Edexcel A Level USA Politics Lessons 17-46 (Democracy & Participation)

Edexcel A Level USA Politics Lessons 17-46 (Democracy & Participation)

LIST OF LESSONS IN THIS BUNDLE
Lesson 61a How do elections work in the USA?
Lesson 61b How important is the invisible primary?
Lesson 61c What is the path to the presidency?
Lesson 61de To what extent are National Party Conventions still significant? [2-hour lesson]
Lesson 62 How does the Electoral College work?
Lesson 63a Why did Trump win the 2016 presidential election?
Lesson 63b Why did Biden win the 2020 presidential election?
Lesson 64a How have campaign finance laws changed in recent years?
Lesson 64b To what extent has fundraising impacted upon election outcomes since 2016?
Lesson 64c Are PACs and Super PACs too influential in US elections?
Lesson 65a Why are incumbent presidents usually re-elected?
Lesson 65b What is the impact of incumbency on congressional elections?
Lesson 66ab What are the ideas and policies of the Republican Party? [2-hour lesson]
Lesson 66c How internally divided is the Republican Party?
Lesson 67ab What are the ideas and policies of the Democratic Party? (2-hour lesson]
Lesson 67c How internally divided is the Democratic Party?
Lesson 68ab How influential have the factors of ethnicity, religion, gender and education been in recent elections? [2-hour lesson]
Lesson 69a Why are interest groups so significant in the US political system?
Lesson 69b How powerful are interest groups?
Lesson 69c Are interest groups positive or negative for democracy?
Lesson 70a To what extent do the Electoral College’s advantages outweigh its disadvantages?
Lesson 70b Should the Electoral College be abolished?
Lesson 71a How far do party systems and policies in the USA differ from the UK?
Lesson 71b How can we use comparative theories to analyse the US and UK party systems and policies?
Lesson 71c How far are party funding and the role of interest groups in the USA different from the UK?
Lesson 71d How can we use comparative theories to analyse party funding and the role of interest groups in the US and the UK?

Further to the 125 lessons I have created for the UK Politics components of the Edexcel A Level and the 50 lessons for the Political Ideas element of the course (Liberalism, Conservatism, Socialism, Feminism), I have created 104 lessons for the US and Comparative Politics element (Paper 3A). These lessons, designed to be taught over four terms (with spare time for mock exams) include:

LIST OF MATERIALS IN THE FULL 104 LESSONS ACROSS TOPIC BUNDLES
A mastery-based approach dividing the course up into modules and components;
Between 3 and 4 homeworks set per week;15 assessment opportunities;39 short knowledge tests, one at the end of each component (the aim of a mastery approach is to use these component knowledge tests to ascertain whether a high enough proportion of your students have ‘mastered’ the content (about 80% correct) before moving on);Further reading integrated (although you will need to purchase the relevant books yourself).

The core textbook for students to use is US Government and Politics (2021) by Anthony J. Bennett, David Tuck and Simon Lemieux. I recommend buying enough for all students.

For the Democracy & Participation module ONLY, a copy of this textbook is needed to provide information about the 2016 elections: Anthony J Bennett, ‘US Government and Politics for A Level, 5th ed.’

Further reading homeworks make use of the following books (all easily found on Amazon):
Robert S. Singh, ‘In Defence of the United States Constitution’
US Politics Annual Update 2021 (also used in a lesson)
Developments in American Politics, 8th Edition
US Politics Annual Update 2017 (also used in a lesson)
US Politics Annual Update 2015
Knock Down the House (a 2019 documentary film)
The Presidency of Barack Obama, edited by Julian E. Zelizer
Barack Obama, ‘A Promised Land’
Robert A. Dahl, ‘How Democratic is the American Constitution?’
US Politics Annual Update 2019
US Politics Annual Update 2018
US Politics Annual Update 2020
Chris Whipple, ‘The Gatekeepers’

A very small number tasks make reference to Politics Review articles, and so it would be useful to buy the back catalogue of this absolutely fantastic magazine. However, if you cannot afford this you can just skip these tasks.