Edexcel A Level Politics Paper 2 (9PL0 02) 7th June 2023 [Exam Chat]

Original post by ALMO42

Has anyone got a good essay/plan for a q on prime ministerial power? E.g. whether they have too much power/are too powerful or whether the UK is an elective dictatorship? Cause idk how I'd structure something like that, what themes to use/points to make.

I think a good way to do this is either, look at recent prime ministers and see if they have fulfilled this trend, or more broadly look at whether recently PMs have been able to dominate: 1)Cabinet 2)Their party 3)The legislature and 4)The judiciary. I think the argument about party dominance is weakest as they are the head of that party, but, considering they are meant to be first among equals, and that in our democracy both the judiciary and the legislature should be able to fulfill certain functions independent of the executive, it is worthwhile to examine these. I hope this has given you some kind of guide you can build off of, please respond again if you want any other help with this question or any others.

Reply 42

genghiskhan2

2

can you use evidence from outside the UK, is it negatively marked.

e.g. in a question about reforming the constitution, can i talk about how a codified constitution in the US has led to issues surrounding 'rights to bear arms'?

surely i'd have to mention examples outside the UK when referencing nations with codified constitutions.

Reply 43

katie.watsonn

10

Original post by genghiskhan2

can you use evidence from outside the UK, is it negatively marked.

e.g. in a question about reforming the constitution, can i talk about how a codified constitution in the US has led to issues surrounding 'rights to bear arms'?

surely i'd have to mention examples outside the UK when referencing nations with codified constitutions.

i think in this case it's ok bc in using info from outside the UK, you are saying why the uk system is better. try not to do this too often but if you follow it up with an example from the uk which contrasts the ones from the us then it should be fine

Reply 44

str20s

1

My prediction is EU+ sovereignty and whether the prime minister is too powerful (or maybe something like limitations by cabinet!)

Reply 45

Keenbean29

9

Which two PM case studies are best to use? I currently have Thatcher and May but I’m thinking maybe Boris or even Truss would be better idk

Reply 46

I wouldn't do Truss her tenure in Parliament was way too short to be able to thoroughly answer questions with a range of points. But Boris or May are both good options

Original post by Keenbean29

Which two PM case studies are best to use? I currently have Thatcher and May but I’m thinking maybe Boris or even Truss would be better idk

Reply 47

crackedscale

Another question / topic that hasnt been assessed is: 'how effective is parliament at holding the executive to account'

Questions like 'To what extent is parliament still effective in holding the executive to account' could be a good question to look at if anyone is thinking of what to revise

Same goes for the topic of 'The relationship between the SC and parliament' so maybe a question like

'To what extent is the supreme court effective at holding parliament to account' or something? not sure, if anyone has any good questions for the relationship questions

(edited 11 months ago)

Reply 48

katie.watsonn

10

i’ve got a feeling a question on cabinet gov might come up

Reply 49

crackedscale

Original post by katie.watsonn

i’ve got a feeling a question on cabinet gov might come up

like what?

'Evaluate the view that the cabinet is submissive to Prime Ministers' or something like that

Do u have any rough ideas on any questions

(edited 11 months ago)

Reply 50

Original post by user123456324

I wouldn't do Truss her tenure in Parliament was way too short to be able to thoroughly answer questions with a range of points. But Boris or May are both good options

I would completely disagree, as it gives brilliant points to show contrast of how she was initially able to go with a destructive economic strategy, yet once this collapsed the threat of rebellion and the pressure caused her to severly reduce her power. I think talking about them would be better than May, in terms of how recent of an example and it still affords the same depth of examples and points.

Reply 51

Original post by crackedscale

like what?

'Evaluate the view that the cabinet is submissive to Prime Ministers' or something like that

Do u have any rough ideas on any questions

'Evaluate the view that governments since 2010 have seen a return to the cabinet style of government.'
'Evaluate the view that the Prime minister has in recent years lost power within the Cabinet.'

For these sorts of questions it is best to approach through an approach of considering each PM, so I usually do a paragraph on Bojo, Sunak and Truss; however, sometimes with a question like this older examples may prove best.

Reply 52

Original post by Keenbean29

Which two PM case studies are best to use? I currently have Thatcher and May but I’m thinking maybe Boris or even Truss would be better idk

I think in terms of relevance that Truss, Johnson and Sunak are all really good case studies as they have considerable contrast and do a lot to highlight the current problems that riddle the parties in power.

Reply 53

Original post by AirbornePaddy

I would completely disagree, as it gives brilliant points to show contrast of how she was initially able to go with a destructive economic strategy, yet once this collapsed the threat of rebellion and the pressure caused her to severly reduce her power. I think talking about them would be better than May, in terms of how recent of an example and it still affords the same depth of examples and points.

I disagree with this for example lets say this question came up

'Evaluate the extent to which Prime Ministers are able to dominate their cabinets'

Truss only served as PM for 49 days and a chunk of these were filled with the funeral and period of mourning for Queen Elizabeth. There are very few examples where Lizz Truss has had to go against or with her cabinet because she had time to make very few political decisions whilst in office. Compared to alternative PMs such as May/ Johnson or Thatcher who had at least a few years of obvious examples behind them. Truss would just seem as a stretch to fit her in because she is a modern example when there are much better other options.

Reply 54

Original post by user123456324

I disagree with this for example lets say this question came up

'Evaluate the extent to which Prime Ministers are able to dominate their cabinets'

Truss only served as PM for 49 days and a chunk of these were filled with the funeral and period of mourning for Queen Elizabeth. There are very few examples where Lizz Truss has had to go against or with her cabinet because she had time to make very few political decisions whilst in office. Compared to alternative PMs such as May/ Johnson or Thatcher who had at least a few years of obvious examples behind them. Truss would just seem as a stretch to fit her in because she is a modern example when there are much better other options.

Even then, the approach I would consider this from would be that of the ability to continue with the budget, as she had placed people such as Kwasi Kwaterteng (her yes people) in the cabinet, but then this completely changed with her later reliance on Hunt after the mini budget. To add to this, the number of examples that are needed is not something that requires years worth of evidence and even then, as I have previously said her tenure was incredibly eventful with regards to political power. That is why I feel as if it does afford the same examples, a lot did happen in a short window of time and a lot of it was riddled with divisions.

'Evaluate the extent to which Prime Ministers are able to dominate their cabinets', this is how I would approach it with regards to Liz Truss:
Points:
+They are able to dominate their cabinets as they are able to fill their cabinets with those loyalists, and give examples such as Kwasi Kwarteng
+ Allowing for the mini-budget.
- Then contrast that with the presence of Jeremy Hunt.

(edited 11 months ago)

Reply 55

ALMO42

Original post by crackedscale

like what?

'Evaluate the view that the cabinet is submissive to Prime Ministers' or something like that

Do u have any rough ideas on any questions

Perhaps something like 'Evaluate the view that the power and influence of the cabinet over the prime minister has increased (in recent years).'

Reply 56

Yes but there are better examples of strong control over cabinets for extended periods such as Margaret Thatcher where she has been described as having a presidential style of leadership and has had a lot of examples of dominating her cabinet. Compared to Truss who had a good grip on her cabinet for 3/4 of her tenure. Yes Truss relied on Hunt but it wasn't to the point where she didn't hold power over him where maybe a better example could be Gordon Brown and Blair in a power struggle nearer the end of Blairs tenure where Brown as you know eventually became the next Labour PM

Original post by AirbornePaddy

Even then, the approach I would consider this from would be that of the ability to continue with the budget, as she had placed people such as Kwasi Kwaterteng (her yes people) in the cabinet, but then this completely changed with her later reliance on Hunt after the mini budget. That is why I feel as if it does afford the same examples, a lot did happen in a short window of time and a lot of it was riddled with divisions.

Reply 57

ALMO42

Original post by AirbornePaddy

I think in terms of relevance that Truss, Johnson and Sunak are all really good case studies as they have considerable contrast and do a lot to highlight the current problems that riddle the parties in power.

This might sound stupid, but what are the 'pm case studies' actually used for? Is it just a case of having detailed knowledge to bring up in a pm's power or cabinet essay? Could you not just know a fair bit about a bunch of pms instead? I doubt we'd need to recall a pm's life story in an essay.

Reply 58