This Higher level course will sees the study of important political concepts and ideologies, the comparison of different political systems, and the evaluation of factors that impact on the electoral performance of political parties.

Candidates develop knowledge and understanding of key political concepts. The theoretical perspective of the course enables candidates to identify, explore and analyse political issues in order to develop their own views and perspectives. Candidates develop analysing and evaluating skills during the course which help them to interpret and understand political issues.

Why does Britain have a Prime Minister wen other countries have presidents?  Which political ideology best represents your views?  Which type of media has most influence on your political beliefs?

These are some of the questions we will answer in this course.  In Higher Politics we take a theoretical and factual approach to understanding the way countries are run and what informs our views.  The three main topics we cover are:

Political Theory – which examines the main political ideologies and the thinkers who defined them, including Conservatism, Socialism, Fascism, Liberalism and Nationalism

Political Systems – This examines the constitution of Scotland and the UK and compares it to other entities like the USA. It examines the roles of the different parts of the political system and their powers.

Political Parties and Elections – This looks at the main policies parties tend to offer in the UK, and why these are attractive to voters. It also looks at the impact of different campaigning strategies in winning over voters, and what factors cause people to vote the way they do.

This subject links well to:

• Higher Modern Studies
• Higher History
• Higher Philosophy

Course outline can be found here.