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3C and 4C Government and Politics 2016

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Reply 180
Guys, if the question was 'do pressure groups hinder or enhance democracy', what points would you make?

Hinder
-Revolving Door Syndrome
-Iron Triangle

Enhance
-PGs are treated equally and abide by FEC and BCRA, so educates public, improves participation...
-Power dispersed as groups consistently competing against eacher, to a point where neither have upper hand so power is dispersed between the two.


But i cant think of two other points! (One for and one against)

Thanks in advance!
Original post by nta786
Guys, if the question was 'do pressure groups hinder or enhance democracy', what points would you make?

Hinder
-Revolving Door Syndrome
-Iron Triangle

Enhance
-PGs are treated equally and abide by FEC and BCRA, so educates public, improves participation...
-Power dispersed as groups consistently competing against eacher, to a point where neither have upper hand so power is dispersed between the two.


But i cant think of two other points! (One for and one against)

Thanks in advance!

One point against is because of citizens utd vs fec establishment of super pacs and how cost of seats in senate and HOR on average have risen therefore richer pgs will have influence over politicians because of increasing need for funding

And one point for could be expertise in terms of scorecarding politicians or amicus briefs
Original post by nta786
Guys, if the question was 'do pressure groups hinder or enhance democracy', what points would you make?

Hinder
-Revolving Door Syndrome
-Iron Triangle

Enhance
-PGs are treated equally and abide by FEC and BCRA, so educates public, improves participation...
-Power dispersed as groups consistently competing against eacher, to a point where neither have upper hand so power is dispersed between the two.


But i cant think of two other points! (One for and one against)

Thanks in advance!


Special interests: good - allow active part in a healthy democracy bad - works at expense of 'national interest'.

Revolving door syndrome: also good because it provides legislators and beaurocrats with specialist information to help PGs fulfil function of agenda building.

Representation: PG activity excersizes the right to petition gov. enshrined in the 1st amendment, represents minorities in ways they may not be able to do by themselves.

Then generic point about elitism (US Chamber of Commerce) and pluralism (NARAL)
Original post by sakuraasakii
is the question "Racial equality in the US remains a distant dream" basically asking if race is still an issue in the US?


Yep more or less, there's only a certain number of times they can write a question in a similar way, so they just re-word it. Try and look out for this in the exam!

But I always check the mark schemes AND examiner reports to see if it specifically requires something different.

Work on the general question of 'Is America still a post-racial society?'
what are the chances of a race question coming up as a 45 marker?
Its probably not gonna be a parties 45 marker
Reply 186
So this is how 3C will be structured (99%) sure based on patterns

40 Markers:
Race -> something on the Obama administration on immigration (?)
Elections -> electoral college needs replacing
Pressure Groups -> Whether PG's are good or bad for democracy/elitism/pluralism

15 Markers:
Parties -> Party faction question
Parties -> Which groups of votors tend to vote for Rep's/Dems
Race -> Ethnic makeup of federal government question or Arguments for/against Affirmative action
Elections -> invisible primary
Pressure Groups -> factors which give PG's success/how they influence the senate

PREDICTIONS!
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by 14grahamr
Yep more or less, there's only a certain number of times they can write a question in a similar way, so they just re-word it. Try and look out for this in the exam!

But I always check the mark schemes AND examiner reports to see if it specifically requires something different.

Work on the general question of 'Is America still a post-racial society?'


ah, right, I see :smile: thank you! I'm just hoping that edexcel won't be harsh with A2 as they were with AS this year :s-smilie:
Original post by sakuraasakii
ah, right, I see :smile: thank you! I'm just hoping that edexcel won't be harsh with A2 as they were with AS this year :s-smilie:


I know!! I re sat the unit 1 exam and they put a unit 2 question on it! Race and Ethnicity is pretty flexible though, you can bring in content from the whole topic and just make sure you always to a concluding sentence at the end of each point directly linking it back to the question.
If there is a 45 marker on reforming the electoral college, what points would that include? :smile:

So if it's a question like "The electoral college should be replaced by national popular vote" would points include:

It should - because EC doesn't reflect popular vote
It shouldn't - because this would mean candidates would only visit highly populated areas and neglect others

It should - Third parties don't have influence in the EC system
It shouldn't - The two party system would still be in place so third parties would not do much better in national vote

It should - EC focuses too much on swing states and neglects smaller states, so a national popular vote would change this
It shouldn't - EC votes influence how the campaign goes and so it can't be criticised

It should - The EC mandate is only artificially strong
It shouldn't - It would lead to a rise in third parties, and so the winner would not gain a 50% mandate

Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to check my main arguments are right before I memorise a potentially wrong one :colondollar:
Can someone please help me with "explain the ways in which the constitution seeks to prevent tyranny of the majority" (15 marks) and also "How and why is federalism enshrined in the constitution".

The mark schemes are so vague...

(fed up of revising Unit 3 so doing a bit of Unit 4 haha)
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by JonesyA0
Can someone please help me with "explain the ways in which the constitution seeks to prevent tyranny of the majority" (15 marks) and also "How and why is federalism enshrined in the constitution".

The mark schemes are so vague...

(fed up of revising Unit 3 so doing a bit of Unit 4 haha)


For the tyranny of the majority question the four paragraphs would be:
Separation of powers - one branch can't dominate the political system
Checks and balances - each branch is checked by one another to make sure they don't do anything tyrannical
Bill of rights - Protects the rights of the people so they can't be exploited by majority
Amendment process - it's very difficult and needs a super majority and so amendments cannot be made spontaneously

Then for the how and why question, I usually avoid federalism questions sorry :frown: but it would be one paragraph on the how and 3 on the why :smile:
Original post by 14grahamr
I know!! I re sat the unit 1 exam and they put a unit 2 question on it! Race and Ethnicity is pretty flexible though, you can bring in content from the whole topic and just make sure you always to a concluding sentence at the end of each point directly linking it back to the question.


yeah I re sat it too... I was predicted a B, I don't think I'll be able to get more than a C.

Yeah, I always have to remind myself about that! :smile:
Original post by sakuraasakii
yeah I re sat it too... I was predicted a B, I don't think I'll be able to get more than a C.

Yeah, I always have to remind myself about that! :smile:


I re-sat too... same i really don't think my grade from last year has even improved as i guessed the 25 marker!
Reply 194
How risky is it to not revise one of the topics for each exam? Is it recommended?
Original post by MW11
How risky is it to not revise one of the topics for each exam? Is it recommended?


Not really recommended as you might end up stuck and really dislike most of the questions given, at least know basics from the one you want to avoid so if you dislike most of the questions on the topics you revised for, you can attempt to answer the topic you dislike (I hope that made sense)
Does anyone have any tips on how to get an A* in these units, I've been trying to find good examples for everything but really need an A* for my uni offer and I'm worrying I haven't done enough
what is everyone doing for timing? how long are you thinking of spending on each section?
I thought a minute per mark?
Does anyone have notes or points on Obama's immigration reform that they could send me, I'll appreciate it a lot? :biggrin:

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