Locating the terrorist groups around the world
Here's a link to a great interactive infographic that shows the location and level of activity of the various active terrorist groups around the world - a super revision resource for students...
A political party is a group of people who share similar views on how a country should be governed. The UK is usually described as having a two-party system (Conservatives and Labour), although...
Is the Lords currently too powerful?
There's some useful analysis on the extent to which the Lords has power in Parliament (great for the Unit 2 paper!) in this article from the BBC.
A by-election occurs when an MP needs to be replaced between General Elections – this can be due to the death or resignation of the MP, or if the MP becomes bankrupt or is convicted of a criminal...
How can Donald Trump win the White House?
Now that Trump seems 100% likely to be the Republican candidate on the Presidential Election ballot paper, this blog takes a quick look at the factors that might determine his success in the...
How the White House is embracing entrepreneurship
Here's a great 15 minute TED talk from Haley Van Dyck, who is working in a start-up company inside the White House looking at ways to make the delivery of government services more entrepreneurial...
Queen's Speech quick summary for AS students
The annual State Opening of Parliament is the only occasion on which the 3 elements of Parliament - the monarch, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons - actually come together. Given the...
Example US Politics Essay: discuss the view that third parties have no impact on US politics
US politics remains dominated by two big parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, initially suggesting that third parties have no role to play in this two-party system. However, whilst third...
MPs expense claims - has anything really changed?
Here's an interesting article from the Guardian about the continued high level of expenses claimed by Westminster MPs showing that the actual amount claimed has risen since the expenses scandal of...
In simple terms, a proportional representation system is one in which the proportion of seats allocated to a particular party is the same as the proportion of votes won by that party. Each vote,...
Are betting odds more useful than opinion polls?
I thought this article in The Economist provided a unique insight into the issues surrounding opinion polls and psephology in general, suggesting that we would be better off looking at the betting...
Why a new Supreme Court justice is urgently needed
The US Supreme Court is still stuck with just 8 justices following the untimely death of Justice Scalia earlier this year, and the continued attempts by Congressional Republicans to slow the...
Whilst pressure groups may undermine the normal method of political participation in the UK’s representative democracy, their existence may strengthen pluralist democracy. This is achieved by...
RSPCA to become less adversarial
The new chief executive of the RSPCA has said that the charity is to become less adversarial in the future. This announcement comes as the organisation has been increasingly criticised for chasing...
Is Leanne Wood the new Frank Underwood?
A deadlocked vote, shady deals and a roll call vote, it could be an episode of House of Cards, yet this political thriller is taking place down in Cardiff Bay over the election of First Minister.
Nearly every country in the world has a constitution which outlines the political process of governance in that country. The US Constitution is the world’s oldest codified constitution (written...
Here's a quick multi-choice quiz on the Constitution and its reform for your AS students. It takes the form of one of our favourite activities here at tutor2u - the Confidence Based Dance Off! The...
Given that democracy is effectively “rule by the people”, then the direct democracy achieved through referendums can, at first glance, be seen as a good way of enhancing democracy compared with...
Aspiring Political Journalist?
Could you be the next Nick Robinson, Isabel Hardman or Matt Chorley? Well, the Times is offering you the chance to do just that!
Example UK Politics Essay: discuss the extent to which the UK’s version of representative democracy could be improved
Representative democracy, or indirect democracy, refers to the election of officials/lawmakers to represent the views of the electorate in parliament. In the UK, we elect our MPs, our MEPs, our...