Locate the Parliament Trivia Quiz

Answer: Stormont, Northern Ireland

Depending on your political provenance, Stormont is either located in the North of Ireland (to nationalists) or Northern Ireland (to unionists). Most Irish nationalist parties like Sinn Fein operate across the whole island of Ireland, even refusing to take up parliamentary seats in the UK government. On the other hand, unionist parties like the Democratic Unionist Party have withdrawn support for Stormont at various periods, preventing it from meeting. Cardiff and Holyrood are the locations of devolved Welsh and Scottish governments, within which there are political parties favoring independence. London is the location of the main UK Parliament, which meets in the Palace of Westminster.

Answer: Strasbourg, France

The roughly 700 members of the European Parliament are elected by each country in the European Union (EU). As well as their national political parties, most Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) join an alliance based on their left-right political stance, support of or opposition to the EU, and other key positions.

Answer: Cape Town, South Africa

South Africa's legislative capital is Cape Town, while Bloemfontein is known as the judicial capital and Pretoria as the executive capital.

The ANC was founded in 1912 as a liberation movement and played a significant role in the end of apartheid. It existed illegally for a period when the South African government suppressed communist activities. Nelson Mandela was a member of the South African Communist Party and the African National Congress at different periods of his life. The ANC dominated the South African parliament in the fallout of apartheid. After the 2024 elections, the ANC lost its majority in parliament for the first time, but remained the largest party.

Answer: Ottawa, Canada

As a member of the Commonwealth, Canada's electoral system was based heavily on the United Kingdom, where its monarch originates. Rather than "constituencies", its electoral districts are called "ridings". Its upper house is the Senate, rather than the House of Lords.

Some of this applies to Australia and New Zealand too. However, the Australian parliamentary system uses proportional representation and New Zealand does not have separated lower and upper houses.

Answer: Valparaiso, Chile

The Chilean National Congress formed in 1811 while Chile was under the Spanish Empire. This was based on a small election of rulers, not suffrage of the population. In the 1900s, universal suffrage was introduced in several steps.

In 1970, the Socialist Salvador Allende was narrowly elected as president with 37% of the vote. The Soviet Union had supported Allende in the election and the United States campaigned against him. The opposition gained a majority in the 1973 parliamentary election but could not vote to remove him from office. In a military coup that the CIA participated in, Allende was removed from office. Augusto Pinochet led an undemocratic military dictatorship until 1990, when Chile began to transition back to democracy.

Answer: New Delhi, India

The 2024 election was an enormous logistical challenge, taking place from April 19 to June 1. It incorporated millions of polling stations and millions of staff. Voting took place electronically.

The National Democratic Alliance, dominated by the BJP, formed a government with Narendra Modi continuing as Prime Minister. The main opposition was an alliance called I.N.D.I.A.

Answer: Berlin, Germany

The Reichstag was used by the German Empire and Weimar Germany. The culprit in the Reichstag fire of 1933 is not universally agreed upon, but the Nazi Party said that it was Marinus van der Lubbe as part of a communist plot. Hitler was soon granted unlimited power and the Reichstag did not meet under Nazi Germany. It was reconstructed by West Germany and, several after German reunification in 1990, parliament met at the Reichstag again in 1999.

Today, the Reichstag is dominated by the left-wing Social Democratic Party, founded in 1863 as a Marxist party, and the right-wing Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union alliance, from which Angela Merkel came. However, the Reichstag's use of proportional representation with electoral lists means that many more political parties are represented in parliament.

Answer: Kigali, Rwanda

In the 2008 election, as per the 2003 Constitution, 24 of 80 seats were reserved for women and chosen by electoral college. Another three seats were reserved for youth and disabled representatives. A coalition led by the Rwandan Patriotic Front held the majority of elected seats. In the image, the white dots represent politicians elected by electoral colleges or committee. In red is the Social Democratic Party and in green is the Liberal Party.

While it maintains gender diversity, not all is well in the Rwandan parliament. The country has suffered the consequences of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which many Tutsi were killed and rape was used as a weapon of war. Some opposition parties have accused the RPF of controlling the election apparatus and results, while groups involved in the genocide have also been accused of continuing violence during election periods.

Answer: Parliament House, Singapore

Singapore has a single chamber made up mostly of elected Members of Parliament. In the first four general elections, literally every single MP returned was from the conservative People's Action Party. In 1984, the government introduced Non-Constituency MPs to bring the Opposition parties to at least twelve seats in each parliament, based on the highest vote thresholds for politicians who were not elected. Additionally, the president appoints Nominated MPs throughout the parliament.

The country is often described as technocratic in both praise and criticism. Supporters of the government may claim effectiveness in healthcare, education and public policy, while opponents may think the country lacks political freedom.

Answer: Brasilia, Brazil

The congress's logo includes the distinctive building shapes. The tall buildings are office blocks, one hemisphere (wider at the bottom) is where the Senate sit and one (wider at the top) is where the Chamber of the Deputies sit.

The latter is directly elected every four years by proportional representation, in a general election that also decides the president. Senators are elected for eight years to represent the states and Federal Districts of Brazil, with Senate elections every four years for those whose terms have expired.