Component 1: UK Politics and Core Political Ideas This component explores the nature of politics and how people engage in the political process in the UK. Students will explore the development of the UK’s democratic system, the role and scope of political parties and how the electoral systems work. The component will also give an understanding of voting behaviour and the role of the media in contemporary politics. Core political ideas explores the three political ideas – Conservatism, Liberalism and Socialism; the core principles and how they apply in practice to human nature, the state, society and the economy and the divisions within each idea and their key thinkers. Component 2: UK Government and Non-Core Political Ideas This component introduces students to the set of rules governing politics in the UK, the UK constitution. It further introduces to students the specific roles of the major branches of government – the legislative, executive, and judiciary; the relative powers of the different branches, the changes to the constitution in recent years and the current location of sovereignty. The non-core political idea studied is Feminism. Component 3: Comparative Politics – Government and Politics of the USA This component ensures an understanding of the nature of American democracy and the impact that the USA has on the UK, European and global politics. Students will explore the constitution and learn about the key institutions of government in the US. The impact of the US government on the world beyond its borders is increasingly a feature of international politics. Students will begin to engage with this interaction by comparing and contrasting politics and institutions in the US with those in the UK.