Comparative Political Systems: UK, USA and France MCQs 2026

The United Kingdom is best classified as a

1. A constitutional monarchy with parliamentary government ✓
2. B presidential republic ✓
3. C pure direct democracy ✓
4. D one-party socialist state ✓

The Westminster model emphasizes

1. A parliamentary sovereignty and responsible cabinet government ✓
2. B a directly elected president as sole executive ✓
3. C judicial supremacy over Parliament always ✓
4. D single-party rule by law ✓

In the UK, the head of government is the

1. A monarch in ordinary times ✓
2. B Prime Minister ✓
3. C Speaker of the House of Lords ✓
4. D Lord Chancellor only ✓

The lower house of the UK Parliament is the

1. A House of Lords ✓
2. B Scottish Parliament only ✓
3. C Supreme Court ✓
4. D House of Commons ✓

The UK House of Lords today is mainly composed of

1. A only hereditary peers with no reform ✓
2. B life peers appointed under the Life Peerages Act 1958 ✓
3. C directly elected senators for fixed terms ✓
4. D provincial governors ✓

The UK constitution is often described as

1. A largely unwritten and based on statutes, conventions and common law ✓
2. B a single codified document adopted in 1787 ✓
3. C entirely contained in one EU treaty ✓
4. D frozen since Magna Carta without change ✓

The Electoral College selects the US President by

1. A direct nationwide popular vote alone by law always ✓
2. B the House on every occasion ✓
3. C state-based electors largely pledged to candidates ✓
4. D the Senate alone without states ✓

Parliamentary sovereignty in the UK means

1. A the monarch legislates alone ✓
2. B Parliament can make or unmake any law and no body can override its Acts ✓
3. C international courts always void Acts automatically ✓
4. D regional parliaments are supreme over Westminster ✓

UK general elections predominantly use the

1. A first-past-the-post single-member constituency system ✓
2. B party-list proportional representation nationwide ✓
3. C ranked-choice instant runoff in all seats ✓
4. D indirect electoral college ✓

Devolution in the UK granted significant self-government to

1. A Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland ✓
2. B only the City of London corporation ✓
3. C the European Parliament ✓
4. D the House of Lords exclusively ✓

Collective cabinet responsibility in the UK requires ministers to

1. A vote independently against the PM without consequence ✓
2. B support cabinet decisions publicly or resign ✓
3. C ignore Parliament entirely ✓
4. D serve for life regardless of confidence ✓

The UK Supreme Court (established 2009) primarily

1. A appoints the Prime Minister ✓
2. B writes primary legislation ✓
3. C commands the armed forces ✓
4. D adjudicates legal disputes and interprets law, including on devolution ✓

Magna Carta (1215) is historically significant for

1. A creating the US Electoral College ✓
2. B establishing the French Fifth Republic ✓
3. C limiting arbitrary royal power and affirming rule of law ideas ✓
4. D abolishing Parliament ✓

The Speaker of the House of Commons is expected to

1. A remain impartial and regulate debate ✓
2. B lead the governing party's election campaign ✓
3. C appoint all cabinet ministers ✓
4. D serve as head of state ✓

A vote of no confidence in the Commons against the government typically forces

1. A automatic dissolution of the monarchy ✓
2. B the government to resign or seek a general election ✓
3. C Supreme Court takeover of executive power ✓
4. D permanent rule by the Lords ✓

The UK monarch's formal role today is largely

1. A to veto every bill routinely ✓
2. B ceremonial with powers exercised on ministerial advice ✓
3. C to command daily cabinet meetings ✓
4. D to elect the Speaker ✓

Common law in the UK means that

1. A judicial precedents bind lower courts unless overturned ✓
2. B only statutes may create legal rules ✓
3. C Parliament never legislates ✓
4. D EU law always prevails domestically ✓

The shadow cabinet in the UK consists of

1. A life peers who review legislation only ✓
2. B judges on the Supreme Court ✓
3. C senior opposition MPs who mirror government departments ✓
4. D civil servants in Whitehall ✓

Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (now repealed) aimed to

1. A abolish the House of Lords immediately ✓
2. B make the monarch elect MPs ✓
3. C transfer sovereignty to Scotland only ✓
4. D set five-year election intervals unless early elections were triggered ✓

The UK uses a unitary state structure with

1. A federal constitutional division like the USA ✓
2. B confederal treaty among kingdoms only ✓
3. C Parliament supreme and devolution granted by statute ✓
4. D no national legislature ✓

Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) illustrates

1. A judicial review of statutes ✓
2. B presidential veto power ✓
3. C referendum lawmaking only ✓
4. D direct executive accountability to the elected chamber ✓

The United States is a

1. A federal presidential constitutional republic ✓
2. B unitary parliamentary monarchy ✓
3. C theocratic republic without elections ✓
4. D confederation without a written constitution ✓

Separation of powers in the US divides authority among

1. A monarch, nobility and clergy only ✓
2. B Parliament and Crown only ✓
3. C legislative, executive and judicial branches ✓
4. D military and party exclusively ✓

The US President is elected for a term of

1. A life with no elections ✓
2. B six years renewable without limit ✓
3. C two years like the House ✓
4. D four years, eligible for two terms under the 22nd Amendment ✓

The US Congress is

1. A unicameral like the Commons alone ✓
2. B an appointed judiciary ✓
3. C a council of state governors only ✓
4. D bicameral, consisting of the Senate and House of Representatives ✓

The US Senate has

1. A 435 members apportioned by population ✓
2. B members chosen by the Supreme Court ✓
3. C 100 members, two from each state regardless of population ✓
4. D no role in treaties ✓

The US House of Representatives has

1. A 100 members with equal state seats ✓
2. B members appointed by the President ✓
3. C 435 voting members apportioned by population among states ✓
4. D no power over taxation ✓

Judicial review in the US was famously articulated in

1. A Brown v. Board alone without prior cases ✓
2. B Marbury v. Madison (1803) ✓
3. C the Magna Carta of 1215 ✓
4. D Treaty of Rome 1957 ✓

US federalism means that

1. A states have no lawmaking power ✓
2. B national and state governments each have enumerated and reserved powers ✓
3. C only cities may legislate ✓
4. D the federal government controls all police powers always ✓

The Bill of Rights refers to the first

1. A seven articles of the original text only ✓
2. B twenty-seven amendments in total always as a set name ✓
3. C state constitutions collectively ✓
4. D ten amendments to the US Constitution ✓

Impeachment in the US is primarily the power of

1. A the House to impeach and the Senate to try and convict ✓
2. B the Supreme Court alone ✓
3. C state legislatures exclusively ✓
4. D the President's cabinet ✓

A presidential veto can be overridden by

1. A simple majority in the House only ✓
2. B the Supreme Court by certiorari ✓
3. C state governors unanimously ✓
4. D a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress ✓

The First Amendment protects freedoms including

1. A religion, speech, press, assembly and petition ✓
2. B only the right to bear arms ✓
3. C unlimited taxation without representation ✓
4. D appointment of federal judges by states ✓

Checks and balances in the US include

1. A fusion of executive and legislature like Westminster ✓
2. B monarchical reserve powers ✓
3. C single seven-year presidential term only ✓
4. D veto, appointment confirmation, and impeachment among branches ✓

US cabinet secretaries are appointed by the President with

1. A House of Lords approval ✓
2. B unanimous state referendum ✓
3. C no legislative role ✓
4. D Senate confirmation for most positions ✓

The US Constitution was drafted in

1. A 1215 at Runnymede ✓
2. B 1958 in Paris ✓
3. C 1787 at the Philadelphia Convention ✓
4. D 1947 in San Francisco only for the UN ✓

Filibuster practices most prominently affect

1. A Senate deliberation by allowing extended debate to delay votes ✓
2. B House electoral apportionment ✓
3. C state gubernatorial terms ✓
4. D Supreme Court size only ✓

The Vice President of the United States presides over the

1. A House of Representatives daily ✓
2. B Senate and votes to break ties ✓
3. C Electoral College permanently ✓
4. D Supreme Court ✓

State governors in the US

1. A head state executives and implement state law ✓
2. B appoint US Senators permanently without elections ✓
3. C command the US nuclear arsenal ✓
4. D replace the federal judiciary ✓

The French Fifth Republic was established under

1. A Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 only ✓
2. B Charles de Gaulle with the 1958 Constitution ✓
3. C the Fourth Republic without change in 1946 ✓
4. D the EU Treaty of Maastricht alone ✓

France's political system is commonly termed

1. A pure Westminster parliamentary ✓
2. B semi-presidential ✓
3. C absolute monarchy ✓
4. D confederal ✓

The President of France is elected by

1. A direct universal suffrage (since 1962 for the presidency) ✓
2. B the monarch alone ✓
3. C only the Senate indirectly without citizens ✓
4. D the European Commission ✓

The French Prime Minister is accountable to

1. A the National Assembly and appointed by the President ✓
2. B the UK House of Commons ✓
3. C the US Electoral College ✓
4. D the Guardian Council of Iran ✓

The lower house of the French Parliament is the

1. A Senate only without a lower house ✓
2. B National Assembly (Assemblée nationale) ✓
3. C House of Lords ✓
4. D Bundestag ✓

The French Senate is

1. A directly elected like the National Assembly in identical manner ✓
2. B appointed by the monarch ✓
3. C the supreme judicial court ✓
4. D indirectly elected and represents territorial collectivities ✓

Cohabitation in France occurs when

1. A the monarch dissolves the EU ✓
2. B the Senate replaces the President ✓
3. C regions secede legally ✓
4. D the President and Prime Minister belong to opposing political majorities ✓

Laïcité in French republican tradition emphasizes

1. A establishing an official state church ✓
2. B state secularism and neutrality in public institutions ✓
3. C banning all private religious expression everywhere ✓
4. D theocracy led by clergy ✓

The French Constitutional Council primarily

1. A commands the military like a president ✓
2. B legislates financial bills alone ✓
3. C reviews the constitutionality of laws and oversees referendums and elections ✓
4. D appoints all EU commissioners ✓

French presidential elections typically use

1. A first-past-the-post in single-member districts only for president ✓
2. B a two-round system if no candidate wins a majority in round one ✓
3. C Electoral College by departments without runoff ✓
4. D life appointment by Senate ✓

The 1958 Constitution of France strengthened

1. A only regional councils without a president ✓
2. B hereditary monarchy ✓
3. C unicameral Soviet-style rule ✓
4. D executive authority, especially the presidency ✓

France is administratively divided into regions and

1. A US-style states with full sovereignty ✓
2. B only tribal councils without law ✓
3. C départements among other local units ✓
4. D provinces under a governor-general of the UK ✓

The Élysée Palace is the official residence of

1. A the Prime Minister only always ✓
2. B the European Parliament President ex officio ✓
3. C the President of France ✓
4. D the UK monarch ✓

The Conseil d'État in France functions mainly as

1. A the supreme administrative court and advisory body on public law ✓
2. B the lower elected chamber ✓
3. C the upper house of US Congress ✓
4. D Iran's Guardian Council ✓

The French legal tradition is primarily

1. A pure common law without codes like England ✓
2. B Sharia as the only source with no codes ✓
3. C socialist law without courts ✓
4. D civil law codified in comprehensive codes ✓

The Fourth French Republic (1946–1958) was criticized for

1. A excessive presidential power like the Fifth ✓
2. B absence of any parliament ✓
3. C cabinet instability and weak executive leadership ✓
4. D direct military rule by the US ✓

Major French party families have included

1. A only two fixed parties identical to US Democrats and Republicans since 1789 ✓
2. B no parties because parties are banned ✓
3. C Gaullists, Socialists, Communists and later Macronist centrist coalitions ✓
4. D solely the Muslim Brotherhood ✓

Under the Fifth Republic, the President may dissolve

1. A the US Senate ✓
2. B the UK House of Lords permanently ✓
3. C the Chinese NPC without limit always ✓
4. D the National Assembly in certain political circumstances ✓

French local communes are governed by

1. A direct appointment by the President only ✓
2. B the European Court of Justice ✓
3. C an elected municipal council and mayor ✓
4. D hereditary dukes exclusively ✓

The UK and USA differ chiefly in that the UK fuses executive and legislature while the USA

1. A has no parliament ✓
2. B separates powers and uses a written federal constitution ✓
3. C elects a monarch ✓
4. D bans political parties ✓

Compared to the UK, France's Fifth Republic gives

1. A all power to the House of Lords ✓
2. B no role to any legislature ✓
3. C stronger formal powers to a directly elected president ✓
4. D identical Westminster fusion without a president ✓