Revision Lecture Summer Term IDP USA (1)
Transcript of Revision Lecture Summer Term IDP USA (1)
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US politics
INTRODUCTION TO DEMOCRATIC POLITICS
Tips for the examRevision lectre Smmer Term !"#$
San%ra Le&n
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A summary of the topics on the US…(checks notes on the revision lecture in Spring)
• Institutions – Separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism
• A (not so) perfect democracy – lections, political parties and competition
• A (not so) perfect democracy – !olitical participation
• !olitical e"uality and economic ine"uality – #he origins of representative democracies
• conomic ine"uality and political e"uality – Interest groups
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$evision
• $evise actively, not %ust simply reading and re&reading the notes
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'ercise visual memory, verbal memory, audiomemory – or e'ample, now that the US electoral primaries are
going on, check some news *an you use what youhave learned in the module to discuss them+• *an you say something on pros and cons of primaries+
• *an you say something on the current vs past role of theparty convention+
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!ractise writing
• !ractise thinking and writing "uickly-et your hand trained to write fast
• .o the past e'ams against the clock
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/eet with others to discuss answersor ask the lecturer (0- #hursdays1,23&44am)
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Ask for guidance
• Usual problems…
– 5I cannot manage to develop a long argument
on any topic6 (lack of in&depthknowledge7connections)
– 5I cannot 8nd the way to do comparison6
– 5I found out that I do not "uite understand a
topic6 – 5I am not sure whether my response is right or
wrong6
…
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In the e'am
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$ead "uestions carefully
• $ead and re&read each "uestion
• :ou might think a topic you have good command on isnot in the e'am %ust because the wording is unusual
• A topic you have good command on may not bespeci8cally addressed in the "uestion, but is part of theanswer in di;erent "uestions
•
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>hat e'ams "uestions arenot…
• 'am "uestions are not about writing downeverything you know about a topic because – :ou may run out of time to answer other
"uestions – #he te't may look incoherent7patchy
– :our writing may look illegible
• #ry to get the best mark you can bybuilding a narrative in the answer (acoherent and structured answer)
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>hich "uestion 8rst+
• .o the easiest "uestion 8rst >hy+
– -etting one "uestion safely will increaseyour con8dence and reduce stress
– #he easiest "uestion will take you less
time so you will leave more time tospend on the more di?cult "uestion
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!lan before you write
• I cannot insist enough about the importance ofthis -et your ideas across clearly and conciselywill help you to@
– Identify the main topics and discussion areas
– *hoose the points7arguments about which you can write
– See how they are linked
– Structure your answer (and make it more coherent)
• So please make a mini&plan as detailed as possiblebefore you start writing It is never a waste of time
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Structure the answer
• Show in the introduction how you understandthe "uestion and outline how you will answer it
• /ake one point or argument per paragraphan% smmarise to sho' ho' it ans'ersthe (estion
• In your conclusion summarise the argumentsto answer the "uestion
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If you are running out oftime
• .ont panic 9ook at the points7arguments youhave left and divide up your remaining time tocover them all
• If you really cant 8nish in time, list in bulletpoints the arguments you wanted to make B thatcould help the reader to assess your knowledgeon the topics you cannot fully cover
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Cuestion 4
5'plain rationale, bene8ts and challengesassociated to 5checks&and&balances6
institutions in the US6
• #he answer to this "uestion is easier toorganise because the "uestion itself providesa way to structure the answer around three
aspects@ rationale, bene8ts and challenges – Alternatively, you may want to focus on rationale
and challenges if you want to spouse the argumentthere are no bene8ts in *0D
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Introduction
• State very brieEy what the checks&and&balance system is
• Summarise the three main points youwant to make in answering the"uestion@ the origins, the main
bene8t of *0D and the mainchallenges associated to *0D
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$ationale
• It is asking you about the origins@ the reason why the ounding athersdecided to introduce a checks&and&balance system in the US institutionalstructure
• Aspects you may want to cover (you do not necessarily have to cover all ofthem=)
– The fears of the )on%in* )athers a+ot t,rann,- the a+se of po'er
– *0D together with separation of powers and federalism
• 9iberalism and tyranny
– #he discussion on the role of the e'ecutive (how strong it should be) in theconstitutional convention in !hiladelphia illustrates the importance of the "uestion
• #he failed *onfederation is related to a too weak e'ecutive= #hatFs why a second constitution wasneeded=
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Dene8ts
• .escribe here (or earlier in the te't) the basicstructure of *0D
– .istribution of powers between the e'ecutive and the
legislature and viceversa (do not spend too much time inthe description=)
– Gote that you may have partially discussed the potentialbene8ts when discussing the ideas of the ounding athers• :ou can complement them by referring more generally to the
bene8ts of the separation of powers (by comparing presidentialsystem vs parliamentary systems) or instance, a more directaccountable e'ecutive+
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*hallenges
• ramers had a greater fear of the ADUS of power than of an IGADI9I#: toe'ercise it
• Worried about separation of powers, not about deadlock
• Illustrate the comple'ity of the legislative process due to division ofpowers between House and Senate
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9imits of *ongress to control the e'ecutive
• *onse"uences in policy making of deadlock• or instance, slower adaptation to short&term changes in preferences of citiens+
• volution B deadlock more fre"uent under dividedgovernment7polarisation (is it more fre"uent now than before+)
• US political parties and their limited capacity to impose discipline onlegislators (organisation of parties)
•
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Cuestion J
• 5!olitical e"uality will bring economice"uality .iscuss6
• #his type of "uestion re"uires fromthe student a stronger e;ort inorganising the answer, but it allows
more Ee'ibility in the response
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!otential answersThe more philosophicalapproach
• 9iberalism and the idea of politicale"uality (AG. protection ofproperty)
• #he origins of representative
democracies based upon asyllogism
• How the 5fear of democracy(tyranny of the ma%ority)6 of theounding athers can be traced inthe@
– .iscussions in the !hiladelphia*onvention (who elects the *hambers+)
– #he design of the US constitution (limitson democracy)
The more empirical approach
• .escribe fears of the oundingathers
• Have they actually beenaccomplished+ .iscuss economicine"ualities in the US (or acrosscountries)
– 9imits to political e"uality
• !olitical participation andsocioeconomic status in the US (andhow it may a;ect representation)
• #he role of interest groups
– >hy economic ine"ualities persist
• Koters do care about other issues
• !oliticians ignore low&income voters(even if they vote)
• Interest groups contribute to anunbalanced representation of interests
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If unable to attend e'am…
• Submit a medical certi8cate or a fullreport of anymitigating circumstances
• !lease note that misreading of the e'amination timetable is notregarded as a mitigating circumstance
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