Examiners Report on 2004 Tertiary Entrance Examination Political and Legal Studies 1

2004 TERTIARY ENTRANCE EXAMINATION

SUBJECT: POLITICAL AND LEGAL STUDIES
PART A: Short Answers (Attempt 5 questions. Each 10 marks)
Question 1. (Mean 5.74)
(a) What is a joint sitting of the Commonwealth Parliament?
(b) Describe two main differences, as created by the Constitution, between the Senate and the
House of Representatives.
(c) Sometimes 1975 is described as a constitutional crisis. Present an argument to support,
and an argument against, this claim.
Question 2. (Mean 5.6)
(a) What is federalism?
(b) Describe three important features of financial relationships between the Commonwealth
and State Governments.
(c) Briefly describe the essence of one landmark decision of the High Court. Assess the
impact of this decision.
Question 3. (Mean 5.66)
(a) What is statute law?
(b) Distinguish between reversing and overruling in the interpretation of common law
precedent.
(c) Evaluate why judicial activism has its supporters and its critics.
Question 4. (Mean 5.02)
(a) What is delegated legislation?
(b) Briefly describe three main roles of the Cabinet.
(c) Briefly outline a main direction of change in recent public service reform. Examine an
advantage and disadvantage of this reform direction.
Question 5. (Mean 5.59)
(a) What is a professional lobbyist?
(b) Briefly describe three key factors that contribute to a pressure group being successful.
(c) For a minor political party, discuss a likely advantage and disadvantage of media
participation in an election campaign.
Question 6. (Mean 5.92)
(a) What is hearsay evidence?
(b) Distinguish between the judicial principles of balance of probabilities and beyond
reasonable doubt.
(c) Describe and evaluate a proposed reform at either the pre-trial, trial, or post-trial stage of
a criminal trial.

Question 7. (Mean 6.32)

(a) In a judicial sense, what is meant by the term equity?
(b) Discuss three key barriers to participation in the Australian legal system faced by
individuals.
(c) Assess the scope of the problem of access to the legal system faced by one sub-group of
Australian society.
PART B: ESSAYS
Question 8. (Mean 11.53)
The Constitutional Founders disagreed about how easy it would be to change Australias
Constitution.
Describe how Australias Constitution is formally amended. Given the history of proposals to
amend the constitution, assess the likelihood of future constitutional change in Australia.
Question 9. (Mean 10.62)
Broadly outline the principles of individual and collective ministerial responsibility. Assess
whether the Commonwealth Parliament has the procedures and practices to effectively ensure
these principles are upheld in modern Australian government.
Question 10. (Mean 9.65)
Discuss the claim that political parties, in the determination of their policies, are more
responsive to opinion polls than to their traditional bases of support.
Question 11. (Mean 11.87)
The electoral system of the Commonwealth Parliament is said to produce a parliament that is
representative of the people.
To what extent has this been the case throughout Australias federal history, particularly since
1918?
Question 12. (Mean 12.89)
The introduction of a Bill of Rights has become necessary to safeguard human rights for
Australia.
Assess the validity of this claim.