The main topic this week will be a general approach to the UK political system.
Most of this module is based on activities within the frame of GURU, an online educational system of BBC
Government
Political parties
Monarchy
Resources
= Compulsory
Related resources:
"Government and Politics in the United Kingdom" ("Consider"/Cappelen - p. 137 - 166)
1a)
Go to the websites of the main political parties and find out their views on major issues. Fill in this form with what you find.
There is a spare row to include another political party of your choice.
There is also a row for you to include your own opinion - where do you stand on these issues?
At the bottom of the form there is a button. By pushing the button you will have a more readable/printable presentation of your work. Be sure to make a decent print-out for classroom-discussions.
1b) Please, read the complete paragraph before starting "GURU"!
This time you are going to delve into the GURU site (BBC).
There are two necessities:
- You'll need a 'Flash' player. If you haven't got one it is to be found here!
- You'll have to register to get a username and a password
If your computer refuses to install the 'Flash' player, contact the administrator of the system. You're probably short of system privileges/rights.
At the top of the GURU opening page you'll find five options: choose 'General Studies'
In the tree-structure which appears you should move your arrow to 'Society' and then click 'UK Constitution' and 'UK Politics'. You may just as well try other menu-options, too, but those mentioned are the two most important ones.
The GURU system is a mixture of information, questions and excercises, and you should try it out on your own.
Open your wordprocessor (Wordpad won't choke your system...) and copy all important information. It may also be necessary to write some lines by yourself because it is difficult to copy Flash-texts.
We'll spend a lesson on this activity!
Finally, we'll gather in the classroom for a discussion.
GURU will be opened in a new window making it easy to read these instructions again. Now you may start GURU!
Good luck!
1c)
Here are some 'traditional' questions:
What is the difference between a general election and a byelection?
Who can stand as a parliamentary candidate in a constituency?
Do the British have their general elctions at fixed times? Explain!
Why might a PM decide to call an early general election?
Comment on this statement: a general election consists of about 660 elections!
