Look inside the Edexcel A-Level Politics guide (9PL0)

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Look inside the Edexcel A-Level Politics guide

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Edexcel · A-Level · 9PL0
Politics
Active Recall Guide
2,101 questions
PoliticsContents
Contents
28 topics, 157 subtopics
  1. Democracy and Participation79
  2. Political Parties60
  3. Electoral Systems48
  4. Voting Behaviour and the Media63
  5. Liberalism68
  6. Conservatism82
  7. Socialism83
  8. The Constitution85
  9. Parliament28
  10. The Prime Minister and the Executive67
  11. Relations Between the Branches54
  12. Anarchism88
  13. and 16 more
ii
Political PartiesQuestions
Political Parties
Political parties and their funding
  1. What are the main functions of political parties in a representative democracy?
  2. How do parties provide representation?
  3. How do parties help recruit and train political leaders?
  4. What is meant by a party’s role in "making government accountable"?
  5. Why are political parties sometimes said to be in decline?
  6. What is campaign finance?
  7. What is party funding?
  8. What did the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) establish?
  9. What arguments support stricter regulation of party funding?
12
Political PartiesAnswers
Answers
Political parties and their funding
  1. Representation, participation and recruitment of politicians, formulating policy and offering choice, forming government or opposition, and educating and mobilising the electorate.
  2. They aggregate diverse individual interests into broad programmes, giving voters organised options that represent sections of society and opinion.
  3. They select candidates, develop members through party structures, and provide the pool from which ministers and leaders are drawn.
  4. The governing party can be held responsible for its record at elections, while opposition parties scrutinise and offer an alternative government.
  5. Falling membership, weaker partisan loyalty and the rise of single-issue pressure groups and social media have reduced parties’ traditional dominance of participation.
  6. The money raised and spent by political parties and candidates to fund electoral campaigns, including advertising, staffing, and events.
  7. The sources of income that sustain political parties' ongoing operations, including membership fees, donations, state funding, and commercial activities.
  8. It established the Electoral Commission and introduced requirements for parties to declare donations above a threshold and report their spending.
  9. Reducing the influence of wealthy donors, preventing corruption, and creating a more level playing field between parties.
13
AnarchismQuestions
Anarchism
Liberty, order and the anarchist economy
  1. Why is liberty considered critical to human nature in anarchist thought?
  2. How do different strands of anarchism vary in their emphasis on liberty?
  3. What differing views on human nature exist among anarchists?
  4. What does the anarchist principle 'anarchy is order' mean?
  5. According to anarchists, what is the source of spontaneous social order?
  6. How does the belief that anarchy produces order support anarchist confidence in a stateless society?
  7. How do anarchists view the role of the state in economic affairs?
  8. How do different anarchist traditions differ in their criticisms of existing economic systems?
  9. What different methods do anarchists propose for achieving economic freedom?
34
AnarchismAnswers
Answers
Liberty, order and the anarchist economy
  1. Freedom is essential for humans to realise their true potential.
  2. Some strands emphasise individual freedom, while others stress collective liberation.
  3. Some anarchists see humans as naturally cooperative, while others emphasise rational self-interest.
  4. That people left to themselves will arrange their affairs cooperatively, so coordination does not have to be imposed on them from above.
  5. Spontaneous social order emerges from human nature itself, as humans naturally tend toward cooperation and mutual aid.
  6. It underpins their confidence that a peaceful, stable, stateless society is possible.
  7. They want production and exchange run by those doing the work, free of ownership or direction by the state.
  8. Some target capitalism and private property, while others oppose state socialism.
  9. Methods range from collective ownership to free market arrangements.
35
Comparative Theories and the Uk-Us ComparisonQuestions
Comparative Theories and the Uk-Us Comparison
Comparing the UK and US legislatures: structure and powers
  1. How does the distribution of financial powers differ between the two US chambers and the two UK Houses?
  2. How do the two legislatures differ in their power to remove members of the executive?
  3. How does legislative control over executive appointments differ between the UK and the US?
  4. How does each legislature's role in treaty-making differ?
  5. Why is the US House of Representatives considered closer to the people than the Senate?
  6. What exclusive authority does the UK House of Commons hold over money bills?
  7. How can the House of Commons override the House of Lords under the Parliament Acts?
  8. For how long can the UK House of Lords delay non-money bills?
  9. Why is the House of Lords considered significantly weaker than the US Senate?
56
Comparative Theories and the Uk-Us ComparisonAnswers
Answers
Comparing the UK and US legislatures: structure and powers
  1. In the US the House of Representatives must originate revenue bills but the Senate can amend them freely and must also pass them, so both chambers hold real financial power. In the UK the Commons has exclusive control: the Lords cannot amend a money bill and can delay it for only one month.
  2. Congress can remove a President only by impeachment in the House followed by conviction on a two-thirds Senate vote, a deliberately high bar met by no President. The Commons needs only a simple majority on a confidence motion to bring down a government.
  3. The Senate must confirm Cabinet secretaries, ambassadors and federal judges, and has rejected or forced the withdrawal of nominees. The UK Parliament has no equivalent power: the Prime Minister appoints ministers without any parliamentary vote.
  4. A US treaty takes effect only if two-thirds of the Senate consents, which has blocked treaties a President signed. In the UK treaties are made under prerogative power, and Parliament's role is limited to a period in which it may object and to passing any implementing legislation.
  5. Representatives serve two-year terms and represent specific districts, whereas Senators serve six-year terms and represent entire states.
  6. The Commons has exclusive authority over money bills; the Lords cannot amend or reject them.
  7. The Commons can pass legislation without Lords consent after the Lords have delayed it, using the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949.
  8. Up to one year.
  9. The Lords can only delay non-money bills for up to one year and cannot permanently block legislation passed by the Commons, whereas the Senate can permanently block bills.
57
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2,101 questions
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  3. Step 3 · Closed book again

    Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

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