QUESTION-A-DAY #22

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.

Explain the significance of Supreme Court appointments since 2004. (15)

Indicative Content

Relevant points include:

in recent years, two Supreme Court judges have been appointed by President Bush and two by President Obama
the court has been divided for some time into two competing ideological blocs and three of the four appointments – John Roberts, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan – were ideological ‘like for like’s and so far have not significantly changed the ideological balance of the court
the appointment of Samuel Alito was arguably the most significant, since, as a judge with a solidly conservative track record, he took the place of the then ‘swing justice’ Sandra Day O’Connor
some decisions of the Roberts court, e.g. Boumediene v. Bush, could be seen as centrist but, arguably, the general direction of the court has been to the right, particularly in the areas of rights of corporations, e.g. Citizens United, and gun rights, e.g. Heller and McDonald
Justice Kennedy has assumed the status of the ‘swing justice’

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: