Power and Developments | Edexcel A-Level Politics (9PL0)
Power and Developments
- 84 questions
- 6 subtopics
- Component 3 Route A: global politics, one route of two
- Component 3
Covers how power is held and used between states: the forms it takes, how states are classified by it, what different polar structures mean for world order, the systems of government states adopt, and the spread of markets, law and democracy..
It covers different types of power: hard, soft and structural, great powers, superpowers and emerging powers, polarity and the changing world order, systems of government and their consequences for global order, the development and spread of liberal economies, the rule of law and democracy and how power and developments address contemporary global issues.
Sample questions from Power and Developments
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Different types of power: hard, soft and structural
What is soft power?
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The ability to obtain the outcomes you want because others admire your values, institutions or culture and are drawn to follow your lead, rather than because you have coerced or paid them. -
Different types of power: hard, soft and structural
Give an example of structural power in the global economy.
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Holding a controlling voting share in the IMF and World Bank, or issuing the currency in which most international trade and reserves are denominated, which lets a state set conditions others must meet. -
Great powers, superpowers and emerging powers
What is an emerging power?
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A state whose economic growth, population or regional weight is converting it into a significant international actor, but which does not yet have the global reach of an established great power. -
Great powers, superpowers and emerging powers
How is state power usually measured?
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By a combination of military capability, economic size and technological sophistication, population and resources, diplomatic reach through alliances and institutions, and the intangible attraction of a country's model. -
Polarity and the changing world order
What are the claimed dangers of a unipolar order?
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With no counterweight, the dominant power may act without restraint and be tempted into overreach, while resentment of its dominance encourages others to combine or to pursue asymmetric means against it. -
Polarity and the changing world order
What is the argument that multipolarity is unstable?
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With several comparable powers, intentions are harder to read, alliances shift, and miscalculation is more likely — the pattern that produced the general European wars of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. -
Systems of government and their consequences for global order
What is democratic peace theory?
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The claim that democracies rarely if ever go to war with one another, because leaders answerable to voters bear the electoral cost of war and because democracies tend to resolve disputes with each other through negotiation. -
Systems of government and their consequences for global order
Give examples of failed states.
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Somalia, ranked the most fragile state in the 2024 Fragile States Index, along with South Sudan and Yemen, where conflict has left governments unable to control their territory or provide basic services.
The 6 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Different types of power: hard, soft and structural | Recall questions on hard, soft, structural and smart power, the examples of each, and the limits on what force and attraction can achieve. | 12 |
| Great powers, superpowers and emerging powers | Recall questions on how state power is classified and measured, why the USA is treated as a superpower, and the contested status of China, Russia and the BRICS economies. | 12 |
| Polarity and the changing world order | Recall questions on unipolarity and hegemony, bipolarity and multipolarity, the stability claimed for each, and how world order has shifted since 2000. | 13 |
| Systems of government and their consequences for global order | Recall questions on democratic, semi-democratic, autocratic, failed and rogue states, and on democratic peace theory and its critics. | 21 |
| The development and spread of liberal economies, the rule of law and democracy | Recall questions on how market economies spread and what is claimed for and against them, why the rule of law matters to development, and on the third wave and democratic backsliding. | 10 |
| How power and developments address contemporary global issues | Recall questions on how power is exercised over conflict, poverty, human rights and the environment, and on the developments that change what states can do. | 16 |
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
Edexcel A-Level Politics Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 2,101 questions with their answers.