Electoral and Party Systems Compared | AQA A-Level Politics (7152)
Electoral and Party Systems Compared
- 51 questions
- 5 subtopics
- Paper 2: comparative politics
- Paper 2
How each country elects its legislature and chief executive, why one can cap campaign spending and the other cannot, and how far each is really a two-party system..
It covers electing Legislatures and Executives Compared, campaign Finance, Direct Democracy and Voting Compared, party Systems and Third-Party Barriers, party Organisation and Unity Compared and minor Parties and the Ideological Spectrum.
Sample questions from Electoral and Party Systems Compared
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Electing Legislatures and Executives Compared
What effect does the electoral college have that has no UK equivalent?
Show the answer
It concentrates campaigning on a handful of swing states and can hand victory to a candidate who lost the national popular vote, whereas UK distortions arise from seat totals rather than a separate college. -
Electing Legislatures and Executives Compared
How are candidates selected in each country?
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US candidates are chosen by ordinary voters in primaries and caucuses, while UK candidates are selected by local party members from lists approved by the national party. -
Campaign Finance, Direct Democracy and Voting Compared
Where do parties and candidates get their money in each country?
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UK parties rely on individual donations, trade union affiliation fees and limited public funding for opposition parties, while US candidates raise money from individual donors, political action committees and independent spending groups. -
Campaign Finance, Direct Democracy and Voting Compared
How do voters get onto the electoral register in each country?
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UK voters must each apply to register individually, with an annual canvass of households only prompting them to do so, while US voters must register themselves under rules that vary considerably from state to state. -
Party Systems and Third-Party Barriers
Besides the electoral system, what practical barriers keep US third parties off the ballot and out of the debates?
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Ballot access is set state by state and often demands large numbers of verified signatures within tight deadlines, and the presidential debates have a polling threshold that third-party candidates rarely reach, so they struggle to be seen even where they are on the ballot. -
Party Systems and Third-Party Barriers
How electorally significant are third parties in each country?
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UK third parties win seats, lead devolved governments and have entered a coalition, while US third parties act mainly as spoilers or as a spur that pushes issues onto the major parties' agenda. -
Party Organisation and Unity Compared
Compare the status of the manifesto and the party platform.
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A UK manifesto commits the party and gives the winner a mandate, while a US platform agreed at the national convention binds neither the president nor members of Congress. -
Party Organisation and Unity Compared
Compare the nature of factions in the two systems.
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US factions are organised caucuses of legislators grouped by ideology, while UK factions are groupings in the membership and parliamentary party, often built around a leadership contender or a single issue.
The 5 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Electing Legislatures and Executives Compared | Recall questions on how each lower chamber is elected, how each chief executive is chosen, the effect of the electoral college and the use of proportional systems. | 8 |
| Campaign Finance, Direct Democracy and Voting Compared | Recall questions comparing campaign spending, advertising and finance regulation in the UK and USA, direct democracy and referendums, voter registration and identification, incumbency and opportunities to vote. | 16 |
| Party Systems and Third-Party Barriers | Recall questions on the dominant parties, the sense in which each country is two-party, the UK's multi-party drift and the barriers facing US third parties. | 11 |
| Party Organisation and Unity Compared | Recall questions comparing party membership, organisation, manifestos and platforms, voting unity in the legislature, factions, polarisation and leadership selection in the UK and US parties. | 8 |
| Minor Parties and the Ideological Spectrum | Recall questions on the agenda-setting power of minor parties, why the whole UK spectrum sits left of the American one, and the place of moral issues. | 8 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
AQA A-Level Politics Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 2,215 questions with their answers.