The whole course, paper by paper

• The course, and the words politics runs on

  • Choose a valid cohort and paper route: select exam year, one non-core idea and exactly one Paper 3 route; distinguish learning checks from exam questions.
  • Use political concepts precisely: distinguish legitimacy, sovereignty, authority and representation in a short institutional example.
  LessonPractice
• Evidence and political data

  • Select and date political evidence: attach a primary source, event date and limitation to a claim; distinguish event date from article date.
  • Read political data critically: distinguish votes from seats, percentages from counts and correlation from a causal explanation.
  LessonPractice
• Analysis and the serious alternative

  • Build a causal explanation: connect a relevant example to a mechanism and its consequence for the question rather than recounting events.
  • Develop a serious alternative: explain a plausible competing account and the conditions in which it is stronger.
  LessonPractice
• Planning and a justified judgement

  • Plan a focused extended answer: unpack command, scope and proposition; order thematic arguments and select relevant evidence.
  • Justify a comparative judgement: choose a stated criterion, weigh the competing accounts and explain the extent of a conclusion.
  LessonPractice
• Reading a source as an argument

  • Analyse opposing source claims: link each analytical claim to a source span, compare the positions and use outside evidence to develop that claim.
  LessonPractice
• Comparing ideas and systems

  • Compare strands through thinkers: explain an appropriate specified thinker accurately and use it to test agreement or tension within one ideology.
  • Write a matched 12-mark comparison: develop paired examples on the requested comparison axis; use only AO1 and AO2 without an AO3 checklist.
  LessonPractice

• Direct and representative democracy, and the vote

  • Compare democratic methods: direct and representative democracy, democratic deficit, reform
  • Explain suffrage change: 1832, 1918, 1928, 1969 franchise milestones, suffragists and suffragettes, a current franchise movement
  LessonPractice
• Pressure groups and rights

  • Assess participation outside parties: pressure groups and methods, two contrasting pressure groups, think tanks, lobbyists, corporations
  • Evaluate protection of rights: rights development, individual and collective rights, civil liberties, two rights-related pressure groups, Magna Carta, Human Rights Act 1998, Equality Act 2010
  LessonPractice
• What parties do, and how they are funded

  • Explain party functions and funding: representation, recruitment, policy, participation, funding debates
  • Compare established parties over time: Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat origins and development, economic, welfare, law-and-order, foreign policy
  LessonPractice
• Smaller parties and the party system

  • Assess smaller-party influence: two emerging or minor parties, ideas and policies, importance
  • Explain party-system outcomes: UK multiparty-system development, implications for government, leadership, media
  LessonPractice
• How UK electoral systems work, and referendums

  • Explain how UK electoral rules work: FPTP, AMS, STV, closed proportional list in Issue 4, historical SV in Issue 3, different elections
  • Evaluate referendum use: UK referendums since 1997, political versus democratic purposes, outcomes
  LessonPractice
• What electoral systems do to results

  • Assess electoral-system effects: government type, party representation, voter choice, system reform
  LessonPractice
• Voting behaviour and the media

  • Explain contrasting election outcomes: class, age, ethnicity, gender, region, party identification, governing competence, manifesto, leadership, one election from 1945–1992, the 1997 election and one since 1997
  • Assess media influence: opinion polls, newspaper and broadcast coverage, media bias, voter effects
  LessonPractice

• Conservatism: core principles, people and society

  • Explain conservatism principles: pragmatism, tradition, human imperfection, organic society, paternalism, libertarianism, hierarchy and authority, property
  • Compare views of people and society: human nature, society, freedom or order, equality
  LessonPractice
• Conservatism: state, economy and strands

  • Compare state and economy views: state, economy, ownership, intervention
  • Explain internal strands: traditional, One Nation, New Right: neoliberal and neoconservative
  LessonPractice
• Use specified thinkers as evidence

  • Use specified thinkers as evidence: Thomas Hobbes, Edmund Burke, Michael Oakeshott, Ayn Rand, Robert Nozick
  Coming
• Explain liberalism principles, and compare views of people and society

  • Explain liberalism principles: individualism, freedom, state, rationalism, equality, liberal democracy
  • Compare views of people and society: human nature, society, freedom or order, equality
  Coming
• Compare state and economy views, and explain internal strands

  • Compare state and economy views: state, economy, ownership, intervention
  • Explain internal strands: classical, modern
  Coming
• Use specified thinkers as evidence

  • Use specified thinkers as evidence: John Locke, Mary Wollstonecraft, John Stuart Mill, John Rawls, Betty Friedan
  Coming
• Explain socialism principles, and compare views of people and society

  • Explain socialism principles: collectivism, common humanity, equality, social class, workers control
  • Compare views of people and society: human nature, society, freedom or order, equality
  Coming
• Compare state and economy views, and explain internal strands

  • Compare state and economy views: state, economy, ownership, intervention
  • Explain internal strands: revolutionary, social democracy, Third Way
  Coming
• Use specified thinkers as evidence

  • Use specified thinkers as evidence: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Beatrice Webb, Rosa Luxemburg, Anthony Crosland, Anthony Giddens
  Coming

• Identify constitutional nature and sources, and explain constitutional change since 1997

  • Identify constitutional nature and sources: Magna Carta 1215, Bill of Rights 1689, Act of Settlement 1701, Acts of Union 1707, Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, statute, common law, conventions, authoritative works, treaties, uncodified, unentrenched, unitary, parliamentary sovereignty, rule of law
  • Explain constitutional change since 1997: Labour reforms 1997–2010, major reforms since 2010, devolution, electoral reform, human rights, House of Lords reform, Supreme Court, reform impact
  Coming
• Compare devolved powers, and evaluate further reform

  • Compare devolved powers: Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, England, role and powers
  • Evaluate further reform: codification, entrenched rights, devolution, Lords reform
  Coming
• Compare Commons and Lords, and explain parliamentary powers

  • Compare Commons and Lords: selection and composition, parliamentary roles
  • Explain parliamentary powers: Commons and Lords comparative powers, confidence, finance, legislative limits
  Coming
• Trace legislation, and assess parliamentary scrutiny

  • Trace legislation: stages in both Houses, law-making process, public bill committees, Salisbury Convention
  • Assess parliamentary scrutiny: select committees, public bill committees, Official Opposition, questions, debates, backbenchers, parliamentary privilege
  Coming
• Explain executive power, and apply ministerial responsibility

  • Explain executive power: PM and Cabinet structure and roles, prerogative, secondary legislation
  • Apply ministerial responsibility: individual, collective, resignations, exceptions
  Coming
• Explain PM-Cabinet relations, and evaluate two PM case studies

  • Explain PM-Cabinet relations: PM appointment and dismissal, Cabinet support, party, Parliament
  • Evaluate two PM case studies: one PM from 1945–1997, one PM since 1997, constraints and changing power
  Coming
• Assess Supreme Court power, and explain executive-Parliament relations

  • Assess Supreme Court power: selection, independence and neutrality, judicial review, rights
  • Explain executive-Parliament relations: separation and fusion, checks, control, elective dictatorship
  Coming
• Explain EU effects and their legacy, and locate sovereignty

  • Explain EU effects and their legacy: EU aims and institutions, four freedoms, UK policy-making, withdrawal context
  • Locate sovereignty: parliamentary and political sovereignty, devolution, referendums, judiciary, executive
  Coming

Anarchism

• Explain anarchism principles, and analyse people and society

  • Explain anarchism principles: anti-state, liberty, economic freedom, human nature, anarchy is order
  • Analyse people and society: human nature, society, relationships, relevant ethical claims
  Coming
• Analyse state and economy, and compare specified strands

  • Analyse state and economy: state, economy, authority, ownership or resources
  • Compare specified strands: individualist, collectivist, anarcho-communism, mutualism, anarcho-syndicalism, anarcho-capitalism, egoism
  Coming
• Use specified thinkers

  • Use specified thinkers: Max Stirner, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Mikhail Bakunin, Peter Kropotkin, Emma Goldman
  Coming

Ecologism

• Explain ecologism principles, and analyse people and society

  • Explain ecologism principles: ecology, holism, environmental ethics, sustainability, natural world, environmental consciousness, post-materialism, anti-consumerism
  • Analyse people and society: human nature, society, relationships, relevant ethical claims
  Coming
• Analyse state and economy, and compare specified strands

  • Analyse state and economy: state, economy, authority, ownership or resources
  • Compare specified strands: deep green, shallow green, social ecology, ecocentrism, enlightened anthropocentrism, strong and weak sustainability, eco-socialism, eco-anarchism, eco-feminism
  Coming
• Use specified thinkers

  • Use specified thinkers: Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, E. F. Schumacher, Murray Bookchin, Carolyn Merchant
  Coming

Feminism

• Explain feminism principles, and analyse people and society

  • Explain feminism principles: sex and gender, patriarchy, equality and difference, intersectionality, personal is political
  • Analyse people and society: human nature, society, relationships, relevant ethical claims
  Coming
• Analyse state and economy, and compare specified strands

  • Analyse state and economy: state, economy, authority, ownership or resources
  • Compare specified strands: liberal, socialist, radical, postmodern
  Coming
• Use specified thinkers

  • Use specified thinkers: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Simone de Beauvoir, Kate Millett, Sheila Rowbotham, bell hooks
  Coming

Multiculturalism

• Explain multiculturalism principles, and analyse people and society

  • Explain multiculturalism principles: culture and identity, minority rights, diversity, recognition
  • Analyse people and society: human nature, society, relationships, relevant ethical claims
  Coming
• Analyse state and economy, and compare specified strands

  • Analyse state and economy: state, economy, authority, ownership or resources
  • Compare specified strands: liberal, pluralist, cosmopolitan, integration and segregation, conservative criticism: no diversity within unity
  Coming
• Use specified thinkers

  • Use specified thinkers: Isaiah Berlin, Charles Taylor, Bhikhu Parekh, Tariq Modood, Will Kymlicka
  Coming

Nationalism

• Explain nationalism principles, and analyse people and society

  • Explain nationalism principles: nation, national self-determination, nation-state, culturalism, racialism, internationalism
  • Analyse people and society: human nature, society, relationships, relevant ethical claims
  Coming
• Analyse state and economy, and compare specified strands

  • Analyse state and economy: state, economy, authority, ownership or resources
  • Compare specified strands: liberal, conservative, expansionist, anti-colonial and post-colonial
  Coming
• Use specified thinkers

  • Use specified thinkers: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Johann Gottfried von Herder, Giuseppe Mazzini, Charles Maurras, Marcus Garvey
  Coming

Constitution and federalism

• Explain the constitutional design, and trace checks and limited government

  • Explain the constitutional design: codification, entrenchment, vagueness, branches, amendment process
  • Trace checks and limited government: separation of powers, checks and balances, bipartisanship, federalism, limited government
  Coming
• Explain federal-state power, and evaluate constitutional effectiveness

  • Explain federal-state power: enumerated, reserved and concurrent powers, federal-state distribution
  • Evaluate constitutional effectiveness: democracy, rights, constitutional debate, federalism
  Coming

Congress

• Compare the chambers, and explain representation and voting

  • Compare the chambers: structure and elections, House and Senate, shared and exclusive powers
  • Explain representation and voting: party, constituency and state, interest groups, representation, caucuses, lobbyists
  Coming
• Trace congressional legislation, and assess oversight

  • Trace congressional legislation: legislative process, policy significance, committees, obstacles
  • Assess oversight: president, courts, scrutiny, checks
  Coming
• Evaluate Congress

  • Evaluate Congress: representativeness, party importance, effectiveness
  Coming

Presidency

• Explain formal presidential power, and explain informal presidential power

  • Explain formal presidential power: constitutional powers, law-making, appointments, foreign policy
  • Explain informal presidential power: mandate, executive orders, events, powers of persuasion, cabinet, EXOP, White House Office, NSC, OMB
  Coming
• Analyse relationships with Congress and Court, and explain changing presidential limits

  • Analyse relationships with Congress and Court: presidency-Congress, presidency-Supreme Court
  • Explain changing presidential limits: term, election cycle, divided government, political circumstances
  Coming
• Evaluate presidential strength

  • Evaluate presidential strength: imperial, imperilled, accountability, foreign policy
  Coming

Supreme Court and civil rights

• Explain judicial review and independence, and analyse appointments

  • Explain judicial review and independence: Marbury v Madison 1803, Fletcher v Peck 1810, constitutional interpretation
  • Analyse appointments: nomination, Senate confirmation, ideology, composition
  Coming
• Analyse decisions since 2005, and assess civil-rights protection

  • Analyse decisions since 2005: living Constitution, originalism, case selection and impact, judicial activism, judicial restraint
  • Assess civil-rights protection: constitutional rights, racial-rights organisations, voting rights, affirmative action, representation
  Coming
• Evaluate judicial and political power

  • Evaluate judicial and political power: political versus judicial, civil-rights checks, affirmative action, immigration reform
  Coming

Democracy and participation

• Explain election mechanisms, and assess campaign finance

  • Explain election mechanisms: presidential nominations, Electoral College, two-term limit, congressional elections, incumbency, constitutional presidential eligibility requirements
  • Assess campaign finance: finance rules, legislation, Supreme Court decisions
  Coming
• Compare parties and factions, and explain voting patterns

  • Compare parties and factions: Democrats and Republicans, crime, economy, welfare, immigration, liberal, moderate, conservative, social and fiscal factions
  • Explain voting patterns: race, religion, gender, education, one presidential election since 2000
  Coming
• Assess an interest group, and evaluate US democracy

  • Assess an interest group: at least one interest-group case, resources, methods, influence
  • Evaluate US democracy: Electoral College, campaign-finance reform, incumbency, interest groups
  Coming

Comparative approaches

• Apply comparative theories, and compare constitutions and territorial power

  • Apply comparative theories: rational, cultural, structural
  • Compare constitutions and territorial power: US constitution and federalism, UK constitution and devolution, theory application
  Coming
• Compare legislatures, and compare executives

  • Compare legislatures: Congress and Parliament, House powers, theory application
  • Compare executives: president and PM, accountability, theory application
  Coming
• Compare courts and rights, and compare participation

  • Compare courts and rights: Supreme Courts, rights, interest groups, theory application
  • Compare participation: party unity and policy, funding, interest groups, theory application, two-party versus multiparty systems
  Coming

Sovereignty and globalisation

• Explain state sovereignty, and explain global interconnection

  • Explain state sovereignty: state, nation-state, sovereignty, national control, challenges, benefits and costs
  • Explain global interconnection: economic, cultural and political globalisation, drivers
  Coming
• Compare globalisation accounts, and assess sovereignty effects

  • Compare globalisation accounts: state system, interdependence, international law, intervention, hyperglobalist, sceptical, transformationalist
  • Assess sovereignty effects: advantages and disadvantages, winners and losers, state capacity
  Coming
• Connect globalisation to outcomes

  • Connect globalisation to outcomes: conflict, poverty, rights, environment
  Coming

Political and economic governance

• Compare political and security institutions, and compare economic institutions

  • Compare political and security institutions: UN 1945, Security Council, General Assembly, ECOSOC, ICJ, NATO since Cold War
  • Compare economic institutions: IMF, World Bank, WTO, G7/G8, G20
  Coming
• Explain poverty and development accounts, and assess governance effectiveness

  • Explain poverty and development accounts: North-South, world-systems, dependency, orthodox and alternative poverty measures, classical, structural and neoclassical development
  • Assess governance effectiveness: UN reform and veto, SAPs, PRSPs, economic conditions
  Coming
• Explain civil-society influence

  • Explain civil-society influence: civil society, NGOs, poverty and governance
  Coming

Human-rights and environmental governance

• Compare rights institutions, and analyse humanitarian intervention

  • Compare rights institutions: international law, ICJ, ICC, UN tribunals, ECHR, UDHR 1948
  • Analyse humanitarian intervention: 1990s onwards, sovereignty, selectivity, R2P, double standards
  Coming
• Explain climate institutions, and assess rights enforcement

  • Explain climate institutions: UNFCCC, IPCC, governance roles
  • Assess rights enforcement: international courts, sovereignty, compliance
  Coming
• Compare environmental responses, and assess NGO roles

  • Compare environmental responses: shallow and deep green, sustainability, commons, Rio, Kyoto, Paris, sovereignty, development divides
  • Assess NGO roles: human rights NGOs, environmental NGOs
  Coming

Power and developments

• Compare power instruments, and classify powers

  • Compare power instruments: hard military and economic power, soft diplomatic and cultural power
  • Classify powers: great powers, superpowers, emerging powers, USA, BRICS
  Coming
• Explain global order since 2000, and compare state types and liberal states

  • Explain global order since 2000: unipolar, bipolar, multipolar, changing order, spheres of influence, bilateralism, nationalism
  • Compare state types and liberal states: democratic, semi-democratic, non-democratic, autocratic, failed, rogue, liberal economy, rule of law
  Coming
• Explain contemporary power outcomes

  • Explain contemporary power outcomes: conflict, poverty, rights, environment
  Coming

Regionalism and European Union

• Explain regional integration, and compare regional organisations

  • Explain regional integration: economic, security, political, motives, globalisation, governance, sovereignty
  • Compare regional organisations: NAFTA and USMCA, African Union, Arab League, ASEAN
  Coming
• Explain EU development and institutions, and assess EU global power

  • Explain EU development and institutions: enlargement, treaties, economic and monetary union, supranational and intergovernmental, EU role and objectives, powers of key EU institutions
  • Assess EU global power: economic, diplomatic, military constraints, global actor
  Coming
• Connect regionalism to outcomes

  • Connect regionalism to outcomes: conflict, poverty, rights, environment
  Coming

Comparative theories

• Apply realism, and apply liberalism

  • Apply realism: states, anarchy, war, security dilemma, balance of power
  • Apply liberalism: morality, interdependence, governance, international organisations, optimistic human nature, possibility of harmony and balance
  Coming
• Compare explanations, and explain anarchical society

  • Compare explanations: human nature, power, order, security, international organisations, state role
  • Explain anarchical society: international society, social norms, anarchy, realist and liberal positions
  Coming
• Apply theories to evidence since 2000

  • Apply theories to evidence since 2000: cases across sovereignty, governance, rights, power and regionalism
  Coming

• Paper 1 timed practice and repair

  • Complete a valid timed sitting: follow choice rules and time budgets; submit only the required number of answers and review omissions.
  Coming
• Paper 2 timed practice and synoptic repair

  • Complete a valid timed sitting: follow choice rules and time budgets; submit only the required number of answers and review omissions.
  Coming
• Paper 3 USA timed practice and repair

  • Complete a valid timed sitting: follow choice rules and time budgets; submit only the required number of answers and review omissions.
  Coming
• Paper 3 global timed practice and repair

  • Complete a valid timed sitting: follow choice rules and time budgets; submit only the required number of answers and review omissions.
  Coming