Introduction to Political Science MCQs 2026

Civil society refers to

1. A voluntary associations and public sphere outside the state and market ✓
2. B only the army ✓
3. C only the cabinet ✓
4. D only central bank ✓

A constitution is

1. A a daily newspaper ✓
2. B fundamental rules establishing institutions and authority ✓
3. C a weather report ✓
4. D a sports schedule ✓

Political science is primarily concerned with the study of

1. A power, authority, governance and political behaviour ✓
2. B only military strategy ✓
3. C only economic production ✓
4. D only religious rituals ✓

The etymological root of politics comes from the Greek word

1. A demos ✓
2. B polis ✓
3. C ethos ✓
4. D logos only ✓

Aristotle called political science the

1. A master science ✓
2. B minor art ✓
3. C natural science only ✓
4. D theology ✓

The traditional approach to political science emphasized

1. A quantitative surveys only ✓
2. B laboratory experiments only ✓
3. C neuroscience only ✓
4. D philosophical, historical and institutional analysis ✓

The behavioural revolution in political science stressed

1. A only metaphysical speculation ✓
2. B empirical observation and scientific method ✓
3. C only textual exegesis of scripture ✓
4. D only diplomatic memoirs ✓

Post-behaviouralism criticized pure behaviouralism for

1. A neglecting values and urgent social problems ✓
2. B using too much mathematics ✓
3. C studying voting at all ✓
4. D collecting any data ✓

Normative political theory asks

1. A what ought to be ✓
2. B only what is ✓
3. C only how to count votes ✓
4. D only GDP growth ✓

Empirical political analysis asks

1. A only what should be ✓
2. B what is or what happens ✓
3. C only moral duties ✓
4. D only divine commands ✓

Comparative politics mainly involves

1. A only studying one constitution forever ✓
2. B only astronomy ✓
3. C only corporate accounting ✓
4. D comparing political systems, institutions and processes across countries ✓

International relations as a subfield focuses on

1. A only municipal zoning laws ✓
2. B only family law ✓
3. C only classroom discipline ✓
4. D relations among states and global actors ✓

Public administration studies

1. A only private stock markets ✓
2. B only poetry ✓
3. C implementation of government policy and bureaucracy ✓
4. D only sports leagues ✓

Political economy examines

1. A only chemistry of metals ✓
2. B only botany ✓
3. C only phonetics ✓
4. D interaction of politics and economic structures ✓

Political socialization refers to

1. A only election fraud ✓
2. B only census taking ✓
3. C the process by which individuals acquire political attitudes and values ✓
4. D only currency printing ✓

Political culture means

1. A only written statutes ✓
2. B only military hardware ✓
3. C enduring patterns of attitudes and beliefs toward politics ✓
4. D only weather patterns ✓

A political system in systems theory is

1. A only a building called parliament ✓
2. B only a flag ✓
3. C only a map ✓
4. D a set of interactions converting inputs into outputs through conversion processes ✓

Inputs in David Easton's systems model include

1. A only judicial verdicts ✓
2. B demands and supports ✓
3. C only exports only ✓
4. D only rainfall ✓

Feedback in political systems theory helps the system

1. A eliminate all politics ✓
2. B abolish law ✓
3. C adjust to changing environments ✓
4. D ignore society ✓

Legitimacy in political analysis refers to

1. A belief that authority is rightful and ought to be obeyed ✓
2. B capacity to use force only ✓
3. C wealth of rulers only ✓
4. D size of territory only ✓

Authority differs from mere power because authority involves

1. A rightful or accepted command ✓
2. B only violence ✓
3. C only secrecy ✓
4. D only bribery ✓

Sovereignty in introductory usage denotes

1. A private property only ✓
2. B supreme authority within a political community ✓
3. C religious ritual only ✓
4. D artistic taste only ✓

The state in modern political science is commonly distinguished from society by

1. A running all businesses ✓
2. B its claim to monopoly of legitimate coercion in a territory ✓
3. C employing every citizen ✓
4. D controlling all families directly ✓

Government refers to

1. A the entire population ✓
2. B all culture ✓
3. C all geography ✓
4. D the active directing organ of the state at a given time ✓

Nation is often defined as

1. A only a stock exchange ✓
2. B only a mountain range ✓
3. C a community with shared identity, often language, history or culture ✓
4. D only a navy fleet ✓

Nation-state combines

1. A political state with predominant national identity ✓
2. B empire and colony always ✓
3. C church and mosque only ✓
4. D company and union only ✓

Ideology in politics means

1. A a coherent set of ideas explaining society and guiding political action ✓
2. B only a poem ✓
3. C only a recipe ✓
4. D only a building code without ideas ✓

Pluralism holds that political power is

1. A concentrated in one ruler always ✓
2. B absent in democracies ✓
3. C identical to dictatorship ✓
4. D dispersed among competing groups ✓

Elite theory argues that

1. A every citizen has equal power always ✓
2. B a small minority wields disproportionate political power ✓
3. C power does not exist ✓
4. D elections never matter ✓

Class analysis in politics emphasizes

1. A only psychological types ✓
2. B only hair colour ✓
3. C economic stratification shaping conflict and policy ✓
4. D only climate zones ✓

Feminist political theory highlights

1. A only military budgets ✓
2. B gendered power relations and exclusion from politics ✓
3. C only sports policy ✓
4. D only road width ✓

Rational choice theory in politics assumes actors

1. A act without goals ✓
2. B ignore incentives ✓
3. C never calculate ✓
4. D pursue preferences strategically under constraints ✓

Institutionalism focuses on how

1. A only individual genes decide outcomes ✓
2. B rules, norms and organizations shape political behaviour ✓
3. C institutions are irrelevant ✓
4. D history never matters ✓

Structural functionalism in comparative politics views institutions as

1. A random decorations ✓
2. B purely ornamental ✓
3. C performing functions such as rule-making and interest articulation ✓
4. D unrelated to society ✓

Political participation includes

1. A only sleeping ✓
2. B only private cooking ✓
3. C only painting at home only ✓
4. D voting, protesting, lobbying and civic activism ✓

Federalism divides power between

1. A only private firms ✓
2. B only families ✓
3. C central and regional governments with constitutional autonomy ✓
4. D only clubs ✓

Unitary systems concentrate authority

1. A in every village independently sovereign ✓
2. B only in foreign states ✓
3. C only in courts alone ✓
4. D primarily in the central government ✓

Public policy is

1. A only private shopping lists ✓
2. B only dreams ✓
3. C what governments choose to do or not to do about public issues ✓
4. D only ancient myths only ✓

Political science is interdisciplinary because it draws on

1. A only chemistry ✓
2. B only geology ✓
3. C history, philosophy, economics, sociology and law ✓
4. D only anatomy alone ✓

The scientific status of political science is debated because politics involves

1. A human agency, values and limited predictability ✓
2. B no observable facts ✓
3. C no data ever ✓
4. D no institutions ✓