Chapter 20

Instructions

Choose your answers from a-d by clicking the radio button next to each choice and then press 'Submit' to get your score.

Question 1

The Parliament Act of 1911 has significance for the conduct of elections in the UK because...

a) ...it specifies the electoral system to be used in electing MPs.

b) ...it specifies who can dissolve parliament and set the date for a general election.

c) ...it establishes the maximum period between elections.

d) ...it established the current criteria required to stand for election to the House of Commons.

Question 2

Which kind of electoral system is being described in the paragraph below?
"A majoritarian system based on single-member constituencies. Voters indicate their preferences against the candidates on the ballot paper. Candidates who secure the support of over half the voters in a constituency are elected. If no candidate receives more than half the votes cast on the count of first preference votes, the candidate who received the fewest first preference votes is eliminated and his or her second preferences are distributed amongst the other candidates. This process continues until one candidate has achieved an overall majority".

a) Alternative vote

b) Single transferable vote

c) Additional member system

d) First past the post

Question 3

The Jenkins Commission recommended which of the following?

a) An additional member system in which 50% of MPs would be elected on the basis of first past the post and 50% by a party list system

b) The introduction of a single transferable vote system

c) A regional list system with 'closed' party lists

d) A system combining an alternative vote and party list system

Question 4

In a British general election campaign a political party is currently allowed to spend on its national campaign…

a) …as much as it likes.

b) …a maximum of approximately £10 million.

c) …a maximum of approximately £20 million.

d) …a maximum of approximately £50 million.

Question 5

Who decides when a general election is called in the UK?

a) The Speaker of the House of Commons

b) The Cabinet Secretary

c) The Prime Minister

d) The Monarch

Question 6

The 'mandate' is most accurately described by which of the following statements?

a) A government enjoys the authority to introduce proposals by virtue of the legitimacy conferred by electoral victory

b) Voters seek to assess political parties on their governmental record

c) British governments deliver on their promises

d) British governments are usually programmatic when they are in office

Question 7

The 2005 election was remarkable for which of the following reasons?

a) Turnout was the lowest recorded since the introduction of the modern franchise

b) A record number of Cabinet ministers were defeated in the election

c) The decline in Labour's share of the popular vote was by a record margin for a post-war election

d) It was the lowest recorded share of the vote for a single party forming a government

Question 8

The phrase 'Middle England' is often employed in discussion of elections and voting behaviour. Which of the following best captures what is meant by this phrase?

a) The 74 parliamentary constituencies in London combined with the 68 constituencies in the counties of Essex, Kent, Surrey, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire

b) 'Hard working families who play by the rules'

c) Voters amongst whom the Labour Party sought to seek support in the 1990s including those on middle class incomes, in the South East

d) Voters in the 96 constituencies in the West and East Midlands

Question 9

Which of the following represents a frequent criticism of an electoral system which employs closed party lists?

a) It is highly disproportional in the translation of votes into seats

b) It decreases voter choice and increases control by party managers

c) The system is complex for voters to understand

d) It promotes the fragmentation of political parties on regional lines

Question 10

Which of the following most accurately summarises developments in elections and voting since 1970?

a) Class has diminished as a factor in elections but voting behaviour remains predictable. Election campaigns are now more regionally differentiated

b) Election campaigns focus increasingly on the locality but the traditional British two party system persists despite such developments

c) The British party system has become fragmented and general election campaigns have become less national

d) General election campaigns have become more regulated and the behaviour of voters in elections has become more volatile and unpredictable

Oxford University Press, Online Resource Centre, Chapter 20.

Chapter 20

Instructions

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

Question 6

Question 7

Question 8

Question 9

Question 10