Government and Politics

Assessment

UK Politics (Papers 1 and 2, Lower Sixth) Those modules establish a foundational understanding of how the UK’s political system functions, as well as consider debates of contemporary significance, for example, whether the House of Lords should be abolished, or whether a new voting system is needed at Westminster. We will consider how Parliament functions, analysing the laws and conventions which limit Parliament’s power. Work on Elections, Electoral Systems, and Referendums will add a further technical dimension to this study. On a more philosophical level, the ideologies of the different parties will be discussed and set in their historical contexts. Politics in the UK is a fast-moving target: as new parties rise, and the old order faces new and potentially transformative challenges from forces such as social media, populism, and globalisation, the academic study of UK politics needs to evolve rapidly to keep pace. UK politics has its roots in ancient conventions and centuries-old traditions which, at first sight, can seem staid and ponderous; even the most cursory examination, however, reveals a dramatic, vivid, and intertwining tapestry. US Politics (Paper 3, Upper Sixth) The nature of government in the US is often recognisable from films and TV shows, and can seem very familiar; deeper investigation, however, brings to the fore a vibrant and unpredictable political landscape, driven by powerful currents of regional, racial, and cultural tensions that, to a European observer, can seem quite alien at times. The Constitution and the ideas which drove the Founding Fathers remain central to the study of US politics: in some ways, the political institutions they created are surprisingly adaptive, and have evolved rapidly to keep pace with modern values; yet, there are other aspects of US politics (such as the Right to Bear Arms, which has acquired an almost religious significance in some places) which might seem anachronistic at the start of the twenty-first century. The US segments of the Politics course will forensically dissect these phenomena: the legal and constitutional mechanisms of the US government will be a starting point; but students will also investigate areas such as party ideology, racial politics, the Two-Party System, and the quirks of America’s unique, indirect voting system.