Government & Politics
Head of Department: Mrs J O’Hare
Awarding Body: Edexcel
Entry Requirements: GCSE Grade 5 or above in History or another essay-based subject.
Person Specification: Students must have a willingness to follow national and global political events via the press, TV, radio and Internet.
Course Description
How we govern ourselves and political issues affect everyone, and in a world changing evermore rapidly, an understanding of politics is invaluable. Politics is about the study of power and, in a democracy, this should lie with the people. You will discover how much power people really have and you may be surprised by what you uncover!
The main aim of the course is to develop awareness of the nature of politics and the relationship between political ideas, institutions and processes, with particular reference to the political systems of the UK and the USA.
The course involves a visit to Parliament and in some years, an optional study tour of Washington DC. There will also be opportunities to attend conferences that address key political issues and hear well-known speakers. A range of debate competitions are also offered to students regularly and we have had some very successful teams in the past!
This course consists of four topics studied over a two-year period:
- UK Politics Democracy and Political Participation, Political Parties, Electoral Systems Voting Behaviour and the Media.
- UK Government Constitution, Parliament, PM and Government, relations between the branches.
- US Government and Politics Constitution, Congress, Presidency, Supreme Court, Democracy and Participation, Civil Rights.
- Political Ideologies Liberalism, Conservatism, Socialism, Feminism.
Government & Politics is complementary to a number of other A level subjects such as History, Business Studies, Economics, Psychology and Sociology and provides a good foundation for numerous university courses.
Progression
Further study: An A level in Politics is a highly regarded subject at university and our students often go on to study this at university. Other courses which lead on well from Politics A level are International Relations, Law, History and PPE (Politics, Philosophy and Economics).
Careers: Students can use this qualification to pursue careers in Business, Law, Politics, Media, Teaching, Diplomacy and Journalism, to name but a few.