Exam Board: Edexcel
Politics is the study of conflict and power. If you follow the news and care about what is happening in the economy, in government or foreign countries, A Level Politics may be the right subject for you. In any society, there are arguments about how we should run our lives and allocate scarce resources. Politics is the study of these disagreements and how they are resolved. In a democracy such as the UK, these conflicts are resolved peacefully through voting or pressure groups. However, in other countries, or on the world stage, violence, terrorism and war are used to resolve differences. Politics is an exciting and dynamic subject which draws on real examples from the world around us to answer the question of ‘how should we live our lives and organise our affairs?’
In Year 1, you will study: Democracy & participation, political parties, elections & referenda, voting behaviour & the media, the UK constitution, parliament, prime minister & the executive and relations with other institutions, liberalism, socialism, conservatism and feminism.
In Year 2, you will study: US Constitution & federalism, US Congress, US Presidency, US Supreme Court and US democracy and participation. You will also make comparisons between how politics works in the USA and the UK.
The course is assessed entirely through examinations (with no coursework). You will sit three written exam papers of equal value, at the end of your second year. During the two years at St Dominic’s, you will take several ‘end of topic assessments’, ‘progress checks’ and internally assessed exams in order to prepare you fully for the three externally assessed exams.
Although many of our students go on to read pure Politics at university, the skills you will develop on this course will equip you for a wide range of subject areas – for example Law, International Relations, Economics, Classics, Sociology, History and Philosophy. Among recent students, one now is a London Councilor and another is a political commentator and a regular contributor to GB News.
The former UK Energy and Industry Secretary, The Rt. Hon. Tony Benn MP asked these five questions of democracy throughout his life.
“What power have you got?”
“Where did you get it from?”
“In whose interests do you use it?”
“To whom are you accountable?”
“How do we get rid of you?
If you study A Level Politics at St Dominic’s we will try to answer Mr. Benn’s questions!