Government and Politics

Course summary

The modern world is an increasingly complex environment and studying Politics will enable students to understand who holds power in society and to consider the ideological debates on the issue of how our society should be governed. How has America become so polarised? Why did Britain end up with three Prime Ministers in a matter of months? Can citizens exert any meaningful influence on their rulers? Students study three core ideologies: liberalism; conservatism; and socialism, as well as a fourth ideology, which will either be feminism or anarchism. As part of this section of the course, students will develop an awareness of the key thinkers that have shaped these ideologies, as well as the tension that exists between these pioneering thinkers. In Year 13, students focus on US Politics and the ways that it compares with British Politics. Topics on this paper include the nature of the US Constitution, the role of the highly politicised US Supreme Court in contrast to its UK counterpart, and the impact that electoral systems have on the political process.