I&#x27;m going to be doing A2 politics next year, any tips?

OP

Also, guys, which topic would you recommend (this is for Edexcel btw), Ideologies or the American Constitution? My teacher is letting the class decide, so I'm just wondering which topic would be considered to be more interesting (or easier).

Reply 3

somebodytoldmexo

8

I'm in the same boat, going to keep an eye on this thread :smile:

Reply 4

I can't say anything about ideologies but American politics has its good and bad points. It seems to be a lot more interesting/dramatic than British politics. Studying the Tea Party and right-wing nutters is quite fun but you get stuck looking through similar things to the British system like how elections work which I personally found quite boring. If you do US politics then pretty much disregard British politics, just keep things like the Separation of Powers in mind.

I realise this post probably wasn't very helpful. I find a lot of US politics to be quite interesting so would recommend but don't know much on ideologies. I guess it is up to you, which would you rather do?

Reply 5

ccmk

DROP IT DROPT IT DROP IT DROP IT....
That is my advice :biggrin:

I do politics AS and A2 (and edexcel).... the differences between the two is MASSIVE...
The examples you need is much greater than you do in AS....
The subtopics within each is tonns

I did not say this because i did bad, i actually got 100% for AS unit 1, and 88% for A2 unit 3 (both As :smile:

)
Just did my unit 2 paper, and will do unit 4 tmw...

But tbh... i regret soo much..
However, if you do REALLY want to continue with it.. .my advice is to prepare to work hard.

YOU CANNOT RELY ON TEXTBOOKS TO REVISE
THE REVISION GUIDE IS INTERNET / NEWS....

so before you start the course, my advice is to look at the topics now as to what you need to learn, such as the figures and stats of how many females supported the republicans, democrats in the midterm for example. And i will gurantee you keeping a bank of examples will help you in the future exams. and... GOOD LUCK :tongue:

Reply 6

OP

Holy crap i'm getting worried now lol thanks for the responses guys. I mean I watch the news, but I don't remember much of what I see (I have a really bad memory). Maybe I should suscribe to Politics weekly or something..

Reply 7

OP

Original post by ccmk

DROP IT DROPT IT DROP IT DROP IT....
That is my advice :biggrin:

I do politics AS and A2 (and edexcel).... the differences between the two is MASSIVE...
The examples you need is much greater than you do in AS....
The subtopics within each is tonns

I did not say this because i did bad, i actually got 100% for AS unit 1, and 88% for A2 unit 3 (both As :smile:

)
Just did my unit 2 paper, and will do unit 4 tmw...

But tbh... i regret soo much..
However, if you do REALLY want to continue with it.. .my advice is to prepare to work hard.

YOU CANNOT RELY ON TEXTBOOKS TO REVISE
THE REVISION GUIDE IS INTERNET / NEWS....

so before you start the course, my advice is to look at the topics now as to what you need to learn, such as the figures and stats of how many females supported the republicans, democrats in the midterm for example. And i will gurantee you keeping a bank of examples will help you in the future exams. and... GOOD LUCK :tongue:

Btw, doesn't the text-book provide many substantial examples?

Reply 8

ellie_the_owl

Get out while you can :P

I love it but will be up all night revising for tomorrows exam makes me less happy towards it

Reply 9

Original post by batboy113

Btw, doesn't the text-book provide many substantial examples?

While there are some examples that you can use from revision guides (Kennedy shot- Johnson - importance of VP in US), Politics needs very recent examples. We were made to subscribe to the Washington Post at the start of the year. Also, watching and reading the news is very important. If you are interested then don't get scared off, it is just a lot of work.

On a better note, the exams are so hard that grade boundaries are kept quite low. :smile:

Reply 10

OP

lol I didn't know you all had an exam tomorrow. Damn, bad time to make this thread than. Most of the comments will be, "drop-it while you still can" as you'll all be sick of revising :tongue:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 11

OP

Also, what revision techniques do you guys use? For instance, do you lot use flash cards etc..??

Reply 12

Original post by batboy113

Also, what revision techniques do you guys use? For instance, do you lot use flash cards etc..??

Different people do different things. I always rewrite notes multiple times condensing down and then write essays. My friend mind-maps everything (its weird). Also, scanning the news to see if there is anything I can use.

Ps. You seen anything interesting about US politics that I can write about tomorrow by chance?

Reply 13

OP

Original post by Adam1502

Different people do different things. I always rewrite notes multiple times condensing down and then write essays. My friend mind-maps everything (its weird). Also, scanning the news to see if there is anything I can use.

Ps. You seen anything interesting about US politics that I can write about tomorrow by chance?

hmm I vaguely read something about congress being unauthoritative etc they haven't reauthorized Educational Law. I doubt this has anything to do with your exam so i'm sorry :tongue:

I can barely remember much (I basically skimmed through the article).

Reply 14

To be honest I am surprised you bothered. It doesn't seem like a particularly interesting story and you don't even need to. Thanks. :smile:

As long as you are interested in politics the hard work doesn't mean too much. I had fun looking up the McCaine/Palin campaign and when you have candidates like Christine O'Donnell, it does definitely keep you interested. Anyway, the point is that if it is interesting to you, then you should study it. Good luck with politics next year. :smile:

Reply 15

OP

Original post by Adam1502

To be honest I am surprised you bothered. It doesn't seem like a particularly interesting story and you don't even need to. Thanks. :smile:

As long as you are interested in politics the hard work doesn't mean too much. I had fun looking up the McCaine/Palin campaign and when you have candidates like Christine O'Donnell, it does definitely keep you interested. Anyway, the point is that if it is interesting to you, then you should study it. Good luck with politics next year. :smile:

Thanks alot. Good luck with your exam tomorrow :smile:

Reply 16

onlyskin

13

Original post by batboy113

Also, guys, which topic would you recommend (this is for Edexcel btw), Ideologies or the American Constitution? My teacher is letting the class decide, so I'm just wondering which topic would be considered to be more interesting (or easier).

Ideologies

Reply 17

lemzii

don't do it :|
saaaave yourself~

Reply 18

OP