Politics

Exam board: Edexcel

Why study this subject:

Who should study politics, and why? The short answer is that everyone should study politics — all members of society should have a better understanding of the general rules under which they live. For these rules to be effective, as many people as possible should actively participate in making them, upholding them and maybe, changing them. This is what is meant by ‘active citizenship’. A healthy society is a society in which many people participate in political activity and do so with insight and understanding.

However, certain students will undoubtedly find politics more exciting than others. What makes politics different as an academic subject is its emphasis on debate, discussion and argument. If politics exists because people disagree studying politics must mean studying how, why and when people disagree and taking an interest in these disagreements. What is more, we study these things not as neutral observers but as active participants. Facts (what is) and values (what should be) are so closely entwined in politics that it is often impossible to prise them apart.

Units:

Component 1: UK Politics

1Political Participation, students will study: ● democracy and participation, political parties, electoral systems, voting behaviour and the media.

2. Core Political Ideas, students will study: ● conservatism, liberalism, socialism.

Component 2: UK Government

1. UK Government, students will study: ● the constitution, parliament, Prime Minister and executive, relationships between the branches.

2. Optional Political Ideas, students will study: ● one idea from the following: anarchism, ecologism, feminism, multiculturalism, nationalism.

Component 3: Comparative Politics

For Global (3B) students will study: ● theories of Global Politics, sovereignty and globalisation, global governance: political and economic, global governance: human rights and environmental, power and developments, regionalism and the European Union.

How will I be assessed: 

3 x 2 hour exams

Future course and possible careers:  

Career in politics, journalism, law and  teaching.