Power and Developments

What Power and Developments covers

Covers how power is held and used between states: the forms it takes, how states are classified by it, what different polar structures mean for world order, the systems of government states adopt, and the spread of markets, law and democracy.

The 6 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Different types of power: hard, soft and structuralRecall questions on hard, soft, structural and smart power, the examples of each, and the limits on what force and attraction can achieve.Open →
• Great powers, superpowers and emerging powersRecall questions on how state power is classified and measured, why the USA is treated as a superpower, and the contested status of China, Russia and the BRICS economies.Open →
• Polarity and the changing world orderRecall questions on unipolarity and hegemony, bipolarity and multipolarity, the stability claimed for each, and how world order has shifted since 2000.Open →
• Systems of government and their consequences for global orderRecall questions on democratic, semi-democratic, autocratic, failed and rogue states, and on democratic peace theory and its critics.Open →
• The development and spread of liberal economies, the rule of law and democracyRecall questions on how market economies spread and what is claimed for and against them, why the rule of law matters to development, and on the third wave and democratic backsliding.Open →
• How power and developments address contemporary global issuesRecall questions on how power is exercised over conflict, poverty, human rights and the environment, and on the developments that change what states can do.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Power and Developments further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Hard power vs Soft power

  Hard power: the use of force or economic inducement to make another actor do what it otherwise would not. Soft power: the ability to obtain what you want because others are attracted to your values and example.

• A superpower vs A great power

  A superpower: a state able to project decisive military, economic and cultural weight anywhere in the world. A great power: a state whose interests must be taken into account in major questions but whose reach is not global.

• A failed state vs A rogue state

  A failed state: a state whose government has lost control of its territory and can no longer provide basic order. A rogue state: a state judged to flout international norms through prohibited weapons or sponsorship of terrorism.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is power in the context of global politics?

   Model answer

   The capacity of one actor to shape the behaviour, choices or environment of another, whether by compelling it, persuading it, or setting the terms within which it acts.

2. 2

   What is hard power?

   Model answer

   The use of coercion or inducement to make another actor do something it would not otherwise do, relying on tangible assets such as armed force and economic leverage.

3. 3

   Give two examples of military hard power.

   Model answer

   Armed intervention or the threat of it, and the stationing of forces or deployment of naval strength to deter an opponent. Arms supplies to an ally are a further example.

4. 4

   Give two examples of economic hard power.

   Model answer

   Sanctions and trade embargoes designed to impose costs, and aid, loans or preferential trade terms offered to secure compliance.

5. 5

   What is soft power?

   Model answer

   The ability to obtain the outcomes you want because others admire your values, institutions or culture and are drawn to follow your lead, rather than because you have coerced or paid them.

6. 6

   Who developed the concept of soft power?

   Model answer

   Joseph Nye, who argued that attraction and agenda-setting can achieve what force cannot, and that a state which squanders its reputation loses influence it cannot buy back.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Power and Developments revision questions

What does Power and Developments cover in Edexcel A-Level Politics?

6 subtopics: different types of power: hard, soft and structural, great powers, superpowers and emerging powers, polarity and the changing world order, systems of government and their consequences for global order, the development and spread of liberal economies, the rule of law and democracy and how power and developments address contemporary global issues. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Power and Developments organised?

By the Edexcel 9PL0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.