Key term
WJEC A-Level Government and Politics 603-1979-3
The British Constitution
Topic overviewThe nature of the constitution: uncodified, unitary and flexibleStatute law as a source of the constitutionCommon law and works of constitutional authorityConstitutional conventionsParliamentary sovereigntyThe rule of lawParliamentary government and constitutional monarchyConstitutional reform since 1997The debate on a codified constitutionThe UK, the European Union and BrexitThe UK, NATO and the United Nations
The Judiciary and the Supreme Court
Topic overviewThe constitutional role of the Supreme CourtThe Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and the creation of the CourtThe Supreme Court as the highest court of appealThe separation of powers in the UKJudicial independenceJudicial neutrality and the appointment of judgesJudicial review and the doctrine of ultra viresSupreme Court rulings on constitutional mattersA separate legal jurisdiction for Wales
The UK Executive
Topic overviewThe core executiveThe roles of the Prime MinisterThe powers and resources of the Prime MinisterThe royal prerogativeThe composition of the CabinetThe roles and functions of the CabinetCollective ministerial responsibilityIndividual ministerial responsibilityPrime ministerial government and its limitsThe civil service
Parliament and the Accountability of Government
Topic overviewThe composition of the House of CommonsThe House of Lords: composition and powersThe functions of ParliamentThe legislative processPrivate members' bills and delegated legislationSelect committeesQuestions, debates and confidence in the governmentBackbench MPs and peersThe role of the OppositionParliamentary privilegeParliamentary sovereignty in practiceExecutive dominance and where power lies
Government and the Senedd in Wales
Topic overviewThe First Minister of WalesThe Welsh Government and its CabinetCollective and individual ministerial responsibility in WalesThe powers and resources of the Welsh GovernmentThe origins and structure of the SeneddThe composition and election of the SeneddThe legislative competence of the SeneddThe legislative process in the SeneddPlenary and the business of the SeneddSenedd committeesMembers of the Senedd and the OppositionDebates over the effectiveness of the Senedd
Devolution and the United Kingdom
Topic overviewThe nature and forms of devolutionThe origins of devolution in the UKThe Scottish Parliament and Scottish GovernmentThe Northern Ireland Assembly and ExecutiveDevolution in EnglandAsymmetry in the devolution settlementThe West Lothian question and English votes for English lawsFunding devolution and the Barnett formulaDevolution, sovereignty and the unionDebates over the future of the union
Citizenship and Rights
Topic overviewThe meaning of citizenshipGlobal citizenshipFreedom, equality and active citizenshipThe rule of law and protection under the lawThe rights of minoritiesPositive discrimination and positive actionThe sources of rights in the UKEquality legislation on race and genderFreedom of expression, association and religionPrivacy, liberty and the right to a fair trialConflicts between rightsDebates over a British Bill of Rights
The Protection of Human Rights
Topic overviewThe courts and the protection of rightsJudicial review: grounds and remediesJudicial review in practiceThe Universal Declaration of Human RightsThe European Convention on Human RightsThe European Court of Human RightsThe Human Rights Act 1998The Human Rights Act in the courtsEnforcing equality lawOmbudsmen and commissionersPressure and campaigning for rightsDebates over the protection of rights in the UK
Democracy and Participation
Electoral Systems in the UK
Topic overviewThe functions of elections and the language of electoral systemsFirst Past the Post: how it worksFirst Past the Post: advantages and criticismsThe Additional Member System and Senedd electionsThe Single Transferable VoteParty list systemsThe supplementary vote and the alternative voteProportionality, fairness and effects on party systemsCoalition and minority governmentKey elections in WalesReferendums in Wales and the UK
Voting Behaviour in the UK
Topic overviewThe sociological model and social classParty identification and partisan dealignmentThe rational choice modelThe valence model and governing competenceAge, gender, ethnicity and educationRegion, nation and voting in WalesElection campaigns and party leadersThe media and voting behaviourTurnout, tactical voting and volatility
Political Parties in Wales and the UK
Topic overviewThe functions of political partiesThe Labour Party: origins and ideologyThe Conservative Party: origins and ideologyThe Liberal Democrats and the centre groundPlaid Cymru and the Welsh party systemSmaller and minor partiesParty organisation and the role of membersLeadership selection in the main partiesCandidate selection and representationManifestos, platforms and the mandateParty funding, cash for influence and reform
Pressure Groups and Social Movements
Topic overviewPressure groups and how they differ from partiesSectional and promotional groupsInsider and outsider groupsAccess points in Wales and the UKLobbying and direct contact with decision-makersDirect action and public campaigningUsing the media and new technologiesFactors in pressure group successPressure groups and the health of democracySocial movements: nature, membership and methodsThe women's movement and the environmental movement
Liberalism
Topic overviewOrigins of liberal ideasHuman nature, reason and progressIndividualism, liberty and natural rightsToleration, pluralism and justiceThe social contract and the liberal stateConstitutionalism, the rule of law and liberal democracyNegative and positive freedomClassical liberalism and laissez-faire economicsModern liberalism and the enabling stateThe New Right and libertarian views of the marketEquality of opportunity and equality of outcomeLiberalism and Welsh political parties and movementsLiberal ideas in global politics
Conservatism
Topic overviewOrigins of conservative ideasHuman imperfection, pragmatism and traditionOrganic society, hierarchy and natural inequalityAuthority, order and propertyTraditional and one-nation conservatismAuthoritarian conservatismMoral conservatism, the family and the churchThe New Right: neo-liberalism and neo-conservatismConservative debates on immigration and integrationConservative debates on minority rights and welfareEconomic conservatism, the market and state interventionConservatism and Welsh political parties and movementsConservative ideas in global politics
Socialism and Communism
Topic overviewOrigins of socialist ideasHuman nature, community and cooperationClass, class conflict and the proletariatEquality and social justiceMarxism and historical materialismCommunism in theory and in practiceRevolutionary and parliamentary roads to socialismSocial democracy, revisionism and the Third WayDemocratic socialism and ethical socialismSocialist views of capitalismPublic ownership and the means of productionCollectivism and the redistribution of wealthSocialism and the Welsh labour movementSocialist ideas in global politics
Nationalism
Topic overviewOrigins of nationalist ideasDefining the nation and the nation stateNational consciousness and the role of historyLanguage, culture and national symbolsNational sovereignty and self-determinationCivic nationalismEthno-cultural nationalismLiberal nationalismConservative nationalismChauvinism, xenophobia and expansionist nationalismPolitical nationalism, citizenship and the stateSeparatism, secession and anti-colonial nationalismNationalism and Welsh political parties and movementsNationalist ideas in global politics
The US Constitution and Federalism
Topic overviewThe Declaration of Independence and the founding principlesWriting the Constitution and its compromisesSeparation of powers and checks and balancesThe amendment processEnumerated, implied and reserved powersTheories of federalismThe changing balance of federal and state powerFiscal federalism and federal grantsFederalism before the Supreme CourtDebates about the Constitution
Rights and Liberties in the USA
Topic overviewThe Bill of Rights: origins and importanceThe First Amendment: speech, press and assemblyThe First Amendment: religionThe Second Amendment and gun ownershipRights of the accused and due processThe death penalty and the Eighth AmendmentPrivacy and the ConstitutionThe Fourteenth Amendment and incorporationCivil rights and the struggle for racial equalityAffirmative action and contemporary equality debates
The US Congress
The US Presidency
Topic overviewThe constitutional office of PresidentThe powers of the PresidentThe President as chief executiveThe President and legislationThe President, foreign policy and the armed forcesExecutive orders and unilateral actionThe CabinetThe Executive Office of the PresidentConstraints on presidential powerThe imperial presidency debate
The US Supreme Court
Topic overviewThe constitutional role of the Supreme CourtJudicial review and Marbury v MadisonJurisdiction and how a case reaches the CourtNomination and appointment of justicesTenure and proposals for reformJudicial activism and judicial restraintOriginalism and the living ConstitutionPrecedent and legal reasoningThe Court and the protection of rightsThe political significance of the Court and its composition
US Elections and Voting Behaviour
Topic overviewThe invisible primaryPrimaries and caucusesThe national nominating conventionsThe ticket and the general election campaignThe electoral collegeCongressional and midterm electionsMoney in US electionsPACs, super-PACs and campaign finance lawThe media and social media in campaignsLong-term determinants of voting behaviourShort-term factors, swing states and independents
Political Parties in the USA
Topic overviewThe American political spectrumThe Democratic partyThe Republican partyFactions in the Republican partyFactions in the Democratic partyParty organisation and candidate-centred campaignsWhy two parties dominateThird parties and independent candidatesRealignment, decline and polarisation
Liberalism
- 13 subtopics
- 39 things to know
- A2 Unit 3
What Liberalism covers
Liberalism is examined in A2 Unit 3, Political concepts and theories. It covers Origins of liberal ideas, human nature, reason and progress, individualism, liberty and natural rights, toleration, pluralism and justice, the social contract and the liberal state, constitutionalism, the rule of law and liberal democracy, negative and positive freedom, classical liberalism and laissez-faire economics, modern liberalism and the enabling state, the New Right and libertarian views of the market, equality of opportunity and equality of outcome, liberalism and Welsh political parties and movements and liberal ideas in global politics.
The 13 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Origins of liberal ideasRecall questions on the Enlightenment and the order liberalism opposed, Locke on consent and natural rights, the revolutionary declarations, Wollstonecraft, and the shift to modern liberalism.Open →
- Human nature, reason and progressLiberal rationalism, conservative criticism of the liberal view of human nature and meritocracy as liberals use the term.Open →
- Individualism, liberty and natural rightsNatural rights and mill's harm principle.Open →
- Toleration, pluralism and justicePlural society, paradox of tolerance and procedural justice.Open →
- The social contract and the liberal stateSocial contract, state of nature and government by consent.Open →
- Constitutionalism, the rule of law and liberal democracySeparation of powers, rule of law and liberal democracy.Open →
- Negative and positive freedomNegative freedom, positive freedom and berlin's own warning about the positive conception.Open →
- Classical liberalism and laissez-faire economicsSmith's image of the invisible hand, economic liberalism and free trade.Open →
- Modern liberalism and the enabling stateModern liberalism, social liberalism and equality of opportunity.Open →
- The New Right and libertarian views of the marketTwo strands that make up the New Right, nozick's entitlement theory of justice and one criticism of the New Right's combination of ideas.Open →
- Equality of opportunity and equality of outcomeFoundational equality, formal equality and equality of outcome.Open →
- Liberalism and Welsh political parties and movementsRecall questions on nonconformity and its grievances, the 1868 election and the secret ballot, Cymru Fydd, disestablishment, Lloyd George, and what became of Liberal Wales.Open →
- Liberal ideas in global politicsLiberal internationalism and washington Consensus.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Numbers
Explain what constitutionalism requires of a liberal state.
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Which intellectual movement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries gave liberalism its confidence in reason?
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How do liberals characterise human nature?
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Define toleration.
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What is the state of nature?
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Who distinguished two concepts of liberty in a lecture of 1958?
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What does laissez-faire mean?
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Define modern liberalism.
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What does the term New Right refer to?
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What is foundational equality?
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Which religious tradition supplied Welsh Liberalism with its members and moral energy in the nineteenth century?
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Which 1787 constitution embodied liberal limited government in the Americas?
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Against which older political order did early liberalism define itself?
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Why does the liberal view of human nature support limited government?
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Define individualism.
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Which seventeenth-century experience made religious toleration a liberal priority?
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Contrast the states of nature described by Hobbes and Locke.
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Define constitutionalism.
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Define negative freedom.
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Which 1776 work made the case for the free market?
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Whose idea of positive freedom underpins modern liberalism?
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Name the two strands that make up the New Right.
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What is formal equality?
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Why did nonconformist grievances push Welsh voters towards the Liberals?
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What did the Bill of Rights of 1791 add to the US Constitution?
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How did the Reformation help prepare the ground for liberalism?
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What is meant by liberal rationalism?
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Distinguish egoistical individualism from developmental individualism.
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Define pluralism.
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Why does Locke's account of the state of nature support limited government?
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What is the separation of powers?
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Define positive freedom.
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Define economic liberalism.
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What is social liberalism?
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Which 1944 book by Friedrich Hayek warned that economic planning threatens liberty?
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Define equality of outcome.
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What happened in Wales at the 1868 general election?
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Which 1948 United Nations document set out rights on a global scale?
Take Liberalism further
The same content, four other ways.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Which intellectual movement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries gave liberalism its confidence in reason?
Model answer
The Enlightenment, which held that human beings could understand and improve the world through reason rather than accept inherited authority.
- 2
Against which older political order did early liberalism define itself?
Model answer
Against feudalism and absolute monarchy, in which status was fixed by birth and rulers claimed authority by divine right.
- 3
How did the Reformation help prepare the ground for liberalism?
Model answer
It broke the religious monopoly of one church and spread the idea that individuals could judge matters of conscience for themselves.
- 4
Which economic change supplied liberalism with its social base?
Model answer
The growth of commercial and industrial capitalism, which created a middle class whose wealth came from enterprise rather than inherited land.
- 5
Name the 1689 work in which John Locke set out government by consent.
Model answer
Locke's Two Treatises of Government.
- 6
What did Locke mean by saying government rests on consent?
Model answer
Authority is legitimate only where the governed have agreed to it, so a ruler who governs without agreement has no rightful claim to obedience.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Liberalism revision questions
- What does Liberalism cover in WJEC A-Level Government and Politics?
- 13 subtopics: origins of liberal ideas, human nature, reason and progress, individualism, liberty and natural rights, toleration, pluralism and justice, the social contract and the liberal state, constitutionalism, the rule of law and liberal democracy, negative and positive freedom, classical liberalism and laissez-faire economics, modern liberalism and the enabling state, the new right and libertarian views of the market, equality of opportunity and equality of outcome, liberalism and welsh political parties and movements and liberal ideas in global politics. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Liberalism organised?
- By the WJEC 603-1979-3 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Liberalism, 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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