Politics EPQ: please help!

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Hi

So I’m taking an EPQ to deepen my interest in ‘Politics and International relations’ and I’ll be a year 13 in September

problem one: I do not know how to pick a title. The ones I have come up are either way too broad/vague like ‘is it ideology or realism that strengthens a state?’ or just seem to be historical, like ‘to what extent has Brazil been influenced by the USSR?’

Problem 2: I am partly doing an EPQ so that I have something to write about in my personal statement (and if I’m doing wider reading I might as well get a qualification for it), and to make it relevant for courses (eg political theory comes up a lot) then I want to make sure the topic I choose does cover an aspect of the course. So in that case should I avoid doing my EPQ on an area of the course (eg an international affair) I have already mentioned in my personal statement?

I literally don’t know anyone who has studied PIR so there isn’t anyone I can talk to for advice so I would really appreciate it if someone could help because rn I am so stressed with UCAS and coursework being due in September.

Bump

hey, hope your epq went well and you figured it out! im currently in yr 12 and considering an epq to do with politics as i also want to study a PIR degree, do you have any ideas/suggestions that could help me? i'd really appreciate it

Lol I ended up dropping it because my EPQ was on Central Asia and I realised too late that there just weren’t enough sources and yr13 stress got to me. I would highly recommend that you complete it though because I regret dropping it.
Sure I’m happy to help!
If you have any rough ideas (even if they’re really vague) then I’m happy to direct you to specific individuals/factors etc

If you’re unsure on what you want to do for your EPQ, I would highly recommend that you try to find out what you’re interested in, eg by just reading like the news, reading online scholar articles on ‘ir.com’, ‘research.gate’, books on the website ‘open library’ and making a JSTOR account to just develop your interests. David runcimann’s podcast on political theory is very good and covers a diverse range of theorists while also explaining them in an easily comprehensible way: they raise interesting questions that may take you time to think about which is natural but Yh. You could also look at law in PIR

Maybe you want to look at a specific event (eg fall of the Berlin Wall), more broader theories/academic approaches like how history+sociology+literature/art+cultural values/anthropology intersect with pol+ir a lot more than one might think at first glance, or focusing your EPQ on the validity of the ideas of a political philosopher. You may also want to do your EPQ as an artefact focussing on political activism (either studying it or trying to bring about change)

aw that's a shame, I don't blame you at all though the stress for a levels is hard enough you sound like you did what was best for you at the time. And thank you so much, I really appreciate any help you're willing to give me. I think the hardest parts are trying to find an area that doesn't overlap with what we already study/is specific enough/academic enough?
Here are some of my initial ideas, maybe you could help me choose which ones are better?
1) why America has never had a female president/ will America ever have a female president (this one i admit i saw on another thread so not original!! but i can think of so much to say for this one, just worried of it overlapping with the american aspect of the politics course)
2) something to do with the israeli-palestinan conflict? like if it's a religious/territorial issue maybe
3) to what extent did colonisation have a positive impact on India? ( harmful colonial policies, the introduction of democracy and a robust political system etc, I'm also south Asian so i would defo be interested in this one)
4) rising cost of independence: buying a house (this one my teacher suggested to me because its quite topical/unique- don't know if id be interested much in this?)
5) Has the glorification of true crime desensitised us to violence? (not sure if its academic enough/linked to politics really, or if there's even many sources for it but this one is the one I'd enjoy doing the most- i find true crime really interesting.)
Thank you so much for the advice, I'll definitely have a look at the websites you recommended too!

I think you’ve got some brilliant ideas already and I’ll try to give my best advice considering I didn’t finish im the EPQ.
First don’t worry if your EPQ project is not 100% specific enough yet because it’s a long-term project and the more you learn about your topic the more specific it will be.
EPQ Idea 1 - that sounds really interesting and it should be fine in terms of not overlapping with the syllabus bevause as far as I’m aware for a level politics you touch on issues of representation in the American government (but you don’t study it in depth). But I don’t take a level politics so I can’t say for sure. In any case ask your EPQ advisor and politics tacher for advice
EPQ 2 - that could definitely work, and if you’re interesting in exploring multiple factors (culture, government, colonialism etc) then that should work
EPQ 3 - that sounds really good because as you’ve identified, there are a lot of factors and ways to approach it. Especially if you feel idk how to phrase it but like attached to it because of your heritage and are passionate about it then
4 - don’t feel like you have to do it just because your teacher suggested it - do what you genuinely enjoy
5 - that’s actually really interesting. If you feel more interested in like criminology/psychology than political
topic then go for it!

Basically… don’t worry and just read like short articles about each of the 5 EPQ ideas to help you narrow down which one you want to do. Generally I’d advise that you do the EPQ topic you enjoy because it’s a big commitment and if you don’t enjoy it, it will be so much harder

thank you so much!! yeah i will for sure go speak with my politics teacher, at the moment im leaning more towards either 1/5. thats true too i didnt really think of how long this would be so if i pick a topic im less likely to enjoy im a bit ****ed. Thank you though. How you feeling with a-levels approaching?

That sounds brilliant, I hope your EPQ goes well! You will definitely learn a lot and be better prepared for uni (if you choose to go down that route).
we don’t talk about how close a levels are…. Lol. Honestly I’m just grinding and praying🤞