A2 Edexcel American Government &amp; Politics Specification

Does anybody know how many examples we need for these two exams? Is about 3 per topic enough?

Reply 21

3 examples per topic?!

you need examples for almost every point that you bring up; especially with Race and Ethnic Politics. you need to be learning statistics, facts and figures almost everywhere like how many african americans have been in Senate.

obviously learning examples is hard but you pretty much need to do it so your points can be expanded further.

Reply 22

Original post by TheBlackMonster

3 examples per topic?!

you need examples for almost every point that you bring up; especially with Race and Ethnic Politics. you need to be learning statistics, facts and figures almost everywhere like how many african americans have been in Senate.

obviously learning examples is hard but you pretty much need to do it so your points can be expanded further.

Thanks, I didn't know I had to back up each point made with examples, need to get them all sorted now! :smile:

Reply 23

Original post by james20207

Thanks, I didn't know I had to back up each point made with examples, need to get them all sorted now! :smile:

if you need help with Unit 4C, then i'll try haha

Reply 24

Danyial123

got nothing mate, you got any essays youve done and like to share?

Reply 25

Zionic

12

I'm dreading these two exams! I've spent so long revising for my history exam, which is tomorrow, I will only have 2 days to revise paper 3, then 2 days to revise paper 4! :frown:

And I still don't understand the flipping Electoral College! :frown:

Reply 26

Electoral College is an indirect way of voting for the President, the Founding Fathers didn't want an executive based on tyranny of the majority so instead of using the popular vote system, they used electoral college. however this system is outdated and as it's been seen before that Gore beat Bush by 500,000 popular votes yet Bush still won the Presidential race of 2000

Reply 27

Ell Jee Smooth

Electoral College

Advantages
-Must consider smaller states that would otherwise be overlooked –Even Rhode Island(the smallest state) is considered
-Promotes a two-horse race

Disadvantages
-Impossible to break the 2 party stronghold, will continue like this- Ross Perot the billionaire in 1992 gained 18.9% of the vote but not a single electoral college
-Tactical voting becomes a problem. Ralph Nader gained 97000 votes in Florida, votes that would have gone to Gore, and Bush only won by 537
-Candidates focus on key swing states like Florida and Ohio, leaving out safe/unwinnable states. Obama spent very little time in California.
- It is possible that a candidate will not win 50% of the popular vote, Gore had half a million votes more than Bush

Reply 28

Advantages:
Preserves the voice of smaller states
Wyoming receives 1 EC vote per 165k of its population – this can be seen as democratic

Supports a two party system
It unites the country’s decision as one candidate has to receive 270 EC votes (over 50%) to become President

Maintains the Separation of Power
The President is voted in indirectly so that he is separate from other branches of power to avoid assertion of a popular mandate that would and potentially result in tyranny

Neutralises turnout disparities between states
The EC votes wont change due to the allocation of electoral votes being independent of each state's turnout (may be low due to weather)

---

Disadvantages:
Smaller states are over-represented
California: 55 EC votes, 34 million population, 1 EC vote per 617k people
Wyoming: 3 EC votes, half a million population, 1 EC vote per 165k people

Winner takes all distorts results
In 2000, Bush won over Gore even though Gore received 500,000 more popular votes

Unfair to third parties
In 2008, Nadar (Independent) gained 738k votes but not 1 EC vote

Rogue Electors/EC not legally binding
In 2000, a Washington DC elector refused to cast her vote for Gore by leaving her ballot empty – even though the people of DC voted for Gore

Reply 29

I have this exam on Monday & Thursday - I'm resitting Unit 3 as I completely flunked my 15 mark questions - any help on those please?

Also with Unit 4 - I have no clue about anything! :frown:

I've been way too busy revising yesterday's History exam :frown:

Please help anyone?

Reply 30

Does anybody know how much detail we need to have for congressional elections, is the main focus for the "Elections and Voting" on presidential elections? Thanks.

Reply 31

Original post by Dinner at Chanel

I have this exam on Monday & Thursday - I'm resitting Unit 3 as I completely flunked my 15 mark questions - any help on those please?

Also with Unit 4 - I have no clue about anything! :frown:

I've been way too busy revising yesterday's History exam :frown:

Please help anyone?

What I have been told to do for the 15 markers is to make 4 or 5 solid points, using examles and explaining, that is linking it back to the question. A lot of the questions they use are actually the same but with a different slant so just try and shape your answer to fit what they're asking. If you feel it is relevant you can add an introduction but sometimes due to the nature of the question this isn't applicable and just wastes time. Hope it helped :smile:

I am also doing unit 4 and need to do a lot of revision for that too!

Reply 32

Original post by james20207

What I have been told to do for the 15 markers is to make 4 or 5 solid points, using examles and explaining, that is linking it back to the question. A lot of the questions they use are actually the same but with a different slant so just try and shape your answer to fit what they're asking. If you feel it is relevant you can add an introduction but sometimes due to the nature of the question this isn't applicable and just wastes time. Hope it helped :smile:

I am also doing unit 4 and need to do a lot of revision for that too!

Thank you! :smile:

are you nervous?

I'm so scared about Unit 4 & well I did really bad in Unit 3.. my 45 mark wasn't too bad, it was more my 15 marks that let me down :frown:

Reply 33

Original post by Dinner at Chanel

Thank you! :smile:

are you nervous?

I'm so scared about Unit 4 & well I did really bad in Unit 3.. my 45 mark wasn't too bad, it was more my 15 marks that let me down :frown:

I'm nervous for unit 4, I havn't started revising for that yet :s-smilie:

, but I have 3 exams on monday and 2 on thursday so that doesn't help as I can't just cram for the one! I tend to do better on the essay question as well because I just think they're easier to answer.

How much more revision have you got to do for both units?

Reply 34

cat_cat

6

I was just wondering how is the A2 exams structured the same as the AS exams ? If not how are they structured?

Reply 35

Original post by james20207

I'm nervous for unit 4, I havn't started revising for that yet :s-smilie:

, but I have 3 exams on monday and 2 on thursday so that doesn't help as I can't just cram for the one! I tend to do better on the essay question as well because I just think they're easier to answer.

How much more revision have you got to do for both units?

ah that sucks! /:

For Unit 3, not a lot as I've done it before - it's just a matter of it staying in my head and structuring my answers accordingly. However, for Unit 4, I have a lot to do - it's confusing.. I know it, just not in enough detail (I'm just going to cram as they're the only exams I have this week)

How about you?

Reply 36

Original post by TheBlackMonster

Advantages:
Preserves the voice of smaller states
Wyoming receives 1 EC vote per 165k of its population – this can be seen as democratic

Supports a two party system
It unites the country’s decision as one candidate has to receive 270 EC votes (over 50%) to become President

Maintains the Separation of Power
The President is voted in indirectly so that he is separate from other branches of power to avoid assertion of a popular mandate that would and potentially result in tyranny

Neutralises turnout disparities between states
The EC votes wont change due to the allocation of electoral votes being independent of each state's turnout (may be low due to weather)

---

Disadvantages:
Smaller states are over-represented
California: 55 EC votes, 34 million population, 1 EC vote per 617k people
Wyoming: 3 EC votes, half a million population, 1 EC vote per 165k people

Winner takes all distorts results
In 2000, Bush won over Gore even though Gore received 500,000 more popular votes

Unfair to third parties
In 2008, Nadar (Independent) gained 738k votes but not 1 EC vote

Rogue Electors/EC not legally binding
In 2000, a Washington DC elector refused to cast her vote for Gore by leaving her ballot empty – even though the people of DC voted for Gore

This is awesome! :smile:

could you possibly help me with Unit 4 stuff? haha

Reply 37

Zionic

12

Thanks for replying to my question people. :smile:

Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I've only just refound this thread lol... I've been revising for this exam and had my history exam on the friday.

I know how the EC works now, because of this video. :biggrin:

And it has nice music in the background. :smile:

Reply 38

Original post by Dinner at Chanel

This is awesome! :smile:

could you possibly help me with Unit 4 stuff? haha

haha I need some help with unit 4 myself

Reply 39