QUESTION-A-DAY #15
15th 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.
Explain the key principles of the US constitution. (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
The US constitution sets up a system of limited government which, by a variety of methods, attempts to ensure that power is dispersed and the rights of the individual protected. Its key principles include;
- the separation of powers – the legislative, judicial and executive functions are administered by separate institutions and no individual may be a member of more than one
- checks and balances – each branch of government has extensive checks over the others, e.g, the president’s power of veto over congressional legislation
- federalism – the powers of the federal government are closely detailed (the ’enumerated powers’) and the 10th amendment guarantees that all other power is ‘reserved’ to the states and the people
- protecting the rights of the individual – through the first ten amendments, the Bill of Rights
| 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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