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Students Zone - Self test questions
Use these questions both to test your detailed knowledge of each chapter. Make a note of your answers and then consult the answers page on this website. If you score less than 12 correct answers for any chapter, you probably need to spend more time re-reading and revising its contents.
CHAPTER 14: Parties and Their Organisation
1. At the 2001 General Election the two largest parties reported combined spending of:
a) £18 million
b) £23 million
c) £30 million
2. Parties:
a) Represent one single interest
b) Are completely independent of interests
c) Represent coalitions of interests
3. In the Westminster system:
a) Parties are the main channel of recruitment for political leaders
b) Are one important method among many
c) Are irrelevant to recruitment
4. The origins of the mass party can be attributed to:
a) The electoral reform of 1832
b) The electoral reform of 1867
c) The electoral reform of 1885
5. Before 1914 the main opponents of the Conservative Party were:
a) The Labour Party
b) The Liberal Party
c) The Liberal Democratic Party
6. The numbers of Young Conservatives in recent decades:
a) Have declined greatly
b) Have grown greatly
c) Have remained more or less the same
7. The Conservative Leadership under the system in use prior to any reform in 2005/6 is decided by:
a) A ballot of Conservative MPs alone
b) A ballot of members of Conservative constituency associations alone
c) By a combination of balloting MPs and party members
8. The organisation of Conservative MPs is known as:
a) The 1922 Committee
b) The 1931 Committee
c) The 1945 Committee
9. The Labour Party is:
a) A federation of Constituency Labour Parties
b) A federation of trade unions
c) A federation of many different organisations
10. In the last two decades Labour Party constituency membership has:
a) Grown
b) Remained about constant
c) Declined
11. Since the 1980s the relative size of the union 'block vote' in the Labour Party has:
a) Grown
b) Remained about constant
c) Declined
12. In 1988 the Liberal Party merged with:
a) The Social Democrats
b) The Liberal Democrats
c) The Free Democrats
13. The Welsh and Scottish nationalist parties are:
a) Parties primarily created to fight Westminster elections
b) Parties primarily created beyond the Westminster system
c) Parties created first for Westminster elections, then to fight beyond the Westminster system
14. The regulator of political parties is called:
a) The Electoral Commission
b) The Committee on Standards in Public Life
c) OFPARTY
15. The following best summarises the changing role of parties in British politics:
a) They are in decline
b) They are growing in importance
c) They are changing their nature
