Government and Politics

Course summary

The Edexcel Politics course aims to encourage pupils to learn about a broad range of relevant and contemporary political ideas, institutions, key thinkers, processes and issues. Pupils will develop knowledge and understanding of the role politics plays in local, national and international issues. The content of both courses seeks to spark pupils' imagination with engaging themes that develop their political knowledge and interest in current affairs. Pupils will also develop their oracy through frequent discussions that analyse political trends, and their extended writing skills through essays that appraise the politics and government of the UK and the US, and that explore the political ideas underpinning Western systems. LOWER SIXTH GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS COURSE OVERVIEW: UK and US constitutions; Parliament and Congress; Prime Minister and the Presidency; UK and US elections; UK and US judiciaries. UPPER SIXTH GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS COURSE OVERVIEW: Voting behaviour in the UK; Campaign finance in the United States; UK and US political parties; UK and US pressure groups; Liberalism; Socialism; Conservatism; Feminism.