AS Edexcel Politics (Exam Qs and As)

I was wondering has anyone got any questions and model answers to past papers or any questions and answers to similar questions that could come up.

This would be great for revision and you can easily find links within that could be helpful.

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Reply 1

tiger_j000

With this, i heard there was some sheets of information about various topics in politics called 'politics assocation swot sheets' or 'p.a.s.s'.

Has anyone got any of those which they could share, they are supposed to be informative

Reply 2

danellision

K, I'm doing unit 1 politics retake, Ive got some past questions I could do with going over.....

How about....

JANUARY 2005

A)Define, with an example, consensus politics.
b)Outline three policies of the conservative party?
c)To what extent has new labour abandoned traditional socialist principles?

Reply 3

tiger_j000

Thats an idea,

PEOPLE why dont we look at past papers together and go over them. This will really build up peopls confidence

Reply 4

danellision

lets get started then, The consensus question is expected to appear on tuesday as ive been told by my teacher, so i think we should start taking that one apart.

Reply 5

danellision

A) define with an example consensus politics....

QUICK FIRE 5 MARK QUESTION...

-Ageement between the main parties..
-eg. post war consensus with welfare etc...
-questionable as to whether we do now - Global terrorism and national security

b)Outline three policies of the conservative party

-Immigration Control as concerned with national identity and tradition

-Tax Cuts - favouring a strong economic system and basically just the rich and individual freedom aparantly...

-More bobbys on the beat - heavy discipline, Prisons, national security etc

c) To what extent has new labour abandoned traditional socialist principles?

Yes, they have abandoned traditional values....
-no longer favour keynesianism and want to embrace the free market as can be shown by privatisation eg. Foundation Hospitals and PFI's. TOP UP FEES!!!!

-little concern over class divisions, wont replace the monarchy, reform of the lords was more liberal and they have no plans to reform education system to have equality of opportunity. No higher band of tax but increase on National Insurance.

No, It is still Socialist...

-minimum wage, can be linked in to enforcing workers rights

-more public spending into Hospitals and other public services.

It was never Socialist....

-Always made accomodations for capitalist system, although trade unionist-wasnt really socialist as not concerned over capitalist system. More Social democracy eg. Tony Crossland.

-Broad spectrum, who is the labour party? MP's? members? people who voted for it? Tony Benn is a member of the labour party and hes a full on socialist. Grass-roots supporters are also mainly socialist. Blair is a dirty skummy capitalist however. Is it possible to define.

Does this seem any good to anybody?? If theres anything else we could add to it...please say...

Reply 6

tiger_j000

you have any on pressure groups or election (unit 1)

Reply 7

danellision

oh but of course....

PRESSURE GROUPS

A)Distinguish between promotional and Sectional Pressure groups?
b)Explain three factors that affect the power of pressure groups?
c)Why have pressure groups become more important in recent years?

Reply 8

danellision

ELECTIONS

a)Outline two functions of elections
b)Describe the FPTP + AMS electoral systems
c)How have different electoral systems affected the representation of parties in the uk?

Reply 9

danellision

c) To what extent has new labour abandoned traditional socialist principles?

Your answers excellent, I'll add my own ideas too, though this is in too much detail for an exam answer.

I've done it by looking at an Old Labour principle and comparing it with a New Labour one:

Old Labour - Anti-capitalist
New Labour - Pro capitalism, have even encouraged public-private partnerships eg. London underground.

Old Labour - Equality
New Labour - NL have talked of "opportunity for all" which is more a right wing principle as it suggests you can get things if you work for them.

Old Labour - Cradle to grave welfare
New Labour - Unemployment benefit has become jobseekers' allowance, note the emphasis on finding employment rather than just being given hand-outs. Jobseekers must show that they are actively seeking employment.

Old Labour - High taxes.
New Labour - Have not increased income tax.

Old Labour - Cooperation rather than competition.
New Labour - Have accpeted competition as it is necessary in capitalism.

Old Labour - Clause 4 - nationalisation.
New Labour - Clause 4 abolished, again public-private partnerships rather than nationalisation.

Old Labour - Tied to trade unions
New Labour - Much less TU influence

However:

Old Labour - Pro-working class
New Labour - Have avoided class issues but was the ban on fox hunting partly motivated by class?

Old Labour - Believed in redistribution of wealth
New Labour - Have done this to an extent eg. minimum wage

Also

Labour's constitutional agenda such as abolishing most hereditary peers which is quite socialist, though Labour has avoided the issue of an elected upper chamber.

Why?

1. To win power!
2. Because Labour's traditional power base, the working class, is declining in numbers.

Reply 10

danellision

Cheers loads for your help, i think doing it thematically would make loads more sense.

Though one thing i was wondering was would it be worth including about labours constitutional reform program? I think they proposed this in their 1983 manifesto because of class divisions. but surely constitutional reform is more liberal? or just to try and distinguish themselves as more progressive than the conservative party?? I dont know.?

Could you help me out on these questions:

a)Outline the features of the ftpt electoral system
b)Describe three other electoral systems which are currently used in the uk?
c)Analyse how these other electoral systems have affected the representation of political parties in the uk.

Im fine with the definition one and for the second one, i would probably do fptp, ams and the regional list. I think thats right? Im still not entirely sure with that one, and could do with a serious guide on the third one?

cheers loads!!

Reply 11

Queen_A

danellision

ELECTIONS

a)Outline two functions of elections
b)Describe the FPTP + AMS electoral systems
c)How have different electoral systems affected the representation of parties in the uk?

a) Mandatory function
Electorate gives permission to the party elected to carry out policies in its manifesto (e.g. 1997 Election - Devolution referenda),

Choose government
Works in this way b/c we vote for MPs for each constituency. Party where more of its MPs are voted for in each constituency forms the govt. Labour 56.5% seats (2005) – formed government

b)
1. Where in use
FPTP - UK General Elections AMS - Scottish Parliament, London Assemly, Welsh Assembly

2. Type of govt. it delivers
FPTP: Stong & stable - becase of winner takes all, and winners bonus. Not proportional. Labour 2001, 39% vote, over 60% seats.
AMS: Can lead to coalition governments, because of of party list system. E.g. Scotland Lib-Lab coalition

3. Voter choice
FPTP: Only one vote. Leads to tactical/negative voting - regional bias means voters effectively disenfranchised. (2005: 1 in 5 voted tactically). Party selects candidate (& PM)
AMS: Increased voter choice - two votes. Overall view (be in national/regional) means negative not required. Party still selects candidate. Voters can use 1st vote to express support for particular candidate, without contributing to their overall majority

4. Strong MP-constituency link?
FPTP: Yes. One MP per constituency - given direct mandate
AMS: Retains a number of single-member constituencies, but creates two types of MP, one of which is not directly accountable to voters, just to their party leadership

Reply 12

danellision

thats great for question b, what about the third system used for that? what do we use for european elections???

And do you know how to answer question c?

cheers!

Reply 13

Queen_A

b) Forgot - How fair system is to smaller parties
FPTP: Gross under-representation: Lib Dems in 1992: 18% vote, 3% seats!
AMS: Smaller parties do not fare much better, but increased likelihood of coalitions means that even 3rd parties may get into government (Lib Dems 18 seats, SNP 24 in 2002, yet Lib Dems formed coalition)

c) *Takes deep breath*
AMS:
Scottish Lib-Lab coalition: Compromise (Lib – PR for local elections, Labs – tough on youth crime). BUT Can’t fully implement manifesto.
Increase in influence, & over-representation of smaller parties. 2002 Lib Dems fewer seats in Scotland than SNP. (Lib Dems 16 seats, SNP 24)
Increased representation of national parties: 2001 FPTP SNP 5 seats. 2002 AMS 24 seats
Tories in Wales – 3rd party(2002), G/E 2001 0 seats, though 21% of vote.
STV
Northern Ireland: Under FPTP [2001] 4 parties got seats. 1998 STV 11 parties with seats. increased representation for smaller parties (have written that a thousand times!)

(Anyone know anything about the effects of the Regional List system used in European Elections in UK (except Ireland)?)

Reply 14

danellision

oh mate thats amazing for question C, cheers!!

Reply 15

Party List for European Parliament

Has benefoted smaller parties - Greens/UKIP/SNP/Plaid Cymru have all won seats
Conservatives won 36 seats to Labour's 29 in 1999 despite Labour's dominance of the Commons.
Lib Dems benefited 2 seats in 1994 -> 10 seats in 1999.
But you need to keep in mind the poor turnout - 23%(!) turnout in 1999.

Also with AMS in Scotland the Tories won no seats under the FPTP part of the electoral system but won 18 top-up seats. So they went from having no seats to being the third biggest party with more influence and power. Therefore the system has benefited large parties too.

Reply 16

tiger_j000

Is it possible to go through this from unit three and the constituional reform

1. Study the source material below and then answer questions (a), (b), (c) and (d).

Parties and the Constitution

In the wake of the general election of 1997, the stance of the parties on constitutional issues was clear. The Labour Party had been returned to power with a mandate to enact various measures of constitutional reform. The party's election manifesto was frequently quoted during debate on those measures, not least during the debate on its House of Lords Bill. The Conservative Party remained committed to the traditional approach to the constitution. It had proposed no major constitutional reform in its election manifesto and was able to take a principled stand in opposition to various of the measures brought forward by the Labour Government. However, the measures created problems for both major parties and, to a lesser extent, for the Liberal Democrats.

The constitution remains an issue of debate. What shape should the British constitution take? How plausible are the various approaches to constitutional change? The Labour Party wants to move away from the traditional constitution, but not to do so to the extent that it prevents a Labour Government from governing.

Adapted.from Philip Norton, 'The Changing Constitution' in Jones et al., Politics UK, 2001.

(a) Using the source material and your own knowledge, what is the Conservative view on constitutional reform?

(b) How have the measures 'created problems for both major parties'?

(c) Why has Labour introduced its programme of constitutional reform?

(d) How has the programme of constitutional reform been criticised?