AQA_2024: A-level Politics - Paper 2 Government and Politics of the USA and Comparative Politics. (Merged Question Paper and Marking Scheme)

AQA_2024: A-level Politics - Paper 2 Government and Politics of the USA and Comparative Politics. (Merged Question Paper and Marking Scheme) A-level POLITICS Paper 2 Government and politics of the USA and comparative politics Wednesday 5 June 2024 Materials For this paper you must have:  an AQA 12-page answer book. Instructions  Use black ink or black ball-point pen. Afternoon Time allowed: 2 hours  Write the information required on the front of your answer book. The Paper Reference is 7152/2.  Answer all questions from Section A and Section B.  Answer either Question 5 or Question 6 from Section C.  Do all rough work in your answer book. Cross through any work you do not want to be marked.  Do not tear out any part of the book. All work must be handed in.  If you use more than one answer book, check that you have written the information required on each book. Information  The marks for questions are shown in brackets.  The maximum mark for this paper is 77. For A-level Politics Paper 2 on Government and Politics of the USA and Comparative Politics, focus on the following key areas: 1. Government and Politics of the USA The Constitution:  Foundations of the US Constitution: Understand the structure, principles (e.g., federalism, checks and balances, separation of powers), and flexibility (e.g., amendment process).  Key Documents: Familiarize yourself with significant documents such as the Bill of Rights and landmark court rulings that have shaped US constitutional law. The Presidency:  Powers and Roles of the President: Review the President's roles (e.g., head of state, commander-in-chief, chief executive, and chief legislator). Understand executive powers and limitations.  Executive Orders and Pardons: Study how Presidents use executive orders and the power of pardons to influence policy and law. Congress:  Structure of Congress: Understand the bicameral system (Senate and House of Representatives), the legislative process, and the powers of each chamber.  Functions of Congress: Review how Congress makes laws, approves budgets, and holds hearings. Understand the influence of party politics and the importance of committees.  Checks on Presidential Power: Study how Congress checks the President through impeachment, veto overrides, and confirmation of appointments. The Judiciary:  Judicial Review: Understand the role of the Supreme Court and lower courts, and how judicial review allows courts to assess the constitutionality of laws.  Key Landmark Cases: Study significant cases (e.g., Marbury v. Madison, Brown v. Board of Education) that have shaped the interpretation of the Constitution. Elections and Voting:  Presidential Elections: Focus on the election process (e.g., Electoral College, primaries, and caucuses). Understand how elections are structured and the factors influencing voter behavior.  Congressional Elections: Review the structure of Senate and House elections and the impact of gerrymandering, campaign finance, and political action committees (PACs). Political Parties:  Party System: Study the two-party system, focusing on the Democrats and Republicans, their ideologies, and the dynamics of party competition in US politics.  Interest Groups and Lobbying: Understand the role of interest groups, political action committees (PACs), and lobbying in influencing policy. 7152/2 IB/G/Jun24/G4003/E5 2 Section A – US Government, Politics and Comparative Theory Answer questions 1, 2 and 3. 0 1 Explain and analyse three factors that can influence the outcome of a presidential election. [9 marks] 0 2 Explain and analyse three functions of the US Congress. [9 marks] 0 3 Explain and analyse three ways that structural theory could be used to study how civil liberties and rights are protected in the US and the UK. [9 marks] IB/G/Jun24/7152/2 3 Section B – Extract Question Read the extracts below and answer question 4 that follows. Do initiatives enhance US democracy? Extract 1 Expanding direct democracy won’t make Americans feel better about politics Recent polls show that Americans are increasingly dissatisfied with their system of representative democracy. Some advocate for the greater use of direct democracy. Based on 15 years of our own research, we believe that the commonly held view that initiatives are good for democracy is wrong. Initiatives bypass the normal legislative process. They can be written by anyone and receive a public vote without input from lawmakers, provided enough petition signatures are obtained to get the initiative on the ballot. Initiatives encourage voting based on fear without making people more generally knowledgeable or engaged. Initiatives can also be a tool for ideological extremists and opportunists. This has been the case with attempts to limit the rights of immigrants and curb affirmative action. The frequent use of initiatives makes citizens trust government less, not more. This is because initiative campaigns often stress that government is broken. Extract taken from an article on the website of The Conversation, September 2019, by Joshua J. Dyck and Edward L. Lascher Jr. The Conversation is an independent source of news analysis and comment written by academic experts. Extract 2 Republicans want to make it harder to pass initiatives – that should alarm us On election day in 2018 and 2020, citizens voting in initiatives scored overwhelming victories for popular proposals that had gone nowhere in state legislatures such as a higher minimum wage in Florida and higher teacher salaries in Arizona. Republican lawmakers in 24 states have introduced bills that would make it tougher for citizens to push initiatives onto the ballot. The Republican bills tend to take two general approaches. First, they increase the number of signatures necessary to qualify an initiative. Then, they require majorities greater than 60% to pass. President Theodore Roosevelt, who helped expand the use of initiatives at the beginning of the last century, said: “I believe in the initiative and referendum, which should be used not to destroy representative government, but to correct it whenever it becomes misrepresentative.” Extract taken from The Guardian newspaper, published in March 2021, by David Daley, senior fellow at FairVote. FairVote is a nonpartisan organisation that researches and supports voting reforms. 0 4 Analyse, evaluate and compare the arguments in the above extracts for and against the view that initiatives enhance US democracy. [25 marks] Turn over for Section C Turn over ► IB/G/Jun24/7152/2 4 Section C – Comparative Government and Politics Essay Questions Answer either question 5 or question 6. In your answer you should draw on material from across the whole range of your course of study in Politics. Either 0 5 ‘The major political parties in the UK are more internally united than those in the US.’ Analyse and evaluate this statement. [25 marks] or 0 6 ‘Within the executive the US president is able to dominate, whereas the UK prime minister shares power.’ Analyse and evaluate this statement. [25 marks] END OF QUESTIONS Copyright information For confidentiality purposes, acknowledgements of third-party copyright material are published in a separate booklet. This booklet is published after each live examination series and is available for free download from Permission to reproduce all copyright material has been applied for. In some cases, efforts to contact copyright-holders may have been unsuccessful and AQA will be happy to rectify any omissions of acknowledgements. If you have any queries please contact the Copyright Team. Copyright © 2024 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. IB/G/Jun24/7152/2 A-level POLITICS 7152/2 Paper 2 Government and politics of the USA and comparative politics Mark scheme June 2024 Version: 1.0 Final MARK SCHEME – A-LEVEL POLITICS – 7152/2 – JUNE 2024 Mark schemes are prepared by the Lead Assessment Writer and considered, together with the relevant questions, by a panel of subject teachers. This mark scheme includes any amendments made at the standardisation events which all associates participate in and is the scheme which was used by them in this examination. The standardisation process ensures that the mark scheme covers the students’ responses to questions and that every associate understands and applies it in the same correct way. As preparation for standardisation each associate analyses a number of students’ scripts. Alternative answers not already covered by the mark scheme are discussed and legislated for. If, after the standardisation process, associates encounter unusual answers which have not been raised they are required to refer these to the Lead Examiner. It must be stressed that a mark scheme is a working document, in many cases further developed and expanded on the basis of students’ reactions to a particular paper. Assumptions about future mark schemes on the basis of one year’s document should be avoided; whilst the guiding principles of assessment remain constant, details will change, depending on the content of a particular examination paper. No student should be disadvantaged on the basis of their gender identity and/or how they refer to the gender identity of others in their exam responses. A consistent use of ‘they/them’ as a singular and pronouns beyond ‘she/her’ or ‘he/him’ will be credited in exam responses in line with existing mark scheme criteria. Further copies of this mark scheme are available from Copyright information AQA retains the copyright on all its publications. However, registered schools/colleges for AQA are permitted to copy material from this booklet for their own internal use, with the following important exception: AQA cannot give permission to schools/colleges to photocopy any material that is acknowledged to a third party even for internal use within the centre. Copyright © 2024 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. 2 MARK SCHEME – A-LEVEL POLITICS – 7152/2 – JUNE 2024 Level of response marking instructions Level of response mark schemes are broken down into levels, each of which has a descriptor. The descriptor for the level shows the average performance for the level. There are marks in each level. Before you apply the mark scheme to a student’s answer read through the answer and annotate it (as instructed) to show the qualities that are being looked for. You can then apply the mark scheme. Step 1 Determine a level Start at the lowest level of the mark scheme and use it as a ladder to see whether the answer meets the descriptor for that level. The descriptor for the level indicates the different qualities that might be seen in the student’s answer for that level. If it meets the lowest level then go to the next one and decide if it meets this level, and so on, until you have a match between the level descriptor and the answer. With practice and familiarity you will find that for better answers you will be able to quickly skip through the lower levels of the mark scheme. When assigning a level you should look at the overall quality of the answer and not look to pick holes in small and specific parts of the answer where the student has not performed quite as well as the rest. If the answer covers different aspects of different levels of the mark scheme you should use a best fit approach for defining the level and then use the variability of the response to help decide the mark within the level, ie if the response is predominantly Level 3 with a small amount of Level 4 material it would be placed in Level 3 but be awarded a mark near the top of the level because of the Level 4 content. Step 2 Determine a mark Once you have assigned a level you need to decide on the mark. The descriptors on how to allocate marks can help with this. The exemplar materials used during standardisation will help. There will be an answer in the standardising materials which will correspond with each level of the mark scheme. This answer will have been awarded a mark by the Lead Examiner. You can compare the student’s answer with the example to determine if it is the same standard, better or worse than the example. You can then use this to allocate a mark for the answer based on the Lead Examiner’s mark on the example. You may well need to read back through the answer as you apply the mark scheme to clarify points and assure yourself that the level and the mark are appropriate. Indicative content in the mark scheme is provided as a guide for examiners. It is not intended to be exhaustive and you must credit other valid points. Students do not have to cover all of the points mentioned in the Indicative content to reach the highest level of the mark scheme. An answer which contains nothing of relevance to the question must be awarded no marks. 3 MARK SCHEME – A-LEVEL POLITICS – 7152/2 – JUNE 2024 Section A Levels of response mark scheme for 9-mark questions 0 1 Explain and analyse three factors that can influence the outcome of a presidential election. [9 marks] 0 2 Explain and analyse three functions of the US Congre