Higher Politics

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The Higher qualification in Politics gives an insight into how the world works. Without

politics there would be nothing holding any country together and by taking the course

pupils increase their knowledge of the origins, development and future of politics in the UK and beyond. By combining the history of political theory and present day examples pupils will find out how governments’ have developed and evolved over time. This is an ideal course for someone who would like to further enhance their History or Modern Studies knowledge and allows for a greater level of freedom when structuring arguments and analysing information and these skills can be used across many other subject areas and beyond in future studies or careers.

Unit 1 – Political Theory - pupils learn about the origins and development of two major

political theories – Socialism and Liberalism. They then analyse and compare the key aspects of each of these, referencing key political theorists. Additionally, pupils study the theory behind power, authority and legitimacy within politics and compare the benefits and drawbacks of direct and representative democracies.

Unit 2 – Political Systems - the course looks at various elements of two political systems – The UK and the USA - and compares them across several different aspects including the history/origin of their respective constitutions, the role of the legislature and the executive within those systems.

Unit 3 – Political Parties and Elections - To study and develop knowledge of the dominant ideology of UK political parties (Labour, Conservative, SNP). Pupils then scrutinise the

campaign management strategies for the party focusing on the use traditional, grassroots and new technological techniques. Finally, we study various theories of voting behaviour and how this affects modern politics.

Source Skills

Pupils learn to interpret, analyse and evaluate electoral data from a variety of sources to come to a conclusion on a statement. Pupils also learn to compare sources on a political topic and be able to evaluate the various viewpoints in a balanced and reasoned way.

Assessment

To gain a Higher Politics award, pupils must complete the following assessed pieces:

A researched extended report on a political topic of their choice

An external exam consisting of two papers; one on the three units and a shorter one which assesses the source skills learned.

WHAT WILL MY HOME COMMITMENT BE FOR THIS COURSE?

Regular homework will be set by the class teacher. Students can expect to be doing at least 2 hours of study per week which will include a selection of: End of Topic formal homework , Consolidation of notes from previous week /Completion of exercises as home practice. Assignment and Exam preparation

Is POLITICS for me?