Socialism | AQA A-Level Politics (7152)
Socialism
- 80 questions
- 6 subtopics
- Paper 3: the three core ideologies, all compulsory
- Paper 3
Common humanity, cooperation and the critique of alienation and private ownership, and the long argument between those who would take power by revolution and those who would win it at an election..
It covers common Humanity, Equality and Social Class, alienation, Common Ownership and Social Justice, the Vanguard Party, Gradualism and Social Democracy, revolutionary Socialism and Social Democracy Compared, marx, Engels and Luxemburg and webb, Crosland and Giddens.
Sample questions from Socialism
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Common Humanity, Equality and Social Class
Why is equality the defining value of socialism?
Show the answer
Because socialists see inequality as socially created rather than natural, and believe that only substantial equality allows people to cooperate, live in solidarity and fulfil their potential. -
Common Humanity, Equality and Social Class
What is class consciousness?
Show the answer
It is the awareness among workers of their shared position and common interest, which enables them to act together against the class that exploits them. -
Alienation, Common Ownership and Social Justice
What do socialists mean by social justice?
Show the answer
A distribution of wealth, income and life chances judged fair by need and by contribution, rather than one determined by market power or inheritance. -
Alienation, Common Ownership and Social Justice
State the fundamental goals of socialism.
Show the answer
To replace competition with cooperation, greatly reduce inequality, bring productive wealth under common or social control and give working people security, dignity and control over their lives. -
The Vanguard Party, Gradualism and Social Democracy
Why did revolutionary socialists expect the state eventually to disappear?
Show the answer
Because if the state exists to maintain class domination, abolishing classes removes its purpose and it withers away. -
The Vanguard Party, Gradualism and Social Democracy
What is a mixed economy?
Show the answer
It is an economy combining private enterprise with public ownership of key industries and services, regulated and managed by the state. -
Revolutionary Socialism and Social Democracy Compared
What do social democrats say is wrong with revolution?
Show the answer
That it lacks democratic legitimacy, brings violence and disorder, and that concentrating power in a revolutionary state has repeatedly produced authoritarian rule. -
Revolutionary Socialism and Social Democracy Compared
What criticism do social democrats face over their reliance on economic growth?
Show the answer
Redistribution funded from the proceeds of growth stalls whenever growth stalls, and it avoids confronting the underlying ownership of wealth.
The 6 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Common Humanity, Equality and Social Class | Recall questions on the socialist view of human nature, common humanity, fraternity and cooperation, equality of outcome and the critique of meritocracy, and Marxist ideas of class, consciousness, surplus value and exploitation. | 16 |
| Alienation, Common Ownership and Social Justice | Recall questions on what socialists mean by alienation, the case for common ownership, workers' control and social justice. | 11 |
| The Vanguard Party, Gradualism and Social Democracy | Recall questions on revolutionary socialism, Lenin's vanguard party and the dictatorship of the proletariat, and on social democracy, gradualism, the mixed economy and revisionism. | 13 |
| Revolutionary Socialism and Social Democracy Compared | Recall questions on how the two strands differ over ends, the charges each lays against the other and what they still share. | 10 |
| Marx, Engels and Luxemburg | Recall questions on Marx and Engels's dialectical materialism, stages of history and expectation of revolution, Engels on women's subordination, and Luxemburg on spontaneity, revisionism and revolution with democracy. | 13 |
| Webb, Crosland and Giddens | Recall questions on Beatrice Webb's gradualism and co-operation, Crosland's revisionist case for equality without nationalisation, and Giddens's Third Way and the social investment state. | 17 |
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.