Pearson Edexcel A Level UK Government and Politics Sixth Edition

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It doesn’t matter if the verdict is by a large margin, i.e. there can be no doubt that x is better than y because… or a small one, on balance it can be seen that despite weaknesses, x is still more preferable to y because… but Ofqual and the DfE demanded an outcome be reached. Their rationale was that after two years of study a candidate has to be able to make judgments and to verify and support them. On this basis they gave parity of esteem to AO3 with the other two AOs. It is not a junior partner. Essentials of UK Politics and Government is the go-to textbook for all A-level Politics students studying the Edexcel specification. Building on Andrew Heywood's signature accessible style, this new fifth edition has been thoroughly updated by Kathy Schindler and Adam Tomes who draw on their experience to provide an innovative guide to UK Politics. This book covers all the core topics from Democracy and Participation, Elections and Referendums and Voting Behaviour, to the Constitution, the Prime Minister and Parliament. The Power of Geography– the sequel to Prisoners of Geography that discusses the future of global politics and power. We’re Living Through the Breakdown– this book is written by Tatton Spiller of Simple Politics, and looks at how we can understand politics in an age of huge change.

This is some general advice from our examiners on the issue of how to approach essay writing and ensuring sufficient evaluation in A level Politics essays. The use of referendums to settle brought under the ECHR. The courts cannot automatically strike down constitutional issues marks a shift from laws: if they find legislation to be incompatible with the Act, it is for parliamentary sovereignty to popular parliament (i.e. ministers) to decide whether to amend the law or sovereignty launch an appeal. Key term Devolution Referendum A vote on a single The Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly issue put to a public ballot by the have primary legislative authority on devolved matters such as education government. and health. Westminster can no longer makes laws in these areas, but has sole authority over ‘reserved matters’ such as the UK economy, foreign policy and the constitution. The Scotland Act 2016 states that the Scottish Parliament and government are permanent institutions which cannot be abolished without approval in a referendum. Some commentators regard the devolution legislation as de facto ‘higher law’ given the difficulties Westminster would face if it sought to abolish the devolved institutions without their consent. The increased use of referendums Governments have used referendums to settle constitutional issues such as devolution, electoral reform and EU membership. This marks a shift from parliamentary sovereignty to popular sovereignty. In most cases, referendums are advisory rather than binding but the legitimacy of parliament would be damaged if it ignored referendum outcomes. Changes to the traditional constitution are examined in detail in Chapter 3. The parliamentary systemUK Government and Politics for AS/A-level Key terms The constitution establishes a parliamentary system of government. The key features of a parliamentary system are: Constitutional monarchy A Q The executive and legislative branches are fused. There is a fusion form of monarchy in which the monarch is head of state but in of powers due to overlap between membership of the two branches, which powers are exercised by with the government consisting of members of the legislature. parliament and by ministers. Q The legislature can dismiss the executive. The government is accountable to parliament, which can remove the government through Fusion of powers The a vote of confidence. The government can dissolve parliament by intermingling of personnel in calling a general election. the executive and legislative Q Parliamentary elections decide the government. Governments are branches found in parliamentary formed according to their strength in parliament. The person who systems. commands a majority in parliament, usually the leader of the largest party, becomes prime minister. Head of state The chief public Q Collective government. The executive branch is led by a prime minister representative of a country, such who chairs a cabinet of senior ministers. Collective responsibility requires as a monarch or president. ministers to support government policy once it has been agreed. Q Separate head of state. The head of the executive branch (the prime Separation of powers The minister) is not the head of state. The UK is a constitutional monarchy principle that the legislative, in which the monarch is head of state. The modern monarchy has a executive and judicial branches primarily ceremonial role but does retain prerogative powers such as of government should be choosing the prime minister and assenting to Acts of Parliament. independent of each other. Presidential government is the main alternative system to the parliamentary system. Here, there is a clear separation of powers22 There are lots of different subjects that you can study at A-Level. Some of the most popular A-Level subjects are Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Sociology and Business.An A Level Politics Reading List is important due to the breadth of topics covered in A Level Politics. Keeping on top of politics can be difficult, so we’ve created an A Level Politics Reading List we recommend so you can keep engaged over the summer and during your studies.

Pearson Edexcel does not insist or recommend that there is only one form of essay writing in which to frame responses. There are a wide range of approaches and methods all of which are perfectly valid and creditworthy. Essay style and composition does vary from centre to centre and within centres from candidate to candidate – that is borne out in the vast range of scripts we mark. We do not seek common uniformity but instead celebrate the different and unique approaches which we see. US Politics Annual Update 2023– similar to the UK edition, this book is written for A Level Politics students, and includes updates about the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA, and the 2020 presidential election. Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace– a fundamental work in the realist school of international relations. Chapter 10 Electoral systems 249 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Elections and democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249 The first-past-the-post electoral system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Advantages and disadvantages of the first-past-the-post electoral system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .260 Other electoral systems used in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .264 The impact of the electoral systems used in the UK. . . . . . . . .268 Referendums in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 Voting behaviour and the role of the media in politics 281 How do different regions of the UK vote? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 How do class, gender, age and ethnicity affect voting? . . . . . .282 Changes in voting trends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .289 Explaining voter choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 The role of the party leader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 Voting trends across elections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 The role of the media in politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .304 Political parties 310 What is a political party? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 Types of political party in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313 The UK party system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 The three main political parties in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317 The structure and organisation of the three main UK parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .330 Political party funding in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .334 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .340 Answers to the exam-style questions at the end of each chapter can be found at: https://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/UKGovernmentandPoliticsvi Comparative Politics– This textbook provides a comparative analysis of political systems, with case studies that can aid in comparing US and UK politics.Debate Chapter 1 Historical context of the UK political systemDid the Bill of Rights and Act of Settlement mark a significant change in the powerof parliament?Yes NoQ The monarch was now of parliament’s choosing, rather Q Parliament remained only advisory in nature. Q The monarch remained the dominant force in British than ruling through divine right.Q They established the principle of regular and free politics. Q Parliament itself only represented the wealthiest elections.Q They restricted the monarch’s ability to interfere with 2% of the country. laws.Q They meant taxation could only be passed by parliament.The creation of the United Kingdom England and Wales had developed as one country since the conquest of Wales by Edward I in the 1270s. Wales still retained its own language and customs for many years, but politically it was run from Westminster and was often referred to as part of England, though, more accurately, England and Wales together were ‘Britain’. Scotland remained an independent kingdom until 1707, with its own monarch, laws and institutions. In 1603, King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England. The two kingdoms were still legally separate but they now shared the same head of state, which brought a period of peace and stability to Anglo-Scottish relations. In 1155, Pope Adrian IV had offered the crown of Ireland to King Henry II if he could bring the Irish under control. Following his own break with Rome in the sixteenth century, King Henry VIII began a more formal subjugation of Ireland, first by persuading the Irish Parliament to pass the Crown of Ireland Act in 1542. This formally made the Kings of England also Kings of Ireland. Therefore, by the start of the eighteenth century, the same monarch ruled the three separate kingdoms, but England (and Wales), Scotland and Ireland all had separate parliaments, laws and customs, and were still separate countries. The Acts of Union 1707 The Act of Settlement allowed the English Parliament to decide who should be the monarch in England and there was a real possibility that the Scottish Parliament might choose a different monarch to rule their country. This would lead to the breakup of the informal union between the two kingdoms and the possibility of future wars. In 1698 and 1699, Scotland attempted to establish its own colony in Panama in the Gulf of Darien. The expedition proved disastrous and effectively bankrupted the country. Urged on by King William III, the Scottish Parliament was forced to accept terms from the English 9