Government and Politics

This course provides a very exciting and wide ranging approach to an extensive variety of aspects of government and politics in the UK and USA. It is very current and contemporary and its very nature is one of constant change. It begins by looking changing patterns of voting behaviour and the factors influencing this such as class, ethnicity, gender and contemporary issues. There is a strong emphasis on the nature of the state, democracy, power and authority. There is in-depth study of the major and minor political parties, their organisation, ideologies and actual and potential policies.

 

On another level the structure and workings of parliament and the constitution are addressed so that students are fully aware as to how and why the governments of the UK and USA function as they do. The important issues of representation, accountability and scrutiny are assessed.

 

In A2 the structures and nuances of the US political system can be studied in both papers. This year we have chosen to study in the first paper the four major political ideologies of socialism, fascism, conservatism and liberalism in detail with corresponding policies. To follow this we have studied ideologies in action on the final paper. This links ideology and policy to specific issues including gender, ethnicity, education, the environment and the economy. Applying knowledge in this way is synoptic and draws the threads of the course together. It requires excellent understanding of the subject and importantly the application of that understanding.

 

A course of this nature is a very useful humanities subject for university entry. It is academic and essay based and so shows evidence of good writing, learning and discursive skills. It can be studied as a pure or applied subject at higher education level and can be combined with a variety of other courses within and outside the context of social science.

 

If a student wants to be at the cutting edge of current affairs, constantly being challenged by the changing nature of politics, policies, political personalities, history, contemporary issues as well as media representation then this is the subject to do.

 

There are two exams in each of AS and A2 with an element of choice at A2 level. There is no coursework.