Essay plans that cover all possible questions for the core ideologies component of Edexcel A-Level Politics. These essay plans also include complete plans for the non-core ideology feminism however the price hasn't been increased because of this. I exclusively used these essay plans to achieve an A...
‘Evaluate how far Liberals agree that democracy is a system that will end in tyranny’
‘To what extent are Liberals united in their views on human nature?’
‘To what extent are Liberals united in their views on society?’
‘To what extent are Liberals united in their views on the economy?’
‘To what extent are Liberals united in their views on the state?’
‘Evaluate how far modern liberals betray the ideas of classical liberals’
Conservatism
‘To what extent are conservatives united in their views on human nature?’
‘Evaluate the view that conservatives choose pragmatism over principle’
‘To what extent are conservatives united in their views towards society?’
‘To what extent are conservatives united in their attitudes towards hierarchy/the state’
‘To what extent it there more to unite than divide one nation conservatives and the new right?’
‘To what extent is there more agreement than disagreement between traditional and new right
conservatives?’
‘To what extent do conservatives disagree about tradition?’
‘To what extent are conservatives united in their views on the economy?’
Socialism
‘To what extent do revolutionary socialists and social democrats disagree about a future socialist
society?’
‘To what extent are socialists united in their views on human nature?’
‘To what extent are socialists united in their views on society?’
‘To what extent are socialists united in their views on the economy?’
‘To what extent are socialists united in their views on the state?’
Feminism
‘To what extent do feminists agree on sex and gender?’
‘To what extent do feminists agree over the concept of patriarchy?’
‘To what extent do feminists agree that the personal is political?’
‘To what extent is equality rather than di erence the goal of feminism?’
‘To what extent do feminists agree/disagree on the economy?’
‘To what extent do feminists agree/disagree on the role of the state?’
‘To what extent do feminists agree/disagree on their view of human nature?’
ff
,Liberalism
‘Evaluate how far Liberals agree that democracy is a system that will end in tyranny’
System that will end in tyranny=promotes oppressive rule by one person/group over the rest of
the population
Paragraph 1-Ability to vote:
-Political wisdom/intelligence is unequally distributed, therefore more intelligent should have more
of a say=individualism-modern liberal ‘developmental individualism’=more intelligent will try to act
in nation’s best interest, whilst less educated more liable to act sel shly
-John Stuart Mill proposed replacing equal votes with a system that would disenfranchise the
illiterate and award votes based on intelligence
-Democracy will result in tyranny of the uneducated- goes against individualism as treats
‘uneducated masses’ as a collective
-Developmental democracy=democracy is an experimental experience and that through
participating in public life, citizens enhance their understanding and achieve a higher level of
personal development-rationalism as through learning voters can learn and make better decisions
-Mary Wollstencraft= men and women have equal moral worth so democracy would bene t them
equally, allowing them to become more rational and intelligent
-Democracy promotes rational and able voters across all classes-not tyranny
-Unrestrained form, democracy could lead to tyranny but its absence would allow brutality and
ignorance to prevail-democracy=necessity
Paragraph 2-Ability to represent voters:
-Majoritarianism=tyranny of majority over the minority and so democracy comes down to the rule
of the 51%-individual and minority liberty may be crushed in name of majority-Lord Acton’s
Dictum
-James Maddison advocated for checks and balances that would make the government
responsive to minority needs
-Utilitarianism-actions are right if they are for the bene t of the majority-democracy is a form of
protection for the individual-as individuals are rational, they will vote in order to advance or defend
their interests
-John Stuart Mill used this to argue for universal su rage as only way to know the views of the
majority=what is best
Paragraph 3-Ability of democracy to allow people to agree-agreement=bene cial/tyranny?:
-Collectivism-majority has priority over individuals-seen in democracy when parties appeal to
sections of society rather than individuals-goes against individualism
-Plato and Aristotle viewed democracy a system of rule by the masses at the expense of wisdom-
a clearly tyrannical structure
-Individuals part of groups that won’t bene t parties in terms of votes will be disregarded and thus
underrepresented
-Consensus=broad agreement on fundamental principles that allow for disagreement on small
details
-By giving opposing groups a voice, democracy binds them to the political system and prevents
any group from becoming tyrannical-tolerance-prevents animosity and potential threats that come
with it
-John Rawls=democracy provides a way for everyone to take each other into account,
exemplifying importance of consensus
‘To what extent are Liberals united in their views on human nature?’
Paragraph 1-United:
See humans as rational beings guided by reason and self-interest
-Beginning in Enlightenment period, liberalism= shift from viewing human nature as rooted in
Christianity to guided by reason/rational=John Locke
-Optimistic about human nature-can achieve societal and individual progress through reason, can
shape their own outcomes rather than God-support education
fi ff fi fi fi fi
, -Key to Locke’s political views-rejected feudal system and proposed Social Contract between
state and governed
-Adam Smith The Wealth Of Nations 1776=foundations for economics and rest on assumption
that individuals are rational consumers/rational economic actors
-In uenced John Rawls’ political views in Theory of Justice-veil of ignorance=choose society that
is equal and gives support to worse o -as humans are rational and empathetic
Agreement that women are equal to men but are held back by society
-Mary Wollstencraft and Betty Friedan in agreement that women are equally as rational and
equally as guided by reason as men but held back by society and unable to reach full potential
-Wollstencraft criticised her 18th century society for holding women back and treating them as if
they were irrational-treated as 2nd class citizens that were less rational than men-rarely able to
access paid employment/own land and sacri ced individualism and liberty when married-
therefore unable to use rationality for self-improvement as men were-Mary said that women
should be given access to education to develop rational and improve
-Friedan developed this in 1900s and argued that despite legal equality in many areas, still
discriminated against due to illiberal attitudes(in schools, media, religion etc)-advocated for anti-
discrimination laws to x this
Paragraph 2-Disunited:
Disagree as to whether can achieve goals without state
-All liberals driven by a view of human nature rooted in individualism and rationalism but state or
no state?
-Classical=negative freedom=absence of restraint and that no state intervention=maximum liberty
and will allow individuals to achieve their potential-eg Locke emphasises ‘self-help’ whereby
individuals should be able to help themselves without help from the state and argued for very
limited state-rolling back of the state would allow for ultimate liberty=potential achieved
-JS Mill developed this in shift to individuality and developmental individualism =liberty is a driver
of human development that requires little state intervention to be achieved-used this to argue for
universal education
-Modern liberals=positive freedom=state intervention needed to prevent social ills from preventing
people reaching their potential-no state intervention would be giving people ‘the freedom to
starve’-state can expand people’s liberty and thus allows them to develop-Rawls argued for
welfare state, ‘veil of ignorance’.
‘To what extent are Liberals united in their views on society?’
Paragraph 1-United:
Agree that society should promote individual freedom
-Default setting of society should be to promote freedom and progress-opposed to any society
that denies individualism or a state that tries to transform society too much
-Classical, Locke argued that prior to state there was a natural society that served mankind’s
interests tolerably well-underpinned by natural rights-Social Contract theory=gov needs
permission of people=promotes freedom and wishes of individuals in society(sovereignty lies with
the people)
-Modern advocate from more state intervention to achieve it but also support society based on
individual freedom-Rawls ‘veil of ignorance’=society that promotes individual liberty
-Education widely accepted as method to facilitate individual liberty and progress-unlocks reason
in people-Wollstencraft-women and men need education
Agree that society should tolerate minorities and protect their rights
-Individuals should be left alone to do what they want within reason and that everyone holds
equal moral worth and therefore same rights-individualism and tolerance-both agree that society
should treat men and women equally(Wollstencraft and Friedan)
-JS Mill ‘harm principle’-led to support of toleration by the state of religious minority groups
Paragraph 2-Disunited:
Views of modern and social liberalism on society more radical than classical liberals
-Classical sought to protect society that only served the interests of a few-Locke strong belief in
limited state that promoted property rights as well as Mill’s ‘harm principle’ can be seen as
protecting a British society that primarily served the interests of a relatively small class of white
mine-Mill only supported at rate taxation
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