2011 - WAEC Government Past Questions and Answers - page 2

Sovereignty which  is the full right and power of a governing body over itself, without any interference from outside sources or bodies. It was profounded by Jean Bodin,  a French jurist and political philosopher, member of the Parliament of Paris and professor of law in Toulouse. He is best known for his theory of sovereignty; he was also an influential writer on demonology.

Popular sovereignty, or sovereignty of the peoples' rule, is the principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, through their elected representatives (Rule by the People), who is the source of all political power.

1. CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITATION OF SOVEREIGNTY: The constitution is the basic law of a country. Every law made by the legislature must be in conformity with the constitution otherwise such a law will be null and void. Similarly every constitution provides for the fundamental right of the citizens. These rights are inviolable.
2. NATURAL LIMITATION: The Sovereign cannot do certain things, which .are naturally impossible i.e. the sovereign cannot order the sun to rise in the west or cannot change the cycle of seasons. If a sovereign would claim to do that, he will be sent to the lunatic asylum.
3. MORAL LIMITATION: In theory the state can do anything. It cap make any kind of law. In can declare legal things to be illegal and vice versa. But in practice there seems to be difficulties. For example the parliament can pass a law saying that all blue eyed babies should be killed. Legally this is un­challengeable but in practice the government will find it very difficult to implement it because the government will not be in a position to face the public opinion which is based on morality. Similarly the government basis its laws on morality because it feels the people would obey and respect such laws. Somebody has very rightly said: there is much difference between law in books and late in action. In short the government and for that matter, the state has to observe moral principles.
4. HUMAN LIMITATION: No human being is perfect. There are limits to one's mental and physical faculties. A person may be able to do certain work for a certain period of time. It is not possible for him to continue to do the same thing for an unlimited and indefinite period. A sovereign has to take into consideration these limitations. If he over-steps these limitations, people will not cooperate with him. Sovereign can make a law ordering the people to sleep during day and to work at night. People will obey such a law but for a very short period because following such a law means overstepping physical limitations of human beings.
5. INTERNATIONAL LAW: Every state has to have relations with other states. These are regulated by a law known as International Law. Under normal circumstances every state is expected to obey international law. Non-observance of International Law would result in chaos and confusion in international field. So every state is compelled to observe International Law. In many states international law is regarded a part of the law of the land.

    

 

Democracy, literally, rule by the people. The term is derived from the Greek dēmokratiā, which was coined from dēmos (“people”) and kratos (“rule”) in themiddle of the 5th century bce to denote the political systems then existing in some Greek city-states, notably Athens.

Democracy is a system of rule by laws, not individuals. In a democracy, the rule of law protects the rights of citizens, maintains order, and limits the power of government. All citizens are equal under the law. No one may be discriminated against on the basis of their race, religion, ethnic group, or gender. A democratic government is one which is choosen by the majority (through elections) and protects the minority

The term political culture was brought into political science to promote the American political system. The concept was used by Gabriel Almond in the late 50s, and outlined in The Civic Culture (1963, Almond & Verba), but was soon opposed by two European political scientists, Gerhard Lehmbruch and Arend Lijphart.

Political culture is defined by the ideologies, values, beliefs, norms, customs, traditions, and heroes characteristic of a nation. People living in a particular political culture share views about the nature and operation of government.

Therefore, what is Congnitive orientation in political culture? The political culture is the frequency of different kinds of cognitive, affective and evaluative orientations toward the political system (in general), its input aspects, its output aspects and the self as political actor. It is a "subjective" definition, because it deals with beliefs and attitudes.

Political socialization is the "process by which individuals learn and frequently internalize a political lens framing their perceptions of how power is arranged and how the world around them is (and should be) organized; those perceptions, in turn, shape and define individuals' definitions of who they are and how they should behave in the political and economic institutions in which they live."

Political socialization also encompasses the way in which people acquire values and opinions that shape their political stance and ideology

Communalism usually refers to a system that integrates communal ownership and federations of highly localized independent communities. 

1. a theory or system of government in which communes or local communities, sometimes on an ethnic or religious basis, have virtual autonomy within a federated state