Faculty of Humanities

Government and Politics

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Guide to A Level Governments and Politics (Edexcel)

Minimum recommended entry requirements:
Grade B in GCSE English Language.

Government and Politics is probably a new subject to you, and the most successful students are generally those with a range of good GCSE results. This is a subject which is examined via written papers and a good standard of written English is required.

The course follows the normal AS/A2 route with three modules in the first year leading to an AS qualification and three further modules in the second year leading to the full A Level qualification. The modules will, in each year, be taken in the Summer Term.

Advanced Subsidiary (AS)

The first year offers you the chance to get a thorough grounding in British politics, something that would be a useful addition to most other subject combinations. Each of the three units is worth one third of the marks in the AS examinations in June.

Unit 1 People and Politics

This unit introduces students to the study of politics by looking at the central ideas of citizenship, democracy and participation. It looks at elections and asks questions like ‘Do elections guarantee democracy?’. It studies political parties and what they believe. Finally, it looks at pressure groups (groups like Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and trade unions) and asks what roles they fulfil in the British system.

Unit 2 Governing the UK

This unit provides an introduction to the major institutions of UK government and asks about their relationships with each other and their effectiveness. To do this we study Parliament, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, the civil service and the judiciary.

Unit 3 The Changing UK System

Finally we look at the ways in which our system is changing. We study calls for a new system for electing Parliament, the introduction of a Scottish Parliament and a Welsh Assembly in 1999 and Britain’s developing relationship with the European Union.

Advanced Level (A2)

In order that we can give students a thorough understanding of how democracy works we study the ‘other great democracy’ during the second year – the United States of America. Again, this is via three units, all equally weighted and examined in June.

Unit 4 Representation in the USA

This follows much the same lines as Unit 1, but we study American institutions instead of British ones. It allows us to look at different ways of achieving common problems – electing the government, getting rid of the government if they make too much of a mess, solving a different set of racial, ethnic and cultural problems.

Unit 5 Governing the USA

Similar to Unit 2, this looks at the US Constitution (‘the oldest written constitution in the world’), and constitutional change, the President, Congress and the Supreme Court.

Unit 6 Comparative UK and US Politics

This unit takes the themes established in units 1 – 5 and compares the approach of the two countries. As in other units, it looks at the ideas behind parliaments, governments, elections, political parties etc.

The course requires a considerable commitment to background reading and keeping abreast of the current political events of the day via both the press and television.

Government and Politics has been combined with every subject offered within the Sixth Form syllabus. Clearly it enhances a study of History, Sociology, Geography, Psychology or English, but its contemporary nature and obvious relevance attracts student from every subject area.

Those of you who are thinking of careers in law, journalism, social administration, business and management would find the subject of direct use in both higher education and employment; there are few courses or types of employment where an understanding of the way political decisions are made and carried out is not important!
For those considering the subject at Advanced Subsidiary only, the attraction of knowing the organisation and behaviour of the politics and government of their own country should support most other subjects. It should also be a valuable asset when looking for employment or higher education courses.

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