Top Ten online resources

1. Tutor2 u - http://tutor2u.net/politics.html

2. Online textbook
http://wps.pearsoned.co.uk/ema_uk_he_jones_politics_7/163/41886/10722888.cw/index.html

3. History Learning Site - http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/british_politics.htm

4. BBC 'Democracy Live' current political issues - http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/default.stm

5. How Parliament works - http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/

6. Wikipedia UK Parliament - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom

7. Wikipedia series on politics & government of the EU - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_the_European_Union

8. BBC guide to Scottish parliament (with navigation bar to other UK political institutions) - http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/guides/newsid_8136000/8136663.stm

9. BBC News section on politics - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/

10. BBC guide to political websites - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8044401.stm

The powers of the Prime Minister: TASK

We are starting a new topic next week: the "core executive".

 

This is the branch of government that implements policy and actually runs the government. In the UK, it consists of three key elements:

• Prime Minster
• Cabinet
• Civil Service.

We are going to start by looking at the Prime Minister. You must create a revision resource to outline:

• What are the powers of the Prime Minister?
• What are the limits on the Prime Minister’s power?
• What is the role of the Prime Minister’s special political advisers?
• How has Coalition government affected the Prime Minister’s power?
• Is the Prime Minister becoming more or less powerful?

 Use these resources, plus any others you can find, to help:

 

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/powers_of_the_prime_minister.htm
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/limits_powers_of_a_prime_minister.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8675705.stm  

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/2561931.stm  

http://www.earlhamsociologypages.co.uk/coreexexpres.htm

 

Good luck!

Good online resource

http://www.ukpolitical.info/

Also, I think this may have been the article that Nadine found on voter turnout in European elections ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3224666.stm

Answer plan

Revision pack on G: drive at school

Please get a copy of my Unit 1 revision pack from G:/Business/Mr North/Gov & Pol next time you're in school.

In the meantime, check this game out when you need a break from revision ...
http://www.parliament.uk/education/online-resources/games/mp-for-a-week/

Great online revision resources

Slightly out of date, but excellent summary of some of the key A Level Government & Politics content - great resource for your revision ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/2442905.stm

Don't forget www.tutor2u.com for more up-to-date examples and a library of revision notes.

Good luck with the Mock exams starting 5th December ...

AQA Unit 1 exam technique - Political Parties

In Unit 1, you must answer questions on 2 out of 4 topics: voter behaviour, electoral systems, political parties and pressure groups.


I have analysed the questions asked on the 'Political Parties' topic since the new specification was launched. A few key themes emerge. I have also looked at how to answer the 3 types of question they ask. Here are the questions they ask:

Jan 09

5 marks: Explain ‘ideology’

10 marks: Consider whether Labour / Conservative policies getting closer?

25 marks: Discuss the role of the party membership

Jun 09

5 marks: Explain ‘constituency parties’

10 marks: Outline the different roles of party conference

25 marks: Assess the view that individual members have no power

Jan 10

5 marks: Explain ‘nationalist’ parties

10 marks: Consider role of minority parties

25 marks: Discuss whether major UK parties all moving to the centre?

Jun 10

5 marks: Explain term ‘catch-all’ parties

10 marks: Outline how Conservative policy has changed since the 1990s

25 marks: Evaluate role of political parties in UK political system

The key themes that emerge are:

• Are the major parties becoming less ideological, converging on the centre – ‘catch-all’ parties
• Rise of minority / nationalist parties (as major parties converge on similar policies)
• Increasing power of leadership
• Key policies since 1990 – Lab and Con
• Role of different party elements – conference, constituency parties
• And finally, party funding – not asked about yet, but topical!

To get full marks, you are required to show 3 skills (or "assessment objectives") in your answers. These skills are knowledge of the topic; ability to analyse / evaluate the topic; and ability to communicate. The marks are awarded differently depending on the type of question - whether it's worth 5 marks, 10 marks or 25 marks - as follows:

So what do you need to do to answer these questions effectively?

•Explain – AO1

–Define the political key term

–Refer to the extract!!!! “… according to the extract…”

–Other relevant examples for 5 marks (differences between parties?)

•Outline / consider – AO1, AO2, AO3

–The above plus …

–Uses political concepts to give both sides of the issue

–Accurate use of paragraphs, grammar and spelling; conclusion flows logically from answer

•Discuss / assess / evaluate – AO1, AO2, AO3

–The above, plus …

–Gives positive and negative aspects of the issue

–considers similarities / differences

–makes connections

–causes / consequences

–Comes to a balanced conclusion

I attach some thoughts on some of the topics below.

Finally, this website is really helpful in revising Politics: http://www.tutor2u.com/

Hope this helps!

Mr North