2.3.2 Ministerial responsibility Quiz: Pearson Edexcel Politics, Unit 2

The 20 questions

1. Under individual ministerial responsibility, to whom is a minister accountable for departmental failings?

   • Parliament
   • The monarch
   • The electorate directly
   • The judiciary

2. What convention requires Cabinet ministers to publicly support agreed government policy?

   • Individual responsibility
   • Ministerial code
   • Collective responsibility
   • Executive privilege

3. Sir Geoffrey Howe's 1990 resignation is a famous historical example of breaking which convention?

   • Collective responsibility
   • Individual responsibility
   • Royal prerogative
   • Parliamentary privilege

4. Which document sets out the expected standards of conduct for UK government ministers?

   • Erskine May
   • Cabinet Manual
   • Ministerial Code
   • Halsbury's Laws

5. Through which parliamentary bodies do MPs rigorously scrutinise the work of government departments?

   • Boundary commissions
   • Cabinet committees
   • Select committees
   • Privy Council

6. Which principle requires a government minister to resign following a major failure in their department?

   • Individual ministerial responsibility
   • Executive privilege
   • Collective responsibility
   • Parliamentary sovereignty

7. Publicly opposing an agreed government policy breaches which constitutional convention?

   • Individual responsibility
   • Collective responsibility
   • Ministerial immunity
   • Crown prerogative

8. Giving Parliament misleading information about departmental policy most directly threatens what?

   • Ministerial accountability
   • Cabinet secrecy
   • Judicial independence
   • Royal assent

9. Which concept holds a minister personally accountable for actions within their specific government department?

   • Individual responsibility
   • Parliamentary privilege
   • Collective responsibility
   • Executive dominance

10. What practice most frequently weakens the practical enforcement of individual ministerial responsibility?

    • Appointing peers
    • Holding general elections
    • Dissolving Parliament
    • Blaming civil servants

11. Announcing a major policy change to the media before Parliament bypasses which convention?

    • Cabinet unity
    • Royal prerogative
    • Judicial review
    • Parliamentary primacy

12. What is the primary reason critics argue individual ministerial responsibility is weak?

    • Resignations are rare
    • Ministers lack power
    • Parliaments are abolished
    • Courts override ministers

13. What is considered the main constitutional benefit of collective cabinet responsibility?

    • Government unity
    • Codified rights
    • Federalism
    • Judicial review

14. Which historic event saw the temporary suspension of collective cabinet responsibility over Europe?

    • 1975 general election
    • 2010 coalition deal
    • 2016 EU referendum
    • 2019 Brexit deadlock

15. Which parliamentary body most effectively scrutinises departments to reinforce ministerial responsibility?

    • Boundary Commission
    • House of Lords
    • Select committees
    • Privy Council

16. Under constitutional conventions, who ultimately bears responsibility for administrative errors by civil servants?

    • The Attorney General
    • The Cabinet Secretary
    • The Speaker
    • The departmental minister

17. Which convention ensures government unity by binding all ministers to agreed Cabinet decisions?

    • Sub judice rule
    • Collective responsibility
    • Individual responsibility
    • Salisbury convention

18. What does a Prime Minister failing to dismiss publicly dissenting ministers indicate?

    • Weak cabinet discipline
    • Absolute monarchy
    • Federal devolution
    • Codified constitution

19. What is the primary constitutional source enforcing UK ministerial responsibility?

    • Supreme court rulings
    • Statute law
    • EU directives
    • Conventions

20. What is the main constitutional function of a ministerial resignation following a scandal?

    • Amending statutes
    • Reinforcing accountability
    • Dissolving parliament
    • Triggering elections

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