AS/A Level Government and Politics

This course offers you a unique and wonderful opportunity to study the political culture, behaviour, processes and key institutions of both the UK and the USA. Lively, relevant, controversial… there are many ways to describe AS/A-level Politics. There’s no denying that it’s one of the most interesting and engaging qualifications you can choose. Covering news and current affairs from the UK and US, it helps you understand how the UK country is run and develops research, written communication and debate skills. It also helps grow your confidence. You will develop an in-depth understanding as well a broad and balanced knowledge base of the political systems and workings in both countries. At AS Level, you will mainly focus upon the UK: this will be extremely comprehensive and detailed. At A2, you will examine key components of the US system and take a synoptic approach by comparing and contrasting both countries. You will also study key political concepts and ideologies that have influenced the 20th Century and have helped shape and drive political interpretations and debates.

There are three broad areas of study in this AQA specification: • The government and politics of the UK (AS) • The government and politics of the USA, and comparative politics (A2) • Political ideas (A2) The specification requires an in-depth study of UK and US government and politics. Some of the indicative content is: the government of the UK/USA, the structure of Parliament and Congress, the powers of the Prime Minister/President, the nature of the Constitution, the role and functions of political parties and nature of elections and electoral systems, as well as forms of direct democracy and the role of Pressure Groups.