Edexcel A-Level Politics Component 1: UK Politics and Core Political Ideas overview

Edexcel A-Level Politics Component 1 is UK Politics and Core Political Ideas (9PL0/01), a 2-hour paper worth 84 marks. It has two sections: Section A on political participation (democracy, parties, electoral systems and voting behaviour) and Section B on the three core ideas. This overview ties the areas together. Each has a matching dot-point page.

How Component 1 works

Component 1 is 33 1/3 per cent of the A-level. Section A (Political Participation) contains one 30-mark source question (you must use the provided extract) from a choice of two, and one 30-mark essay from a choice of two. Section B (Core Political Ideas) contains one 24-mark essay from a choice of two on conservatism, liberalism or socialism. All questions assess AO1 (knowledge), AO2 (analysis) and AO3 (evaluation).

Section A: UK Politics

The four areas of UK politics build a picture of how people engage with the political system.

• Democracy and participation. Representative and direct democracy, the widening of the franchise, the participation crisis and the case for reform.
• Political parties. The functions and funding of parties, the established and minor parties, and whether the UK is a multi-party system.
• Electoral systems. How FPTP, AMS, STV and SV work, their advantages and disadvantages, referendums, and how the system shapes government, representation and voter choice.
• Voting behaviour and the media. The factors that explain voting (class and partisan dealignment, valence, demographics) through three election case studies, and the influence of the media.

Section B: Core Political Ideas

The three core ideas each require the core principles, the internal tensions and the required thinkers.

• Conservatism. Pragmatism, tradition, human imperfection, the organic society and paternalism, the traditional, one-nation and New Right strands, and the thinkers Hobbes, Burke, Oakeshott, Rand and Nozick.
• Liberalism. Individualism, freedom, the limited state, rationalism and equality, the classical to modern split, and the thinkers Locke, Wollstonecraft, Mill, Rawls and Friedan.
• Socialism. Collectivism, common humanity, equality, class and workers' control, the revolutionary, social democratic and Third Way strands, and the thinkers Marx and Engels, Webb, Luxemburg, Crosland and Giddens.

How Component 1 is examined

• The source question (Section A, AO1 to AO3). Compare the views in the extract, examine the view and its alternative with your own knowledge, and reach a balanced conclusion.
• The 30-mark essay (Section A, AO1 to AO3). A balanced, two-sided argument on a UK politics debate with a justified judgement.
• The 24-mark ideas essay (Section B, AO1 to AO3). A balanced essay on a core idea that must apply the required thinkers to show the internal tensions.