40 Politics and Law Trivia Questions for Kids
The easiest politics and law questions in the game, picked for younger players. Every one comes with the answer and a short explanation of why it is right.
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Easy Politics and Law Questions and Answers
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What is a jury called when it cannot reach the level of agreement the law requires for a verdict?
A hung jury
A jury that deadlocks is said to be hung, and the judge normally discharges it without a verdict. The case can then be tried again in front of an entirely new jury.
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What is an official pardon for a group of people called?
Amnesty
Amnesty is an official act that extends pardon or legal forgiveness to a group for specified offenses.
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A defendant is found not guilty. What is that outcome called?
An acquittal
An acquittal is a finding that the case against the defendant has not been proved, which clears them of the charge. A pardon is a different thing: it forgives a conviction that has already happened.
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What is a request for a higher court to review a lower court's decision called?
An appeal
An appeal asks a higher court to review what a lower court decided, usually on the ground that the law was applied wrongly or the trial was unfair. It is a review of that decision rather than a fresh trial of the facts.
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Most witnesses may only describe what they saw or heard. Which kind of witness is also allowed to give an opinion?
An expert witness
An expert witness is called because of specialized knowledge or training, and may give an opinion within that field, such as what a DNA sample or an X-ray shows. Every other witness is limited to the facts they personally observed.
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Which two chambers make up the Parliament of Australia?
Senate and House of Representatives
Australia has a bicameral Parliament. The Senate gives equal representation to the states, while the House of Representatives is based mainly on population.
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How certain does a court have to be before it convicts someone of a crime?
Beyond reasonable doubt
Criminal cases use the highest standard of proof, beyond reasonable doubt, because a conviction can cost a person their liberty. Civil cases are decided on the lower balance of probabilities, which asks only whether one side's account is likelier than the other's.
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What did the US Supreme Court rule in Brown v. Board of Education?
Segregating public schools by race is unconstitutional
The 1954 decision held that separate public schools for Black and white children violated the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection, overturning the separate-but-equal doctrine that had stood since 1896.
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What does CIA stand for?
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency handles foreign intelligence, while the FBI handles domestic law enforcement and counter-intelligence.
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Which British monarch became king at age 73?
Charles III
He had been heir apparent since his mother's accession in 1952, the longest wait of any heir apparent in British history before he finally acceded in 2022.
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A president vetoing a bill passed by Congress illustrates what principle?
Checks and balances
A presidential veto illustrates checks and balances because it limits Congress’s power to pass laws without executive approval. Congress can override the veto with a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate.
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A fingerprint at the scene does not show anyone committing the crime, but it supports an inference that they were there. What kind of evidence is that?
Circumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence establishes a fact by inference rather than proving it outright, unlike direct evidence such as an eyewitness who saw the act itself. A case can be proved on circumstantial evidence alone when the inferences are strong enough.
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What kind of case usually seeks a remedy between private parties?
Civil lawsuit
A civil lawsuit usually resolves a dispute between private parties by seeking a remedy such as money damages or a court order. Unlike a criminal case, its main purpose is generally to compensate an injured party or enforce a legal right rather than impose punishment.
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Someone who defies a judge's order or disrupts a hearing can be punished on the spot for what?
Contempt of court
Contempt of court covers conduct that defies the court's authority or disrupts its proceedings, from shouting down a judge to refusing to answer a lawful question. Courts can punish it immediately, which is unusual, since almost every other offense needs a trial of its own first.
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Which legal protection covers original creative works?
Copyright
Copyright protects original works of authorship, including writing, music, and visual art, subject to statutory limits.
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Which field studies crime as a social phenomenon, including its causes, patterns and prevention?
Criminology
Criminology asks why crime happens, who commits it and what actually reduces it, drawing on sociology, psychology and statistics. Forensic science applies laboratory technique to physical evidence, penology deals with punishment and prisons, and jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law.
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What is it called when a lawyer questions a witness who was called by the opposing side?
Cross-examination
Each side questions its own witnesses first, which is direct examination, and the other side then gets its turn in cross-examination. Cross-examination is where an account is tested for gaps, bias and contradictions.
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What is a false statement that harms another's reputation called?
Defamation
Defamation is a false statement of fact communicated to others that causes legally recognized harm to reputation, subject to applicable defenses.
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What rule generally bars a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal?
Double jeopardy
Double-jeopardy protections generally prevent a person from being tried again for the same offense after an acquittal or qualifying conviction.
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Which ancient city-state is generally credited with developing the earliest well-known democracy?
Athens
Athens developed a direct democracy in the 5th century BCE. Its citizenship rules were narrow, excluding women, enslaved people, and many residents.
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Which restriction does the Eighth Amendment place on government?
Cruel and unusual punishment
The Eighth Amendment prohibits the government from imposing cruel and unusual punishment. It also protects people from excessive bail and excessive fines.
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How many electors are in the US Electoral College?
538
The Electoral College has 538 electors: 435 representing the House, 100 representing the Senate, and 3 representing Washington, D.C.
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What is an official ban on trade with a country called?
Embargo
An embargo is an official government ban or restriction on trade with a particular country, often used to apply political or economic pressure. The word comes from the Spanish verb "embargar," meaning to seize or detain.
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Which political system divides power between a central government and regional ones?
Federalism
Federalism splits sovereignty: the central government and the regional ones each hold powers the other cannot simply revoke, usually written into a constitution. The United States, Germany and India are federal. France is unitary, its regions holding only what the centre chooses to delegate.
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The 15th Amendment prohibits denying voting rights based on what?
Race or color
Ratified in 1870, the 15th Amendment was designed to protect the voting rights of Black men after the Civil War. Later laws were needed to enforce that promise against widespread suppression.
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What phrase means declining to answer to avoid self-incrimination?
Taking the Fifth
“Taking the Fifth” means invoking the Fifth Amendment right not to be compelled to testify against yourself in a criminal case. It is also commonly called “pleading the Fifth.”
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Which freedoms are protected by the opening amendment of the US Bill of Rights?
Religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition
The First Amendment protects five related freedoms: religion, speech, press, peaceful assembly, and petitioning the government. These protections constrain government action, not every private decision.
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The Fourth Amendment protects people against what?
Unreasonable searches and seizures
The Fourth Amendment guards against unreasonable government searches and seizures. Warrants generally require probable cause and must identify what is being searched or taken.
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How many terms did Franklin D. Roosevelt serve as US president?
Four terms
FDR served from 1933 until his death in 1945 and remains the only US president elected four times. The 22nd Amendment later limited presidents to two elected terms.
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What do the Geneva Conventions primarily regulate?
Treatment of people in wartime
The Geneva Conventions protect wounded and sick soldiers, prisoners of war, and civilians during armed conflict. They are central to modern international humanitarian law.
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What conflict did the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 largely bring to an end?
The Troubles in Northern Ireland
The agreement created a power-sharing framework in Northern Ireland and set principles for relations within the island and with Britain. It sharply reduced the violence known as the Troubles.
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In what year did the Gunpowder Plot take place?
1605
Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators planned to blow up the House of Lords on November 5, 1605. The plot was discovered before the explosion could occur.
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What is it called when a witness repeats what another person told them, rather than what they saw or heard happen themselves?
Hearsay
Hearsay is second-hand evidence: a witness reporting what someone else said, offered to show that what was said is true. Courts restrict it because the person who originally said it is not there to be questioned about it.
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What process formally accuses a public official of serious misconduct?
Impeachment
Impeachment is a formal process for charging a public official with alleged misconduct; removal, where applicable, is decided separately.
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What power lets a court assess whether a law violates a constitution?
Judicial review
Judicial review lets a court refuse to enforce a law it finds unconstitutional. In the United States it was never written into the constitution; the Supreme Court claimed it for itself in Marbury v. Madison in 1803.
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The League of Nations was created in the aftermath of which war?
World War I
The League of Nations was founded in 1920, its covenant written into the Treaty of Versailles, to stop another war like the one that had just ended. The United States, whose president Woodrow Wilson had championed the idea, never joined.
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What did Magna Carta establish about the English king's authority?
That the king was bound by the law
Magna Carta, sealed by King John at Runnymede in 1215, tied the crown to written rules. Most famously, no free man could be seized or imprisoned except by the lawful judgement of his equals and the law of the land. Nearly every specific clause was later repealed, but the principle that the king stood under the law rather than above it outlasted all of them.
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Which US Supreme Court case established the principle of judicial review?
Marbury v. Madison
In Marbury v. Madison, decided in 1803, the Supreme Court asserted the power to declare an act of Congress unconstitutional. This became a central feature of US constitutional law.
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In British politics, what does MP stand for?
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is elected to represent a constituency in the House of Commons.
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What did Miranda v. Arizona require police to do before custodial interrogation?
Inform suspects of their rights
The 1966 decision led to the familiar Miranda warning about the right to remain silent and the right to counsel. The warning protects the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
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