Government and Politics Unit 4C Edexcel

In preparation for the exam in just over 2 weeks time, this thread is to collate information, revision notes and predictions for this paper!

Happy posting :smile:

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Reply 1

President M.E.

Finally a thread on this exam, I really need all the current examples for the topics that's pretty much what the examiners get excited about

Reply 2

Homeboy Hotel

Original post by President M.E.

Finally a thread on this exam, I really need all the current examples for the topics that's pretty much what the examiners get excited about

Oh dear, good luck with that. My examples have been totally cumulative - e.g I've been reading the US news on popular US quality news websites since September and been making notes on all the examples as I went a long.

Reply 3

gman10

Current examples are important, but useless if you cannot incorporate them into a good essay technique

Reply 4

Superunknown17

I think it'll be a fairly nice paper. Hoping for a question on the politicization of the Supreme Court or the power of the President but it's one of my easier exams. Aiming for 90% so hoping the paper is kind :tongue:

Reply 5

gman10

Original post by Superunknown17

What about a broken branch question on congress?

Reply 6

President M.E.

Anything to do with Congress and its difficulties there's so much stuff now about it, does anyone have any tips to an A* essay? My teacher is pretty poor, and TSRians are pretty knowledgeable on this sort of thing...

Reply 7

gman10

Any tips for the 40 marker??

Reply 8

Superunknown17

Original post by gman10

What about a broken branch question on congress?

Haven't come across that one yet but you could say that the President as commander-in-chief has essentially usurped the power to declare war, as Congress hasn't declared war since 1941 I believe (don't quote me on the date) but has been involved in numerous 'unofficial' wars, i.e. the Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, you know the rest.

You could also say that the President can circumvent Congress with like recess appointments, executive orders etc. Also, though Congress has the power to impeach, they've never done so fully.

I'm sure there's other things to put but they're just off the top of my head.

Reply 9

apple1

Does anyone know whether United States vs. Stevens would be classed as judicial activism or judicial restraint?

Reply 10

arsenal20111

If a question comes up about the difficulty of passing Amendments to the Constitution, could you argue America is fearful of mistake, such as when the 18th Amendment on Prohibition of Alcohol was repealed?

Reply 11

t1gger123

Original post by arsenal20111

Yes, as long as its clear that the politicians and public a like dont want to see changes on policy areas thats fine

Reply 12

t1gger123

Original post by gman10

What about a broken branch question on congress?

For this i would go through each of Congress' main functions and show how they are failing at them
Legislation - 2% of bills passed, tend to be on non partisan issues, like removing 'lunatic' from federal law, needs pork to get through

Scrutiny - excessive in divided, not good enough in unified government

Representation - too much focus on special interest and parties, becoming harder to represent the Folks Back Home

Budget - disaster, sequestration, fiscal cliff, debt ceiling

Reply 13

arsenal20111

Original post by t1gger123

Then again, you can mention that Congressman are prepared to vote against party lines if it conflicts with constituents views (e.g. Representative Christopher Carney)

Reply 14

t1gger123

Original post by arsenal20111

Then again, you can mention that Congressman are prepared to vote against party lines if it conflicts with constituents views (e.g. Representative Christopher Carney)

Yep, its good to provide a counter point and knock it down, to get the top grades, so you could mention this, but then go on to say in the current era of polarisation, this is becoming increasingly rare

Reply 15

arsenal20111

Original post by t1gger123

True. But then again, you can argue the lack of party discipline makes it easier to vote against party. (Possibly draw in comparison with UK Party Whips?)

Reply 16

t1gger123

Original post by arsenal20111

True. But then again, you can argue the lack of party discipline makes it easier to vote against party. (Possibly draw in comparison with UK Party Whips?)