Why study Politics? Politics is the broad, universal, and essential study of how governments, policies, and internal relations work. Politics plays a role in every country in the world, whether it be federal, democratic, communist or republic. It’s through politics that many important questions are answered, and global challenge are addressed – including human rights, poverty, equality, and welfare. Politics will leave you with an arsenal of skills that will service you well in your application for university and most careers and Studying the A Level will sharpen your analytic skills, through research, debate practice and the construction of a weighted argument. Through political understanding and interpretation of past events you will gain a greater appreciation of how we find ourselves living in the world we do today. The course will develop your global awareness as well as, more specially, develop your understanding of economics and how they have had, and continue to have, an effect on the social climate of the countries in question. What will I study? 1) UK Politics • Including democracy and participation, political parties, electoral systems and voting behaviour and the media • Including three core political ideas of liberalism, conservatism and socialism They will explore the emergence and development of the UK’s democratic system and the similarities, differences, connections and parallels between direct and indirect democracy. They will focus on the role and scope of political parties that are so central to contemporary politics, including the significance of the manifestos they publish at election time and their relevance to the mandate of the resulting government. Students will examine how electoral systems in the UK operate and how individuals and groups are influenced in their voting behaviour and political actions. This component will further examine the role of the media in contemporary politics. It will also give students an understanding of voting patterns and voting behaviour. Students will explore the three traditional political ideas of conservatism, liberalism and socialism. Students will learn about the core ideas and principles and how they apply in practice to human nature, the state, society and the economy, the divisions within each idea and their key thinkers. 2) UK Government • Including the Constitution, Parliament, Prime Minister and Executive and relationships between the branches including the Supreme Court • Including one non-core political idea: Multiculturalism. This component is fundamental to understanding the nature of UK government, since it enables students to understand where, how and by whom political decisions are made. The component also gives students a base of comparison to other political systems. The component introduces students to the set of rules governing politics in the UK, the UK constitution, which is different in nature from most of the rest of the world. It further introduces students to the specific roles and powers of the different major branches of the government – legislative, executive, and judiciary – as well as the relationships and balance of power between them, and considers where sovereignty now lies within this system. Students will explore the following key themes: the relative powers of the different branches of UK government; the extent to which the constitution has changed in recent years; the desirability of further change; and the current location of sovereignty within the UK political system. Students will learn about the core ideas and principles and how they apply in practice to human nature, the state, society and the economy, the divisions within each idea and their key thinkers. 3) Students will the following areas in depth: • Global Politics Global politics gives students an opportunity to develop an understanding of the local, national, international and global dimensions of political activity. It also gives them the opportunity to explore the political issues that affect all of us. Students will gain understanding of abstract political concepts through grounding them in contemporary real-world examples and case studies that will develop an international awareness and knowledge of multiple perspectives. Global politics encourages discussion and debate and requires students to study and present different global perspectives, as well as interpreting competing and contestable claims. The key mainstream perspectives on global politics are liberalism and realism, and students will be expected to understand how these perspectives are applied throughout all elements of the global politics content.