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Government & Politics
Government and Politics
The Politics department, run by Mr Doran, prides itself on the level of teaching and learning that occurs both in and out of the classroom. The traditional lessons within Politics are supplemented with a range of extra curricular activities including trips to universities, an annual trip to the Houses of Parliament and visits from a range of political speakers. Last year the department arranged visits from local MP’s Mark Pritchard and David Wright, local MEP Roger Knapman and local councillor Bill Tomlinson.
The department follows the OCR exam syllabus and covers the following concepts:
For AS this involves a study of:
- Elections, how they work, how the parties try to get your vote and how they conduct their campaigns.
- Secondly we look at the political parties, how they function, how they choose leaders and what they believe in.
- Issues over the last several years are also studied. Gender, race, equal opportunities and Human Rights all need examining. Pressure groups, their impact and function, links in well to this.
- How people redress their grievances. This looks at how people have their appeals heard through Parliament, the courts and even the European Court of Human Rights.
- Also, what does it mean to be a citizen?
- The Government aspect of the course covers the Constitution. Do we need a written one? What does it say? Does it protect us?
- We study Parliament, how it works, what it does. This obviously leads to looking at the reform of the House of Lords? Why do it and is it working?
- The Prime Minister and his cabinet comes next. Does he have too much power? What does his job entail? He does look fetching in his 1983 election poster on the cover.
- Ministers, Civil Servants and Quangos are studied. How do they work, what do they do?
- Finally, the relationship between the UK and the E.U. goes under the microscope.
A2 includes a study of Political theory on Democracy:
- Representation and participation
- Rights and liberty
- Ideology
- Responsible government
- Models of democracy
The theory continues with:
- Different forms of government
- Power, authority and legitimacy
- The purpose of the state
- The state and sovereignty.
- Among other topics.
If you wish to hear more information on AS or A2 Politics, please contact Mr Doran or click the email link HERE.
OR CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE BROCHURE PAGE
