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Students Zone / Questions / Chapter 26: Politics: Forms of Government

1. Are we right to argue that there can be no obligation to obey unjust laws?

2. Do we have a ‘right to work’ in the same way that we have a ‘right to life’?

3. In some countries people have a choice over which car or washing machine to buy, but in others they don’t. Is there anything inherently valuable about having such choices?

4. To what extent is equality necessary for democracy? How do we decide which inequalities are unjust?

5. If technological and scientific progress legitimises more scientific approaches to political problems, thereby shifting more power into the hands of technocrats, does this make democracy unworkable?

6. Outline the key differences between political theorists on the role of the state. What are the main reasons for these differences?

7. To what extent do you believe political liberty can be reconciled with egalitarian principles?

8. Do you believe the idea of a social contract is successful in explaining why we have an obligation to obey the law? In your answer refer to at least two of the following: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Rawls.

9. What in your view is the difference between a moral and legal right?

10. Is democracy guaranteed by simply ensuring that there is free competition for votes?

11. Could it ever be legitimate to overthrow an elected government?

12. Do we have a right to break the law as long as we are prepared to face the consequences?

13. Are freedom and democracy necessarily linked?

14. What do you understand by liberal democracy? What are its essential conditions?