Politics
My freedom to swing my fist ends where your nose begins
- Oliver Wendell Holmes -
The A-Level course consists of three papers, each of which has the weighting.
Paper 1:
This is about UK Politics and how we can influence the political system. There is also a study of the three mainstream political ideologies. This can also be studied as 50% of an AS Level.
Paper 2:
This is about the UK Government and the rules of how the UK system works. There is also a study of a non-mainstream ideology such as Anarchism or Feminism. This can also be studied as 50% of an AS Level.
Paper 3:
This is about the Government and Politics of the USA. There is also a section where students compare the UK and the USA.
The study of Politics is excellent for helping us to understand how the world works and for making sense of the news and current affairs programmes. It also helps students to make sense of differing arguments and to form their own opinions.
Careers:
This knowledge can be used for a wide variety of occupations. You don’t need to study politics to be a politician, the only qualification in that instance is to get the largest number of people to vote for you. Careers where the study of politics can be useful include:
- Journalism – both mainstream and social media
- Broadcasting
- Local government
- Civil service
- Working for pressure groups or think tanks
- Political consultant
- Anything that requires you to make sense of current affairs and the world around you
