationalism?

a) Governments which include parties representing all of the main communities.

b) The devolution of decision-making on key issues.

c) Political leaders who lack strong principles.

d) Some form of proportional representation.

Oxford University Press, Online Resource Centre, Chapter 8.

Chapter 8

Instructions