Politics quiz: systems of government 1

You can do this quiz online or print it on paper. It tests terms used to describe various political and economic systems and forms of government.

Read each question and choose the correct answer.

1. Which type of country has an elected head of state, such as a president?

a monarchy
a dictatorship
a republic
a) a monarchy b) a dictatorship c) a republic

2. Which type of country has a king or queen as its head of state?

a monarchy
a dictatorship
a republic
a) a monarchy b) a dictatorship c) a republic

3. What can we call a country ruled by someone who's taken power by force?

a monarchy
a dictatorship
a republic
a) a monarchy b) a dictatorship c) a republic

4. Which form of government is on the far right?

communism
liberal democracy
fascism
a) communism b) liberal democracy c) fascism

5. Which form of government is on the far left?

communism
liberal democracy
fascism
a) communism b) liberal democracy c) fascism

6. Which form of government is neither far left nor far right?

communism
liberal democracy
fascism
a) communism b) liberal democracy c) fascism

7. What can we call a military government that has taken power by staging a coup d’état?

a congress
a caucus
a junta
a) a congress b) a caucus c) a junta

8. Which kind of state puts funding health care, education and benefits for the old, disabled, unemployed and needy at the top of its list of priorities?

a welfare state
a battleground state
an authoritarian state
a) a welfare state b) a battleground state c) an authoritarian state

9. What do we call countries with a freely and fairly elected government?

federations
democracies
plutocracies
a) federations b) democracies c) plutocracies

10. Which can we call the use of brutality and violence to control a country's own people?

anarchy
patriarchy
tyranny
a) anarchy b) patriarchy c) tyranny

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Correct answers:

Contributor: Matt Errey. Matt is the author of several books including 1000 Phrasal Verbs in Context and Common English Idioms for learners, and Matt's ESL Games and Quizzes for teachers.