Government and the Economy is one of 9 topics in the Grade 8 Economic and Management Sciences CAPS syllabus, covered across 3 lessons on Study Vault. Below are real practice questions from this topic with full worked answers.
Sample practice questions
Easy
1. What is a government?
The group of people and institutions with the power to run a country, make its laws, and provide services
A single wealthy business owner who controls all the shops in a country
A club that only rich families are allowed to join
A type of bank that only governments can use
Answer: The group of people and institutions with the power to run a country, make its laws, and provide services — A government is the group of people and institutions with the power to run a country, make its laws, and provide the services that keep a country functioning.
Easy
2. Name ONE service that government provides which a poor family might not be able to afford on its own.
Answer: healthcare — Government services such as public healthcare, public education, roads and policing are provided so access does not depend only on how much money a family has.
Medium
3. In a country with no government at all, which of these would most likely happen?
Only families who can pay would get education and healthcare
Everyone would automatically share resources fairly
Crime would disappear because nobody would need rules
Businesses would pay workers more because there are no laws
Answer: Only families who can pay would get education and healthcare — Without government-run public schools and clinics, only people who could personally afford private services would receive them, which is deeply unfair to poorer households.
