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Edexcel Government & Politics - Unit 2 Governing the UK (09/06/16)

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Original post by Louise12307
Sorry but could someone tell me how to actually structure a 40 mark question ? And how do you answer a source question effectively?


For the 40 marker I tend to do 6 in-depth paragraphs. Depending on the essay, I 'pingpong it', so I go this is a strength however this is more of a weakness, or I state 3 strengths then 3 weaknesses. Strong intro & conclusion too
Original post by alevelpain
For the 40 marker I tend to do 6 in-depth paragraphs. Depending on the essay, I 'pingpong it', so I go this is a strength however this is more of a weakness, or I state 3 strengths then 3 weaknesses. Strong intro & conclusion too


Ah yes the classic ping pong, are you gonna answer the 40 mark first?


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So for Parliament, these are the questions I'm looking at as revision, besides the composition of Parliament, functions, etc.

- Should the House of Lords be a wholly elected body?
- How effective is Parliament in carrying out its functions?
- How effective is Parliament in checking government power?
- Why is the House of Lords becoming more significant?
- Is the House of Commons in greater need of reform than the House of Lords?

Any good? Others to look at for revision? :smile:

What're you guys looking at for the Constitution as revision, out of interest?
Original post by LennyBicknel
You don't think they'd ask a question about the civil service, right? :/


I think it says in the spec that separate questions won't be set on the civil service :smile:
Original post by mollyadtr
Ah yes the classic ping pong, are you gonna answer the 40 mark first?


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Probably not, I just stick to the order :tongue: how about you?
Original post by UKStudent17
So for Parliament, these are the questions I'm looking at as revision, besides the composition of Parliament, functions, etc.

- Should the House of Lords be a wholly elected body?
- How effective is Parliament in carrying out its functions?
- How effective is Parliament in checking government power?
- Why is the House of Lords becoming more significant?
- Is the House of Commons in greater need of reform than the House of Lords?

Any good? Others to look at for revision? :smile:

What're you guys looking at for the Constitution as revision, out of interest?


Yeah those are pretty good bets!
I'm doing for and against codification which is a generic question...the typical 'where has sovereignty gone? Focusing on the eu' and if the reforms of the constitution have been successes or failure including reforms of post 2010 / if the reforms are relevant


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Original post by UKStudent17
So for Parliament, these are the questions I'm looking at as revision, besides the composition of Parliament, functions, etc.

- Should the House of Lords be a wholly elected body?
- How effective is Parliament in carrying out its functions?
- How effective is Parliament in checking government power?
- Why is the House of Lords becoming more significant?
- Is the House of Commons in greater need of reform than the House of Lords?

Any good? Others to look at for revision? :smile:

What're you guys looking at for the Constitution as revision, out of interest?


Mostly codified vs uncodified/British constitutions. Plus there seems to be a fair amount of sovereignty, so I might look into that a bit more..
Original post by alevelpain
Probably not, I just stick to the order :tongue: how about you?


I was thinking about it when someone mentioned the dreaded time limit again! But I think the source saves some time so I'm probs gonna do it in order too, see what happens 🙈


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Original post by mollyadtr
Yeah those are pretty good bets!
I'm doing for and against codification which is a generic question...the typical 'where has sovereignty gone? Focusing on the eu' and if the reforms of the constitution have been successes or failure including reforms of post 2010 / if the reforms are relevant


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Sounds good!

As for where the sovereignty has gone, you'd refer to the EU, devolution, (referendums?), perhaps other international bodies/organisations like the UN & NATO?
Original post by LennyBicknel
Mostly codified vs uncodified/British constitutions. Plus there seems to be a fair amount of sovereignty, so I might look into that a bit more..


That's true. I'm not too keen on questions relating to the EU, or sovereignty in general, really, but it's a good prediction, so I'll probably check that out too. Thanks!
Original post by UKStudent17
Sounds good!

As for where the sovereignty has gone, you'd refer to the EU, devolution, (referendums?), perhaps other international bodies/organisations like the UN & NATO?


Yeah eu and devolution...referendums comes under popular sovereignty so I'd mention all three types of sovereignty ... Political legal and popular, I didn't think of international organisations so that's a good one-thinking out of the box a little would get you the higher marks 😁


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Sovereignty was last year, doubt they'd repeat it again tbh
Original post by alevelpain
Sovereignty was last year, doubt they'd repeat it again tbh


Ah **** did they, it might be a smaller marked question then


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Original post by alevelpain
For the 40 marker I tend to do 6 in-depth paragraphs. Depending on the essay, I 'pingpong it', so I go this is a strength however this is more of a weakness, or I state 3 strengths then 3 weaknesses. Strong intro & conclusion too


Okay thanks.

So to clarify an example would be:

A strength of the U.K. Constitution is that it is flexible. The lack of codification means that the constitution can be altered quickly (as soon as two days). For example, this was highlighted when the Dunblane school massacre occurred as laws were able to be passed shortly after in order to restrict ability to access handguns. This shows that, during a crisis, the government is able to act quickly and efficiently to pass legislation in the national interest. This contrasts with the US that has a codified consititution and, despite President Obama's pledge to pressure Congress for changes to the Second Amendment after the Sandy Hook school shooting, nothing has yet been done due to tough constitutional amendment processes.
However, the fact that the UK can amend it's consititution in such a short amount of time and with just a single Act of Parliament can be cause for concern because the government could be said to hold too much power. Indeed, Lord Hailsham dubbed newly elected governments as "elective dictatorships" due to the lack of checks on their power.

Is this just 1 para? Or do I split the strength and weakness into 2? And if it's just 1 then do I do this 6 times?
(edited 7 years ago)
I have a feeling that they will ask something to do with UK sovereignty because of all the EU stuff at the moment, something like: 'To what extent has the location of sovereigntyin the UK changed in recent years?'
what does everyone think?
Original post by kirsche
I have a feeling that they will ask something to do with UK sovereignty because of all the EU stuff at the moment, something like: 'To what extent has the location of sovereigntyin the UK changed in recent years?'
what does everyone think?


Yeah that was my bet but if they asked last year I'm not sure


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Anyone here familiar with the Canadian constitution?
Original post by Louise12307
Is this just 1 para? Or do I split the strength and weakness into 2? And if it's just 1 then do I do this 6 times?


Make it 1, do it three times for 25 marker, four/five times for 40 marker (depending on time ofc).

Trust me, it flows sooooooo much better. Make sure to summarise your paragraph after the evaluation by linking it to the question.
Original post by popcornjpg
Make it 1, do it three times for 25 marker, four/five times for 40 marker (depending on time ofc).

Trust me, it flows sooooooo much better. Make sure to summarise your paragraph after the evaluation by linking it to the question.


Thank you so much! Yes that's my usual structure for essays so I'm defo more comfy doing it as one! Okay I will do it as many times as I can get in, and yeah I wasn't answering a Q in my example but would definitely do that in the real thing! Thank you!


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Original post by mollyadtr
Yeah that was my bet but if they asked last year I'm not sure


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I mean, judging by yesterday's exam, the message is that anything can come up. Given that this year in relation to sovereignty and the constitution has been significantly more important than previous years, they very well might put a question like that in again, I imagine.

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