Edexcel A Level USA Politics Lessons 65-85 (The presidency)

LIST OF LESSONS IN THIS BUNDLE

Topic 78: Formal presidential powers
Lesson 78ab (2-hour lesson): How significant are the formal powers of the president and how important is the role of the vice president?

Topic 79: The Cabinet
Lesson 79a: What is the role of the cabinet in the executive branch?
Lesson 79b: How important is the cabinet?

Topic 80: EXOP
Lesson 80ab (2-hour lesson): What is the Executive Office of the President (EXOP) and how important is it?

Topic 81: Other powers
Lesson 81ab (2-hour lesson): To what extent is the president’s most significant power the power to persuade?
Lesson 81c: What other factors impact how powerful a president is?

Topic 82: Presidential power
Lesson 82a: Who holds the balance of power in US foreign policy?
Lesson 82b: How significantly can Congress and the Supreme Court check the president’s power?
Lesson 82c: To what extent is the president accountable to Congress?

Topic 83: Presidential case studies
Lesson 83a: How effectively did President Bill Clinton achieve his aims, and was he an ‘imperial’ or an ‘imperilled’ president?
Lesson 83b: How effectively did President George W. Bush achieve his aims, and was he an ‘imperial’ or an ‘imperilled’ president?
Lesson 83c: How effectively did President Barack Obama achieve his aims, and was he an ‘imperial’ or an ‘imperilled’ president?
Lesson 83de (2-hour lesson): How effectively did President Donald Trump achieve his aims, and was he an ‘imperial’ or an ‘imperilled’ president?
Lesson 83f: Does the USA have an imperial or an imperilled presidency?

Topic 84: Comparative politics
Lesson 84ab (2-hour lesson): How similar are the roles of US president and UK prime minister?
Lesson 84c: How can we use comparative theories to analyse the US and UK executive branches?

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.

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 of 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.