Practice questions
Q1A question asks you to identify the best example of positive liberty. Which option should be chosen?
A A law removes every restraint on private action, including restraints needed to protect others from harm.
B Public institutions create conditions that enable persons to develop abilities and make meaningful choices.
C A person is left alone by the state but has no real access to education, health care or public safety.
D A ruler permits speech only when it praises the government.
Explanation Negative liberty is mainly concerned with freedom from external interference. Positive liberty asks whether people actually have the conditions and capacities to act as self-directing persons. Measures such as education, basic security and fair access to opportunities may therefore expand liberty rather than merely restrict it, provided they remain consistent with rights and constitutional limits.
Q2Which statement about India's place in the United Nations is correct?
A India was among the original members of the United Nations.
B India became a UN member only after joining BRICS.
C India is not represented in the UN General Assembly.
D India joined the United Nations only after the creation of Bangladesh.
Explanation The UN's membership history identifies India among the original members of the organisation. This is a standard high-yield point for India's role in multilateral institutions: India was present at the UN's birth, not a later entrant.
Q3In the context of local self-government, which is the best explanation of the commonly discussed devolution challenge?
A Functions may be listed, but actual transfer of functions, funds and functionaries depends heavily on state-level devolution.
B Local bodies cannot exist because the Constitution recognises only the Union and the states.
C The Eleventh and Twelfth Schedules prohibit states from transferring subjects to local bodies.
D The Election Commission of India directly controls the finances of every Panchayat and Municipality.
Explanation A central challenge in Indian local democracy is the gap between constitutional design and operational empowerment. The Constitution enables devolution to Panchayats and Municipalities, but effective self-government depends on whether states transfer the relevant functions, funds and functionaries in practice.
Q4Which option most accurately describes sovereignty in a modern democratic state?
A Sovereignty means that the government can ignore constitutional limits whenever it has majority support.
B Sovereignty belongs only to the executive branch because it implements laws and controls administration.
C Sovereignty disappears in every federal constitution because powers are divided between two levels of government.
D Sovereignty is the final law-making authority of the political community, though its exercise may be constitutionally limited and institutionally distributed.
Explanation Sovereignty refers to ultimate authority in a political order. In a democracy, this authority is linked to the people, but it is exercised through a constitution, representative bodies, courts and federal or administrative arrangements. Therefore, division of powers or rights-based limits do not mean the absence of sovereignty; they show how sovereign authority is organised and restrained in a constitutional state.
Q5Which Directive Principle is most directly linked to the institutional separation of the judiciary from the executive at the State level?
A Article 39A, because it provides for equal justice and free legal aid.
B Article 44, because it directs the State to secure a uniform civil code.
C Article 38, because it directs the State to secure a social order for welfare of the people.
D Article 50, because it directs the State to separate the judiciary from the executive in the public services of the State.
Explanation Article 50 is a concise but important Directive Principle: the State shall take steps to separate the judiciary from the executive in the public services of the State. It supports judicial independence at the subordinate level and should not be confused with Article 39A on legal aid or Article 44 on uniform civil code.
More questions
6Which situation most directly attracts disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India?
AA member attends the meeting of another party as an observer without voting in the House
BA legislator criticises the economic policy of his party in a newspaper article
CAn elected member voluntarily gives up membership of the political party on whose ticket he was elected
DA candidate loses an election after changing his election manifesto
7Which statement best captures the communitarian critique of liberal individualism in contemporary political theory?
AThe self and political obligations are shaped by community, shared practices and social membership.
BIndividuals are best understood without any social or moral community.
CPolitical theory should study only statistical voting correlations.
DEvery political question is solved by abolishing all institutions.
8A law student argues that after the Twenty-fourth Constitutional Amendment, an amendment made under Article 368 is insulated from Article 13, but Parliament's amending power is still not an ordinary legislative power. Which option best captures the constitutional position?
AArticle 13(4) and Article 368(3) exclude constitutional amendments from Article 13, while Article 368(1) describes Parliament as exercising constituent power.
BArticle 368 permits amendments only to non-Fundamental Rights provisions, because Part III has been made entirely unamendable.
CA Constitution Amendment Bill is passed like an ordinary Bill by a simple majority, but later judicial review gives it constitutional status.
DArticle 13 continues to invalidate constitutional amendments, and the President may withhold assent to a duly passed Constitution Amendment Bill.
9Which one of the following combinations most accurately identifies provisions inserted by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 in the Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties area?
AArticle 21A on free and compulsory education, Article 45 in its present early-childhood form, and Article 51A(k).
BPart IX on Panchayats, the Eleventh Schedule, and Article 243G concerning powers of Panchayats.
CArticle 300A on property, Article 352's expression 'armed rebellion', and restoration of Article 226's full writ jurisdiction.
DArticle 39A on equal justice and free legal aid, Article 43A on workers' participation in management, Article 48A on environment, and Article 51A on Fundamental Duties.
10In David Easton's systems analysis, which sequence most accurately represents the working of a political system?
ADemands and supports -> conversion process -> decisions and policies -> feedback
BClass conflict -> revolution -> dictatorship -> classless society
CValues -> customs -> sanctions -> obedience
DRights -> duties -> courts -> precedents
11Which option correctly states the principle of collective responsibility in the Union and State parliamentary executive systems?
ACollective responsibility applies only to individual Ministers and never to the Council of Ministers as a body.
BThe Union Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha, and the State Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the State.
CThe Union Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Rajya Sabha, and the State Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Legislative Council where it exists.
DBoth Union and State Councils of Ministers are collectively responsible only to the President, because executive power is formally vested in constitutional heads.
12Which statement best differentiates power from authority?
APower is always constitutional, while authority is always illegal.
BPower is the capacity to secure compliance; authority is power regarded as rightful or legitimate.
CPower means only physical force, while authority means only religious influence.
DPower and authority are identical terms with no meaningful conceptual difference.
13A State Cabinet advises the Governor to promulgate an Ordinance on a subject in the State List while the Legislative Assembly is not in session. Which constitutional limitation under Article 213 is correctly stated?
AThe Governor's Ordinance power exists only during President's Rule and is otherwise exercised exclusively by Parliament under Article 123.
BThe Governor cannot promulgate an Ordinance without Presidential instructions in cases where an equivalent Bill would need prior Presidential sanction, reservation, or Presidential assent for validity.
CThe Governor may promulgate any State Ordinance without Presidential instructions because Ordinances are temporary and lapse automatically.
DA Governor's Ordinance needs prior approval of the High Court whenever it affects Fundamental Rights.
14The words 'We, the people of India' in the Preamble are most closely connected with which idea?
AMonarchical sovereignty as the source of law
BJudicial sovereignty over the elected branches
CColonial sovereignty retained after independence
DPopular sovereignty as the source of constitutional authority
15Which pair is most appropriately matched in the study of perspectives of Political Science?
AContemporary perspective - complete rejection of gender, identity and discourse
BBehavioural perspective - exclusive study of divine kingship
CTraditional perspective - normative and institutional analysis
DSystems perspective - denial of inputs and outputs
