AS Level Government and Politics

AS Level Government and Politics Extended Project

To plan and construct a comprehensive democratic polity

You will create a complete political system (e.g. constituencies,

electoral system, political parties, Parliament, etc.) for a make-believe country. You will use the information that you have been given on

Yourtopia (e.g. geography, population, economy, etc.) and you will need to decide the best forms of democratic institutions for the

country itself.

This extended project will require wide-ranging knowledge and

understanding of democratic institutions, including some areas that we

have not yet touched on in our first half-term of study. However, you will be working together with the other Politics students and will, I am

sure, be able to delegate responsibility among yourselves and research the areas that we have not yet studied.

AS Level Government and Politics

THE PROJECT

You will be given some basic information on the geography,

population, and economy of your country (see below.) You may add further information wherever necessary to explain the

decisions you make regarding the construction of your political society. Give your country an alternative name, if you wish

(though Yourtopia might be preferred).

Using the above information you will plan and build a modern democratic society, incorporating the institutions of such a

society that will be covered during Year 12. See below

(Features of a Democratic Society) for guidance on what your polity should contain. You should not only say what

institutions are contained but the reasons for them or the circumstances which made such features possible or necessary.

For example, your country may have a mixed economy containing agriculture, heavy industry, micro technologies, and a

developed service economy, therefore there will be a wide variety of social, economic and professional interests that may

result in a particular party (or parties) representing them.

You may construct your project however you wish, e.g. in essay form; a PowerPoint presentation; diagrams; even a physical

model. Use your imagination with this and have fun doing it. Think BIG!

When your project is finished you will present it at the end of the day and give a detailed description of your state. You should

provide Mr Legowski with an written account of the planning and construction of your polity (this week’s

home learning), giving an overview of the country itself, the political institutions (legislature, executive, prime minister or

presidency, head of state, judiciary, political parties etc) and the reasons for the decisions you have made. There is no word count

for the written part of the project.

Finally, your project can be done individually or in groups. (If, though, the class being the size it is, you want to do a joint

project involving all four students that will be fine. However, you must ensure that all students take equal responsibility for

developing the project.)

AS Level Government and Politics

Features of a Democratic Society

In the AS Level Government and Politics you will be studying two units

of learning: People and Politics and Governing the UK.

A brief list of the contents of each of these units is given in the following pages from the Edexcel AS Government and Politics

specification.

You do not need to incorporate it all. However, essential features of a democratic society such as an electoral system (FPTP or PR),

political parties, a legislature (parliament or congress), executive (government) etc must be included. Remember to fully explore what is

required. For example, if you are going to explain your electoral system, it will be necessary to mention your country’s electorate (the

people themselves that are eligible to vote), the laws which govern their participation in the process (e.g. they must be 18 years of age;

the secret ballot etc) and the social and economic factors that may

not only affect the type of system in place (FPTP?) but also choices available to the electorate itself.

Also, you may find that it is desirable to talk, even briefly, about

the role of the judiciary in the political system. After all, when the laws are proposed by the government and passed by parliament (or

congress, whichever you prefer), it is the judiciary (the courts) that implement the laws.

Moreover, a modern democratic state relies on an effective civil

service to carry out the practical and administrative work of

government. You may explain how such a civil service operates in your

state.

(Copy pp. 16-18; 20-22 of Edexcel specification)

AS Level Government and Politics

Geography, population, and economy of your country

Geography

AREA: 120,728 sq mi (312,679 sq km)

It is an island, therefore there are no borders with another country.

TERRAIN: mostly flat plain; mountains to the north and north-west.

LAND USE: arable land: 40.25%; permanent crops: 1%; other: 58.75%

People

POPULATION: 38,518,241 AGE STRUCTURE: 0-14 years: 15.5% (male 3,070,388/ female

2,906,121)

15-64 years: 71.1% (male 13,639,012/ female

13,761,154)

65 years and over: 13.3% (male 1,964,429/

female 3,177,137)

ETHNIC GROUPS: White 81.7%; Afro-caribbean 12.9%; Asian 4.2%; other 1.2%

LITERACY: (definition: age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling)

Total population: 99% Male: 99%

Female: 99% Economy

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (by sector): agriculture: 4.5%;

industry 31.7%; services: 63.8% LABOUR FORCE: 16.94 million

LABOUR FORCE (by occupation): agriculture: 16.1%; industry 29%; services: 54.9%

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 14.9%

POPULATION BELOW POVERTY LINE: 17% AGRICULTURE (products): potatoes, fruits, vegetables, wheat;

poultry, eggs, pork, dairy INDUSTRIES: machine building, iron and steel, coal mining,

chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles