Instructions: For each question, click on the radio button beside your answer. When you have completed the entire quiz, click the “Submit my answers” button at the bottom of the page to receive your results.

Question 1:

Which of the following is not one of the responsibilities of the Monarch?
a) Appointing the leader of the official opposition
b) Deciding when Parliament should be dissolved
c) Deciding when a new election will be held
d) Appointing the Prime Minister
e) Both B and C

Question 2:

Which of the following best describes the role of the monarchy in Canada’s system of government?
a) Activist
b) Advisory
c) Symbolic
d) Mentor
e) Irreplaceable

Question 3:

Cabinet Ministers are typically what?
a) Senators
b) Career bureaucrats
c) Private citizens
d) The Monarch’s top officials
e) Privy councillors

Question 4:

What is the Privy Council?
a) The Prime Minister’s office
b) The cabinet
c) The Governor General’s office
d) Senators belonging to the same party as the government
e) The monarch's top officials

Question 5:

Which of the following is not one of the powers of the Prime Minister?
a) Provincial premiers
b) Who will be appointed to, or removed from, cabinet
c) Appointing deputy ministers
d) When a new election will be held
e) Appointing judges

Question 6:

Which of the following is not one of the factors that make the Prime Minister the pre-eminent figure in Canadian government?
a) The weakness of Canada’s political parties
b) Relationship between the political executive and the media
c) Responsible government
d) The support of the monarch
e) Accountability

Question 7:

The influence of a cabinet minister is most dependent on what?
a) The support of his/her party caucus
b) The support of the Governor General
c) The support of the Prime Minister
d) The support of his/her fellow Cabinet colleagues
e) The support of his/her constituents

Question 8:

What are central agencies?
a) The administrative offices of the Governor General
b) The original Crown Corporations
c) The offices of Supreme Court judges
d) Parts of the bureaucracy whose main purpose is to support the decision-making activities of cabinet
e) Government ministries

Question 9:

Which of the following is not one of the central agencies?
a) Department of Finance
b) Special Committee of Council
c) Treasury board secretariat
d) Prime minister’s office
e) Privy Council office

Question 10:

How is the Department of Finance able to influence the entire spectrum of government policy?
a) Through its role in advising the opposition parties on economic policy
b) Through its role in the formulation of the expenditure budget
c) Through its role in the formulation of the governing party’s electoral platform
d) Through its role in advising the Governor General on financial matters
e) None of the above

Question 11:

What is the Privy Council office?
a) The Governor General’s secretariat
b) Cabinet’s secretariat
c) A principal source of policy advice to the Prime Minister
d) Both A and C
e) Both B and C

Question 12:

The Treasury Board Secretariat is not responsible for which of the following?
a) Employment and personnel matters
b) Macro economic and budgeting decisions
c) Micro economic and budgeting decisions
d) Administrative policy within the federal government
e) Both A and C

Question 13:

Which of the following is not a responsibility of the Prime Minister’s Office?
a) Providing the Prime Minister with political advice
b) Formulating the expenditure outlook
c) Administration of the Prime Minister’s affairs
d) Preparing the Prime Minister for Question Period
e) Both A and D

Question 14:

What does the term “Prime Ministerial Government” refer to?
a) The increased power of the Prime Minister, the increased role of cabinet, and the decreasing role of Parliament
b) The decreased power of the Prime Minister, the decreased role of cabinet, and the increased role of Parliament
c) The increased power of the Prime Minister, the reduced role of cabinet, and the reduced role of Parliament
d) The decreased power of the Prime Minister, the increased role of cabinet, and the increased role of Parliament
e) The increased power of the Prime Minister, the increased role of cabinet, and the increasing role of Parliament

Question 15:

Which of the following is not one of the functions of the Intergovernmental Affairs Office?
a) Advising the Prime Minister on relations with the governments of other countries
b) Providing advice to the Prime Minister on national unity matters
c) Providing communications support on federal–provincial relations
d) Working with the provincial governments
e) Developing policy with respect to Aboriginal peoples

Question 16:

Counterweights to the power of Canadian prime ministers can more plausibly be found in the courts, the media, and the provinces than where?
a) In the cabinet
b) In the governments of other countries
c) In the opposition parties
d) In the public service
e) In business organizations

Question 17:

What is the major role of the bureaucracy?
a) Policy implementation
b) Measuring public opinion
c) Election campaign strategy
d) Media relations
e) Controlling parliamentary decision-making

Question 18:

What are the major components of the bureaucracy?
a) The public service, agencies and tribunals, and crown corporations
b) The public service, crown corporations, and the courts
c) Agencies and tribunals, crown corporations, and the military
d) Crown corporations, the courts, and the military
e) The military, the courts, and the public service

Question 19:

Which of the following is not a function of the bureaucracy?
a) Provision of services to the public
b) Generating policy advice
c) Interpretation of regulations
d) Providing campaign support for ministers
e) Disbursement of funds to groups, organizations and individuals

Question 20:

What does the term “representative bureaucracy” mean?
a) Bureaucrats should take into account citizens’ preferences when developing policy.
b) The higher echelons of the public services should be comprised of elected representatives.
c) The bureaucracy should be comprised of the several cultural communities in Canada.
d) Bureaucrats should be required to make themselves more accessible to the public.
e) The composition of the bureaucracy should reasonably reflect the major demographic characteristics of society.

Question 21:

Which of the following characterizes the influence of the legislature on policy?
a) More influential than the bureaucracy and more influential than cabinet
b) Less influential than the bureaucracy and less influential than cabinet
c) More influential than the bureaucracy and less influential than cabinet
d) Less influential than the bureaucracy and more influential than cabinet
e) None of the above

Question 22:

Representation in the Senate is determined on what basis?
a) Region
b) Province
c) Constituency
d) Municipality
e) Nation

Question 23:

What is the most fundamental function of the legislature?
a) Giving policy advice
b) Passage of laws
c) Formulating policy platforms
d) “Sober second thought”
e) Controlling citizens

Question 24:

What three important roles does Parliament fulfill in Canada’s political system?
a) Representation, debate, and legitimation
b) Legitimation, debate, and analysis
c) Analysis, representation, and debate
d) Representation, debate, and legitimation
e) Analysis, legitimation, and debate

Question 25:

Which two facts demonstrate the limited influence of the governing party’s caucus?
a) Caucus members are unelected and caucus members do not get to vote on bills.
b) Caucus members do not get to vote on bills and caucus enters the policy-making process late.
c) Extremely unpopular policies are not affected by caucus opposition and caucus members do not get to vote on bills.
d) Extremely unpopular policies are not affected by caucus opposition and caucus enters the policy-making process late.
e) None of the above

Question 26:

When the Monarch is not in Canada her duties are carried out by the Prime Minister.
a) True
b) False

Question 27:

The relationship between the media and the political executive is mutually dependent.
a) True
b) False

Question 28:

Each new session of Parliament begins with the presentation of a budget.
a) True
b) False

Question 29:

Changes in the allocation of public money are not usually a good indicator of the government’s priorities.
a) True
b) False

Question 30:

The PCO is the lead agency for the formulation of substantive policy and strategic planning.
a) True
b) False

Question 31:

The Intergovernmental Affairs office has always been a prominent central agency.
a) True
b) False

Question 32:

The PMO is unconcerned with policy matters.
a) True
b) False

Question 33:

The Ottawa “mandarins” were a group of top officials associated with particular parts of the bureaucracy who exercised tremendous influence on the direction of federal policy.
a) True
b) False

Question 34:

A grossly unrepresentative bureaucracy does not really need to be a matter of concern.
a) True
b) False

Question 35:

The influence of legislatures on policy is much greater than that of Cabinet or the bureaucracy.
a) True
b) False

Question 36:

Representation in the Senate is based on regions.
a) True
b) False

Question 37:

Legislation involving spending or the raising of public money can be introduced in the Senate.
a) True
b) False

Question 38:

Parliamentary committees regularly have a significant impact on the bills placed before them.
a) True
b) False

Question 39:

The partisan affiliations of judges are the cornerstone of the Canadian judicial system.
a) True
b) False

Question 40:

The courts are entirely separate from the political process.
a) True
b) False

Higher Education

Canadian Democracy, A Concise Introduction - Chapter 8