Year 13 A2 Core Political Ideas

Political thought , the study of politics as a way of seeing and understanding the world, and the ways in which people construct their political world view. Political thought, then, can be thought of as a lens for seeing and understanding the world, either as it really is or as we perceive it to be. Apolitical doctrine or political ideology is,, a more or less coherent set of ideas that provide a basis for organised political action.


All political ideas questions will follow a familiar format:

 be worth 24 marks,

There will be a choice of two questions but- they could be on the same ideology so learn all three

They will use the command “To what extent…

”and either:

They will ask students to examine the political idea’s view on the economy, society, the state or human nature/the individual, or a combination of these, e.g. to what extent do modern and classical liberals agree over the role of the state?

Or: Ask students to examine the divisions within the political idea from a particular perspective,

“You must use appropriate thinkers you have studied to support your answer and consider both sides in a balanced way” instructions

students will be expected to refer to at least two thinkers in their answer (these must be named thinkers from the specification for the relevant political idea