Evaluation
Edexcel A-Level Politics 9PL0
Democracy and Participation
Political Parties
Electoral Systems
Voting Behaviour and the Media
Liberalism
Conservatism
Socialism
The Constitution
Parliament
The Prime Minister and the Executive
Relations Between the Branches
AnarchismNon-core
EcologismNon-core
FeminismNon-core
MulticulturalismNon-core
NationalismNon-core
The US Constitution and FederalismUSA
US CongressUSA
Topic overviewThe structure of Congress and congressional electionsThe distribution of powers within CongressRepresentation: incumbency and influences on how members voteThe legislative process and gridlockOversight and relations with the presidencyChecks on the other branches, and debates about Congress
The US PresidencyUSA
The US Supreme Court and Civil RightsUSA
Topic overviewThe living Constitution and originalismJudicial review, appointments and the current CourtJudicial activism, restraint and public policyHow effectively the Supreme Court protects rightsThe limits of Supreme Court rights protectionAffirmative action: successes and failuresRacial rights campaigns, voting rights and representationImmigration reform and equality
US Democracy and ParticipationUSA
Comparative Theories and the UK-US ComparisonUSA
Topic overviewComparing the UK and US legislatures: structure and powersComparing the UK and US legislatures: strengths and approachesComparing the executives: powers and selectionComparing the executives: accountability and approachesComparing the Supreme Courts: powers and appointmentsComparing rights protection and interest group litigationComparing party systems and party ideasComparing campaign finance and pressure groupsApplying the three approaches to democracy and participationComparative theories: rational, cultural and structuralComparing the UK and US constitutions
The State and GlobalisationGlobal
Global Governance: Political and EconomicGlobal
Global Governance: Human Rights and EnvironmentalGlobal
Topic overviewInternational law and human rights institutionsHumanitarian intervention and the Responsibility to ProtectEnvironmental governance: the UNFCCC and the IPCCThe effectiveness of international law and international courtsDeep and shallow green ecology and the tragedy of the commonsInternational environmental agreements from Rio to ParisGlobal civil society and NGOs
Power and DevelopmentsGlobal
Topic overviewDifferent types of power: hard, soft and structuralGreat powers, superpowers and emerging powersPolarity and the changing world orderSystems of government and their consequences for global orderThe development and spread of liberal economies, the rule of law and democracyHow power and developments address contemporary global issues
Regionalism and the European UnionGlobal
Topic overviewRegionalism: forms and growthRegionalism, sovereignty and levels of integrationNAFTA, the USMCA and the African UnionThe Arab League and ASEANThe treaties that built the European UnionEU institutions and enlargementEconomic and Monetary Union and the euroSupranationalism, intergovernmentalism and the drivers of integrationThe EU's political and economic influenceThe EU's military influence and normative powerHow regionalism addresses conflict, poverty and rightsThe limits of regionalism in resolving global issues
Global Comparative TheoriesGlobal
The Prime Minister and the Executive
- 5 subtopics
- 15 things to know
- Component 2
What The Prime Minister and the Executive covers
Covers the centre of British government: how the executive is built and what powers it holds, the two doctrines of ministerial responsibility, how a Prime Minister picks and controls a Cabinet, and whether the office has become presidential.
Where it is assessed
Component 2
UK Government, sat by everyone.
Check the Pearson Edexcel specification ↗The 5 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- The structure and powers of the ExecutiveRecall questions on the Cabinet, ministers and departments, the royal prerogative, secondary legislation and where each sits in the structure.Open →
- The roles of the Executive and ministerial responsibilityRecall questions on what the executive does with legislation and the budget, and on individual and collective ministerial responsibility and how each has weakened.Open →
- The Prime Minister, the Cabinet and ministerial selectionRecall questions on patronage, balancing factions, the constraints on who can be appointed, and what strengthens the Prime Minister against the Cabinet.Open →
- Prime-ministerial power and the presidentialisation debateRecall questions on sofa government, the case for and against the presidentialisation thesis, and what decides how much a Prime Minister can actually do.Open →
- Prime Minister case studies: Thatcher and BlairThatcher's control of economic policy, the Falklands and the miners' strike, the Westland affair, the poll tax and her fall in 1990, then Blair's first-term reforms, Kosovo, Iraq and Northern Ireland, Gordon Brown's influence, Commons defeats and his departure in 2007.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Evaluation
What is claimed for and against the presidentialisation thesis?
Evaluation
What is secondary legislation (delegated legislation)?
Key term
What is collective ministerial responsibility?
Key term
What must ministers do publicly under collective responsibility?
Numbers
When has collective responsibility been suspended, and why?
Evaluation
How does patronage strengthen the Prime Minister's power over Cabinet?
Key term
What factors might limit a Prime Minister's ability to control events?
Key term
What is the Cabinet?
Key term
What role does the executive play in relation to the annual budget?
Key term
Why might a Prime Minister include potential rivals in the Cabinet?
Key term
What is 'sofa government'?
Process
How did Thatcher shape events through the Falklands War?
Process
How did Thatcher lose office in 1990?
Process
How did the Iraq War eventually undermine Blair's authority?
Take The Prime Minister and the Executive further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Individual ministerial responsibility vs Collective ministerial responsibility
Individual ministerial responsibility: the duty of a minister to answer personally for their own conduct and their department. Collective ministerial responsibility: the duty of every Cabinet member to defend government decisions in public or resign.
The royal prerogative vs Secondary legislation
The royal prerogative: powers once held by the Crown that ministers now exercise without needing a vote. Secondary legislation: detailed rules made by ministers under authority an Act of Parliament has granted.
Cabinet government vs Sofa government
Cabinet government: an arrangement in which policy is settled collectively around the Cabinet table. Sofa government: an arrangement in which decisions are taken informally by the leader and a few advisers.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is the executive branch of government responsible for?
Model answer
Implementing and enforcing laws and policies. It comprises the Prime Minister, Cabinet, and government departments.
- 2
What is the Cabinet?
Model answer
A committee of senior ministers, typically around 20-25 members, who head major government departments and collectively make key policy decisions.
- 3
What is a minister in the UK government?
Model answer
A member of the government appointed by the Prime Minister to take responsibility for a specific policy area or government department.
- 4
What is a government department?
Model answer
An administrative body responsible for a specific area of policy, headed by a Secretary of State or minister and staffed by civil servants.
- 5
What is the role of government departments in the executive structure?
Model answer
They are staffed by civil servants and carry out the administrative work of government under ministerial direction.
- 6
What is the Royal Prerogative?
Model answer
Powers historically held by the monarch that are now exercised by the Prime Minister and ministers without requiring parliamentary approval.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
The Prime Minister and the Executive revision questions
- What does The Prime Minister and the Executive cover in Edexcel A-Level Politics?
- 5 subtopics: the structure and powers of the executive, the roles of the executive and ministerial responsibility, the prime minister, the cabinet and ministerial selection, prime-ministerial power and the presidentialisation debate and prime minister case studies: thatcher and blair. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is The Prime Minister and the Executive organised?
- By the Edexcel 9PL0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in The Prime Minister and the Executive, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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