Politics and Government
at BHASVIC
MOVING ON DAY 2016
Introduction
Politics is an exciting and interesting subject. To ensure you enjoy the course it is important for you
to start to develop your knowledge and understanding of the subject by doing some background
reading, keeping up to date with the news and reading newspapers. This booklet contains
information about the course and what will be covered throughout the year.
The booklet also contains homework that you must do before starting the course . These activities
will introduce you to the democracy topic that you will start with in September. It will give you a
good foundation for what you will study In British Politics during the first year. You are expected to
complete the homework by 14th September, which is when you will start lessons. Please bring your
homework along to your first politics lesson. Although the article may be difficult in places, and
may contain words you are unfamiliar with, remember that you are only at the start of the course
and that as the course develops so too will your knowledge and understanding. Use an online
dictionary to look up any words you don’t understand. You can also highlight these words in the
text and we can explain them when you come to class.
Homework
You have three homework tasks to complete, using this booklet.
1. Read ‘The EU referendum’ and ‘What is Democracy?’ in this booklet.
2. Referendums and democracy: Read the article: Do referendums strengthen democracy in
the UK? then complete the Referendum Debate Update section in this booklet.
3. Complete the Representative democracy: you and your MP mini-research project section of
this booklet.
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What does the Government and Politics course cover?
AS - Unit 1: People and Politics
Democracy and Political Participation
-
What is democracy?
Direct v representative democracy – referendums v Parliament
Is there a participation crisis in the UK?
How democratic is the UK?
How can we enhance the UK’s democracy?
Elections
-
How do elections promote democracy?
What elections are held in the UK?
What electoral systems are there and how do they work?
What effects do the different electoral systems have on representation and government?
Should we reform the Westminster electoral system?
Pressure Groups
-
What is a pressure group?
What different types of pressure groups are there and how do they work?
What influences the success or failure of pressure groups?
Are pressure groups becoming more or less influential?
Do pressure groups distribute or concentrate power?
Do pressure groups promote democracy?
AS - Unit 2: Governing the UK
The Constitution
-
What is a constitution and how does it work?
What different types of constitution are there?
What are the principles of the UK constitution?
How effective is the UK’s constitution?
Should the UK’s constitution be codified?
How has the constitution been reformed in recent years?
Should we have further constitutional reform?
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Parliament
-
What is Parliament and who does what?
What does Parliament do?
How effective is Parliament at doing its job?
Who has more power – Parliament or government?
What factors influence Parliament’s power?
How democratic is Parliament?
How has Parliament been reformed and what further reforms of Parliament are needed?
The Prime Minister and Cabinet
-
What are the roles and powers of the prime minister?
What are the roles and powers of the cabinet?
What are the principles of collective and individual responsibility?
How powerful have recent prime ministers been?
What factors influence how powerful prime ministers can be?
Who has more power – prime minister or cabinet?
Is the prime minister becoming more like a US president?
Assessment
Exam Board = Edexcel
Unit 1
Written examination: 1 hour 20 minutes
Students will be required to answer two structured questions from a choice of four.
Each question will have a mark tariff of 5, 10 and 25 marks.
Unit 2
Written examination: 1 hour 20 minutes
Students will be required to answer one stimulus-based question from a choice of two.
These questions will be structured with a mark tariff of 5, 10 and 25 marks.
Students will then be required to answer one extended question from a choice of two
(40 marks).
Both exams will be taken in May/June 2017
At A2 you will have the choice to study one of the following options: Global Politics, American
Politics, and possibly Political Ideologies.
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The EU Referendum
Referendums are nationwide, regional or local votes on a single question, as opposed to elections,
where votes select representatives to make decisions. Referendums are used in the UK when the
government needs to make a major constitutional decision – that is, a decision about whether to
change some aspect of how the political system works. So, referendums have been held recently on
whether we should change the way we elect MP’s to Parliament, whether Scotland should become
independent and, last Thursday, on whether the UK should remain in the European Union or leave
it.
Referendums can happen at any time. The Government will propose a referendum and Parliament
must agree to it. The wording of the question is agreed with an independent body called the
Electoral Commission, to make sure it is not biased to one side or the other. Parliament has also set
spending limits for referendum campaigns to make them as fair as possible.
The EU referendum on Thursday followed a long campaign in which politicians from all parties were
allowed to express their own views and did not have to ‘follow the party line’, as they normally do.
Passionate views were expressed on both sides of the debate and it was expected to be a very close
outcome. The result, when it came, was a surprise to some people, because the majority of opinion
polls in the last few days had suggested a narrow victory for remain. The possible effects of a
decision to leave are largely unknown as no country has ever left the EU before. What is known,
however, is that we will have a new prime minister by October and that the UK legal system will
need to be very carefully dismantled and many new laws passed in a short space of time. In
addition it is likely that our economic system will face serious uncertainty that calls for Scottish –
and perhaps Northern Irish independence are likely to gather some momentum.
In the moving on day session we discuss the news and your views on the referendum campaign and
results.
In the homework we are going to look more closely at the decision made by David Cameron’s
government to hold the referendum. We will examine the arguments for and against referendums
and decide whether or not we agree that it is right for Parliament to allow the public to make major
decisions like this. But first you need to understand a few key concepts about democracy.
What is Democracy?
Democracy is a form of government in which people have a voice in the exercise of power, typically
through elected representatives. The word comes from ancient Greek: ‘Demos’ means people and
‘kratos’ means power.
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There are different forms of democracy but all have two core principles:
- political participation – people must be entitled to participate in key decision-making.
- political equality – each individual has a free and equal opportunity to influence political
decisions.
The key distinction you need to learn is between direct and representative democracy.
Direct democracy (sometimes known as classical democracy) is a form of democracy based on the
direct, unmediated and continuous participation of citizens in the tasks of Government. Essentially
the ‘many rule directly’. So we say that popular participation is
- direct - because people ‘make’ policy decisions themselves;
- unmediated – because the people ‘are’ the government because they are the decision-makers
- continuous – because people engage in politics on a regular and ongoing basis.
Direct democracy was found in Ancient Greece where citizens were allowed to take decisions in
public meetings. Today the most common form of direct democracy is the referendum, although it
is usually used to supplement representative democracy rather than to replace it.
Representative democracy is a form of democracy where representatives speak for and act on
behalf of the people. Citizens elect people to take political decisions and representatives are held
accountable to the electorate. At regular intervals citizens have the right to make an alternative
choice and those that qualify for elections can also stand as candidates themselves. The basic
condition for representative democracy is the existence of democratic elections based on: free, fair,
and regular elections; universal suffrage; and genuine party and candidate competition.
So we say that in a representative democracy. popular participation in government is
- indirect – because decisions are made on behalf of citizens, not by citizens
- mediated – because we have a separate class of professional politicians who make decisions
and communicate them to us via the media.
- limited - because participation is infrequent – mostly at elections
In the UK we have a parliamentary democracy, which is a type of representative democracy.
Parliament is a popularly elected, deliberative, representative assembly, which forms the link
between government and the governed. Government is accountable to Parliament and Parliament
is accountable to citizens. Parliament carries out its role by deliberating on (this means debating)
the actions of government. This means that Parliament does its job of representing citizens’
interests by carefully thinking through whether the government’s proposals are the right thing to
do before it agrees to them. You may have seen this process in action during the televised debate
over Syrian air strikes last year. Parliamentary democracy, in this sense, is essentially a system of
making sure that government is responsible to the people.
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Referendum Debate Update
Aims:
 to understand the key arguments in the debate about whether referendums are good for
democracy or not and update these in relation to contemporary events.
 to develop your analysis and evaluation skills in preparation for writing AS level Politics
essays.
What you need to do:
First, read the article Do referendums strengthen democracy in the UK? As you read, highlight any
words you don’t understand and look up their definitions online. You may like to make a list of
these words and their definitions on the notes pages at the back of this booklet.
The article was written in 2013 and so the debate needs updating for the EU referendum.
- Answer the questions below, to update the debate on referendums to include the EU
referendum campaign and its outcome.
- You may need to do some research to help you complete this task. Look up news stories about
the EU referendum online and/or ask some voters (parents, older siblings etc) for their views.
- Explain the reasons for your answers and give examples or statistics to support your points
where possible.
- If a question is too hard then you can leave it – but do your best to answer as many as you can.
So…
Do referendums
strengthen
democracy in
the UK?
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YES…
1. As far as you know, did the EU referendum allow free and equal participation for all UK citizens
in making the decision?
2. Did the EU referendum provide a clear answer to the question of whether we should stay in the
EU or not? How/how not?
(hint – think about whether there was a clear majority for one side or the other and whether
enough people voted to make it a good indication of what the electorate as a whole wanted.
You could also consider regional differences in the vote.)
3. Did the referendum encourage political participation in decision-making?
hints – do some of the following –
 find out the turnout figure for the referendum and for last year’s general election. Was the
turnout higher or lower than the general election?
 Ask people you know who were entitled to vote. Were they more interested in voting in this
referendum than in a general election? If you were 18, would you have been more likely to
vote in this referendum or in an election?
 Have you and other people around you been interested in discussing the referendum or
campaigning for it?
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4. Did the referendum force policy makers (i.e. politicians) to explain their proposals to the public?
And do you think this helped to ‘overcome any hot-headed, ill-thought-through prejudice?’
5. Do you believe that the spending limits for rival campaigns ensured a fair contest?
NO…
1. Do you think the turnout figures showed that many people were not interested in participating?
2. In your view, has the referendum created a period of political (and economic) uncertainty
before and/or after the result? If so, has this been/is it likely to be a problem for the UK?
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3. The ‘no’ side argue that a small majority vote in a referendum can mean that future generations
are bound by a decision that they might not have supported. Explain whether and why this
claim is true in relation to the EU referendum or not.
4. Do you have any reason to think that the wording of the question was unfair to either side?
5. Can you think of any minority groups in society that would be disadvantaged either by a
majority vote to stay or a majority vote to leave?
6. Do you think that David Cameron’s commitment to the EU referendum was a tactic to calm
down trouble within the Conservative party? If so, do you think he has succeeded?
Time to reach a conclusion: The ‘yes’ side argues that some decisions are so important that they
need the people to ‘endorse’ the decision through a direct democratic decision – that is, a
referendum. On the other hand, the ‘no’ side argues that asking the public to make a complex
decision is wrong because it undermines Parliament’s sovereignty (this mean’s Parliament’s
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democratic right to wield ultimate power and responsibility for decision-making in the UK). Now
explain your conclusion below…
Thinking about the EU referendum, which side of this debate do you agree with – it was right to
hold a referendum – or there shouldn’t have been a referendum?
What is your most important reason for that decision?
Do you think that is the case for all referendums or just this one?
Why do you think that?
Now turn over for part 3.
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Representative Democracy – You and Your MP
Aim:
 to give you a basic understanding of what Parliament is
 to develop your understanding of the role of your MP in a representative democracy.
 This work will be useful when you come to write essays on representative democracy and on
Parliament.
Introduction to Parliament
Parliament
Debates and makes laws
Oversees the work of
government
Calls government to account
House of Commons
There are 650 MPs in the
House of Commons. They
represent constituencies.
The government is drawn
from the political party which
has the most seats.
Monarchy
The monarch is the
ceremonial head of
state
House of Lords
There are around 800
unelected members called
peers. Most are appointed by
the Prime minister. Around
90 have hereditary seats.
The House of Commons is made up of Members of Parliament (MPs), each representing one
constituency (a geographical area). The size of constituencies varies according to a number of
factors but on average a constituency will contain approximately 68,500 electors.
Your MP gained the right to represent your constituency by receiving more votes than any of the
other candidates at the last general election. Once elected, the main responsibility of an MP is to
represent the people of his or her constituency (constituents) in Parliament, whether or not they
voted for him or her.
You only have one MP so even if you voted for one of the other candidates and you disagree with
the views of your MP's party, your MP is still there to help you with all matters for which Parliament
or central government is responsible.
Turn over for instructions for your research project.
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You And Your MP
What you need to do:
Find out the information about your MP below and display it in whatever format you like (poster,
PowerPoint, cartoon etc). It must be in a format that you can print and keep in your folder.
This will be useful information that you will refer back to so make sure you complete the answers
thoroughly.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The name of your MP
The name of your constituency
What party your MP is from
When they were first elected
What percentage of people voted for them and what the turnout was in the constituency
Do they have a job in the Government or Shadow Government (Minister or Shadow Minister)
or are they a member of a committee – explain their job in a short paragraph.
7. Three issues or problems facing members of your constituency – write a paragraph for each
issue to explain what the problem is and if/how your MP has helped to resolve it.
8. Three things your MP has recently done in Parliament. Explain each of these in a paragraph.
Where to find this information:
You can find out who your MP is via the Find Your MP service at:
http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/commons/l/
When you know who your MP is, look up their personal website where you should be able to find
out the information you need. If you can’t find it there, email or call their constituency office.
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