QUESTION-A-DAY #19

by alainechristian

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:
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.
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.

What are the most significant factors that influence a President when choosing the Cabinet? (15)

Indicative Content

Presidents will have a variety of motives in selecting their cabinets. They may aim to:

recruit policy specialists
build links with Congress through the appointment of serving congressmen and senators
bring trusted advisers into government
strengthen links with key racial groups and with women
represent different wings of the party and different regions of the country

President Obama could be seen to want to:

bury campaign divisions through the appointment of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State
send a message of bipartisanship through the retention of Robert Gates at Defense
make his Cabinet ‘look like America’ through the appointments of, e.g., Eric Holder Steven Chu, Hilda Solis and Eric Shinseki

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: