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:

1. 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?)
2. Once you have completed your question, read the indicative content and the mark scheme.
3. Complete the “Make It Better” (MIB) Task:
   1. Highlight the parts of the indicative content your were able to fully explain and exemplify in green.
   2. Highlight the parts of the indicative content you partially explained and/or exemplified in yellow.
   3. Highlight the parts of the indicative content which you did not include in red.
4. 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?
5. 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.

What is affirmative action, and what are the justifications for it? (15)

Indicative Content

Affirmative action is the collective name for a range of programmes designed to extend opportunities, initially for black Americans, but subsequently extended to other groups, primarily in education and employment. It can take a variety of forms; some, such as quotas for minorities on higher education courses, have been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court (University of California v Bakke), whereas others, which make race a ‘plus factor’ in applications, for example, have been approved (Grutter v Bollinger).

It is justified on at least four grounds:

• compensation – for the deprivation attributable to the legacy of slavery & post Civil War segregation, which continues to leave black Americans worse off than the white population .
• continuing discrimination – there is evidence of continuing discrimination in mandatory minimums, disenfranchisement, and racial profiling; even if overt racism (or sexism) has diminished, it is likely that the entrenched white (or male) dominant class will select people like themselves as successors if not coerced.
• diversity – there are benefits to society as a whole if every group is proportionately represented in employment & education; organisations like the police need to be seen to represent society to be able to do their job effectively
• efficiency – the economy suffers if the labour market is artificially restricted, and skilled black workers are denied opportunities in favour of less skilled white workers.