Politics (Year 12)

Exam Boards

AQA

What will you study?

The Westminster Model of Politics
Democracy and Participation
Referendums
Parliament
Political Parties

Pressure Groups
Elections
Prime Minister and Cabinet
Supreme Court

Devolution
The UK Constitution
European Union
The US Constitution

Useful tips and resources

An understanding of current affairs is absolutely crucial for any aspiring student of Politics, and so you should be ensuring that you read the news every day as well as reading books that will give you a deeper understanding of what is going on in the world of politics. In the second year of the course we study political ideologies, which will require you to understand why it is that politics provokes such intense conflict and debate. Listed here are some introductory texts as well as some wider reading, although this list is not exhaustive.

Keep up to date with the news!

Textbooks

Lynch, Fairclough & Cooper UK Government and Politics for AS/ A Level (6th ed.)
Bennett US Government and Politics for A Level (5th ed.)
Kelly & McNaughton Political Ideas for A Level
Heywood, Andrew Political Ideologies: An Introduction

General Reading:

Newspapers
Weeklies – The Week; The Economist; The New Statesman; The Spectator
Anthony King The Blunders of Governments
Bernard Crick In Defence of Politics
Gerry Stocker Why Politics Matters: Making Politics Work
Heffernan, Cowley & Hay Developments in British Politics
Julian Knight British Politics for Dummies
Kenneth Minogue Politics: A Very Short Introduction
Paul Kelly The Politics Book
Tony Wright British Politics: A Very Short Introduction
Paul Collier ‘The Bottom Billion’
David Goodhart, The Road to Somewhere: The New Tribes Shaping British Politics, 2017.
Tim Shipman, All Out War: The Full Story of How Brexit Sank Britain’s Political Class, 2017.

The UK constitution

Anthony King Who Governs Britain?
Martin Loughlin The British Constitution: A Very Short Introduction

British Politics & History:

Andrew Marr A History of Modern Britain
Andrew Rawnsley The End of the Party
Ben Pimlott Harold Wilson
Charles Moore Margaret Thatcher: The Authorised Biography (Vol. 1)
Dominic Sandbrook Never Had It So Good: A History of Britain from Suez to the Beatles
Seasons in the Sun: The Battle for Britain, 1974-1979,
State of Emergency: The Way We Were: Britain, 1970-1974
White Heat: A History of Britain in the Swinging Sixties 1964-1970

Political Ideologies:

Andrew Vincent, Modern Political Ideologies, 2009.
Andrew Heywood, Essentials of Political Ideas: For A Level, 2018.
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, Penguin Classics, 2016.
Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Scholar Select, 2015.
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince, 2017.
Mary Beard, Women and Power: a Manifesto, 2017.

US Politics:

Jon Sopel, If Only They Didn’t Speak English: Notes From Trump’s America, 2018.
Anthony Bennett, US Government & Politics Annual Update 2018, 2018.
Robert Singh, Governing America: The Politics of a Divided Democracy,2002.
David McKay, American Politics and Society, 2017.
Theodore J. Lowi, Benjamin Ginsberg, Kenneth A. Shepsle, Stephen Ansolabehere, American Government: Power and Purpose, 2017.
Gillian Peele and Christopher Bailey, Developments in American Politics, 7th Edition, 2014.
Richard M. Valelly, American Politics: A Very Short Introduction, 2013.

WATCH POLITICS

Daily Politics
BBC 2 weekdays 12pm (60 minutes)
BBC 1 Sunday 9am (60 minutes) – Sunday with Laura Keunsberg
ITV News – ITV weekdays 6.30pm (30 minutes)
BBC News – BBC 1 weekdays 6pm (60 minutes)/ BBC News Channel (24hour)
Channel 4 News – Channel 4 weekdays 7pm (55 minutes)
BBC Parliament – BBC Parliament daily 6am-4.30am
The Big Questions – BBC 1 Sunday 10am (60 minutes) 
Question Time – BBC 1 Sunday 6pm (60 minutes)

Political Parties & Polling: – Research current policies, their internal democratic structure and have a look at the latest polls.

The Conservative Party 
The Labour Party 
The Liberal Democrats 
UK Polling Data 

Websites for UK Politics

UK Parliament – Gives explainers for parliamentary procedures.
Politics home – good news site for contemporary political discussion
They Work For You tracker of MP voting behaviour
BBC News
Guardian politics
Telegraph politics
Channel 4 News
The Economist
The Spectator
Financial Times Politics
UCL Constitution Unit
LSE Politics and Policy

Websites for US Politics

Washington Post
New York Times Politics
New York Times Politics and Opinions

The New Yorker
Politico
The Hill
Roll Call
Gov Track

LISTEN TO POLITICS – Podcasts

Westminster Hour
What The Papers Say
Week in Westminster
Today in Parliament
Politics Weekly Podcast
Americast
NewsCast
Payne’s Politics Podcast
Economist Podcast
Guardian Today In Focus Podcast
The Red Box Politics Podcast
Talking Politics
Coffee House Shots
Americast
NewsCast
The Rest is Politics
The News Agents
The News Agents USA

What super curricular activities can KS5 students engage with at school for your subject?

Mock Trial – Autumn and Spring Term
Watch PMQs each week.
See above for podcasts and websites.