Politics: The Course

How can we, the people, make those in power do what we want?

This part of the course looks at democracy and asks whether it is working in the UK. We ask:

• Are pressure groups like Extinction Rebellion good or bad for society?
• Why did people vote the way they did in the last election?
• Are referendums, like the one on Brexit, a good way of making decisions?
• Is there a fairer way of choosing our leaders?
• What are political parties and what do they stand for?

As part of our studies we make an annual visit to Parliament. Click on the 'Politics Outside the Classroom' page for more details

How powerful is a Prime Minister, really? And could they be too powerful?

This part of the course looks at the institutions which run our politics and the relationships between them. We ask:

• Have Prime Ministers become too much like presidents?
• Can Parliament really hold the Government to account?
• What are the rules if our Constitution is 'unwritten'?
• Once 'Brexit has been done', can we really 'take back control'?

As part of our studies we make an annual visit to Parliament. Click on the 'Politics Outside the Classroom' page for more details

The second year of our course looks at the way in which the USA is both different and similar to, and better and worse than, the UK system. We ask:

• In 2020, Can Trump be stopped? How? Where? We look at the forthcoming election.
• What is the difference between Democrats and Republicans? Why are they so divided?
• From Guns to gay marriage, the death penalty to free speech, why do 9 unelected Supreme Court judges have so much power?
• Is Congress (the US parliament) broken? Why is it so hard to pass laws and fix America's problems of poverty, racism and climate change?

As part of our studies we make an annual visit to Washington DC. Click on the 'Politics Outside the Classroom' page for more details.

Political ideas influence every decision we make - without us even realising it. Think there should be higher taxes on the super rich? That's political. Choose to wear lipstick and shave your legs? That's political too.

This part of the course looks at four key sets of ideas and asks:

• Why do liberals disagree about whether to build or destroy the welfare state?
• Are some famous Conservatives, like Thatcher, not really conservative at all?
• Socialism: How can the workers be free; through reform of the current system, or by smashing it and making a new one?
• Why do some feminists argue that women can never be free without destroying patriarchy? What is patriarchy, anyway?