June 2015 Government and Politics AQA 3A and 4A

Hey!

So no-one had started a forum about this year's AQA Government and Politics paper so I thought I'd start. I'm doing Elections and Voting Behaviour for Unit 3A and Executive and Judiciary for Unit 4A. Anyone got any predictions? :smile:

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Emili--ox

Original post by handbag_girl

I'm planning on concentrating on Political Parties and Pressure Groups. 4A I am mainly looking at Judiciary and the Constitution or Congress.

The Judiciary questions from past papers have not yet mentioned the appointment and selection process so it is very likely it will appear in 2015. A very popular question which also is likely to come up is about the whether the Judiciary is political or judicial.

Voting behaviour is a lot of percentages to memorize which is why I was put off.

Reply 2

Forever reading

For gov3a i am going to pressure groups and parties and for gov4a I am going to do the constitution and congress. I am going to do the constitution because it the main part of U.S. Politics

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 3

handbag_girl

I think that for Political Parties the 'Party renewal/Party Decline' Question might come up or a questions about why parties are weak and in decline. Or they could ask about the two-party system.

Reply 4

handbag_girl

For political parties, does anyone know if a question could come up on the Tea Party movement?

Reply 5

Lewis7253

I'm doing 4A but for some reason our college prefers to mix them so I'm also doing 3B which is a bit confusing :frown:

. I think 4A is the more interesting topic though.

Reply 6

LilyHowell

I've been looking at past questions also...
For Congress, areas that haven't really been asked about which are specifically mentioned in the spec (for either 10 or 30 markers) are:
- oversight
- overriding presidential veto
- the committee system
- congress' relationship with Supreme Court
- Bicameralism (touched upon)
For Voting Behaviour:
- Partisanship
- Alignment / de-alignment
- Democratic overload
- long-term v. recency factors (although individual factors have been asked about)
- changes in VB
For Political Parties:
- Liberalism
- Conservatism
- Big Tent
- Neo-liberal / Neo-conservative
- New Right
- Compassionate conservatism
- Recent changes
- Party renewal

these are just some areas not specifically asked about, p.s. haven't looked at pressure groups as I don't plan on doing them in exam

Reply 7

fern_eliza

Original post by handbag_girl

I think that for Political Parties the 'Party renewal/Party Decline' Question might come up or a questions about why parties are weak and in decline. Or they could ask about the two-party system.

My teacher seems to think this theory is old news now so does not expect it to be on the exam, just a thought! We've been taught that the role of parties has changed instead of declined or been renewed so it's her guess that it probably won't on this topic - however it should definitely still be prepared for anyway, you never know!

Reply 8

handbag_girl

Original post by fern_eliza

I don't think I've been taught/learnt about how the role of parties has changed :frown:

I don't know anything on that topic. Do you have any notes about that?

Reply 9

jamie8881

There seems to be a clear pattern for Unit 3a electoral process and direct democracy

Questions in order from June 2010:
Primaries
Direct Democracy
National Nominating Conventions
Campaign finance
electoral college
primaries
direct democracy
national nominating conventions
June 2015...

Reply 10

fern_eliza

Original post by handbag_girl

I don't think I've been taught/learnt about how the role of parties has changed :frown:

I don't know anything on that topic. Do you have any notes about that?

We've not gone into much detail my teacher basically said that we would generally conclude that the parties aren't any more or less important now their roles have just changed from the traditional ones and that theories of renewal/decline are kinda old so to get more A02 marks just to be able to say at the end that it's not as simple as yes or no. Does that make sense? I've not got my folder with me now but when I'm with it I'll look through and see what we actually said about it :smile:

Reply 11

handbag_girl

Okay great. Thanks so much. How is everyone's revision going for politics? There is just so much to learn :frown:

Reply 12

zedesz

Original post by jamie8881

you got any more of these patterns for gov4a lmao?

Reply 13

ChrisTopTwo

Anyone who would like to buy my essay plans for GOV 3 and 4 message me. On track for an A*

Reply 14

Tommy_Girl97xx

Does any body have any revision resources on campaign finance? I'm just not getting it!

Reply 15

Tommy_Girl97xx

Original post by jamie8881

Does anybody have any revision resources for campaign finance? I'm just not getting it! Thanks.

Reply 16

chxrlee

Original post by Tommy_Girl97xx

Does anybody have any revision resources for campaign finance? I'm just not getting it! Thanks.

I have an essay on it which got 26/30 if you'd like to look at that?

On campaign finance i'd mostly hammer down on the reforms that were attempted, e.g BCRA and FECA. A few quotes from contemporaries like judges and political commentators would also be good to add. Also some figures, mention 527 and 501 groups. I came to the conclusion that until the constitution is amended, campaign finance will soar. Also mention Citizens United v FEC (2010).

Reply 17

Tommy_Girl97xx

Original post by chxrlee

That would be brilliant! Thank you

Reply 18

jamie8881

Original post by chxrlee

Would it be possible to share you're essay Aswell ?

Reply 19

Emili--ox

My Predictions:
The ones in bold are the main prediction but I advise revising it all

3A

Electoral Process and Democracy: Presidential Nomination Process (This was in the annual update and politics reviews) and possibly a question about the Electoral College

Political Parties: Two party system (hasn't appeared since June 2012) and the organisation structure

Voting Behaviour: African- American Vote and Voting behaviour in Mid-Terms due to the recent election.

Pressure Groups: Corporate power or clientelism and PACS

4A
These Predictions are partly on what has not come up on the specification yet or what is a popular topic.

Constitution: A 10 mark is most likely to be on, Codified Constitution, Flexability/Rigidity or Constitutional Interpretation
30 mark Constitutional Change (cause and effect) or the relationship between the Supreme Court and the Constitution.

Congress: 10 mark, Bicameralism, Veto/Congressional Override or impeachment
30 mark Social Composition, Constraints or relations with the other branches.

Executive: 10 mark, Spoil System or Clientalism
30 mark, Congressional relations, federal Bureau roles

Supreme Court: 10 mark, Original Intent, Judicial Activism, Judicial power/interpretation.
30 mark, Selection/appointment process or Whether it is a Political or Judicial institution.

Hope this is helpful in the slightest bit. :smile:

(edited 8 years ago)