QUESTION-A-DAY #6
6th May 2018
Revision & Exam Practice for the “legacy” A Level qualifications including:
- Edexcel (Unit 3C – Representative Processes in the USA, Unit 4C – Governing the USA)
- AQA (Unit 3A – The Politics of the USA, Unit 4A – The Government of the USA)
- OCR (F855 – US Government & Politics)
How to use these questions for revision and exam practice:
- For short-answer questions, write a 3 paragraph response using the PEEACH paragraph structure (P=point, E=evidence, E=explain, A=argument, C=counter argument, H=how does this answer the question?)
- Once you have completed your question, read the indicative content and the mark scheme.
- Complete the “Make It Better” (MIB) Task:
- Highlight the parts of the indicative content your were able to fully explain and exemplify in green.
- Highlight the parts of the indicative content you partially explained and/or exemplified in yellow.
- Highlight the parts of the indicative content which you did not include in red.
- Using the mark scheme, award yourself a level and a mark – compare this to your target grade – are you on track to achieve this in the examination?
- There is also a space for you to add additional notes and/or examples that don’t appear in the indicative content, or add better explanations, or include additional, points from the indicative content.
Assess the constraints on the President’s role as Commander-in-Chief. (15)
| P
E A A C H |
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| P
E A A C H |
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| P
E A A C H |
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Indicative Content
Article 2 of the constitution gives the president the role of the commander in chief of the US armed forces. The constraints on the president in this role include:
- only Congress can declare war, or authorise the president to deploy armed forces; war has however only been declared five times since 1787, and the timing of congressional authorisations may be manipulated by the president, e.g. the vote on action against Iraq shortly before the 2002 midterms
- this relationship was confirmed by the War Powers Act, which however has not yet been used to curtail military action
- Congress has sole power of the purse, which it may however be reluctant to exert
- as a civilian, the president is dependent on advice from the chiefs of staff, and may additionally receive conflicting advice from different parts of the foreign policy bureaucracy
- public opinion, or the anticipation of public reaction
- pressure groups
- occasionally the Supreme Court may intervene, as in Youngstown
| Levels | Descriptors |
| Level 3
(11-15 marks) |
Full and developed knowledge and understanding of relevant institutions, processes, political concepts, theories or debates.
Good or better ability to analyse and explain political information, arguments and explanations. Sophisticated ability to construct and communicate coherent arguments, making good use of appropriate vocabulary. |
| Level 2
(6-10 marks) |
Satisfactory knowledge and understanding of relevant institutions, processes, political concepts, theories or debates.
Sound ability to analyse and explain political information, arguments and explanations. Adequate ability to construct and communicate coherent arguments, making some use of appropriate vocabulary. |
| Level 1
(1-5 marks) |
Limited knowledge and understanding of relevant institutions, processes, political concepts, theories or debates.
Poor ability to analyse and explain political information, arguments and explanations. Weak ability to construct and communicate coherent arguments, making little or no use of appropriate vocabulary. |
| MIB
TASK |
· Highlight the parts of the indicative content your were able to fully explain and exemplify in green.
· Highlight the parts of the indicative content you partially explained and/or exemplified in yellow. · Highlight the parts of the indicative content which you did not include in red. |
| Additional notes/examples:
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