Blog and updates
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13 Jan 2016
Countdown to Election Day
Next month sees the start of the primary season with states voting for the nominees from both Democrats and Republicans. With the approaching primary seasons we will see a mix of caucuses and...
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13 Jan 2016
Who is Ted Cruz?
We may be hearing and seeing much more of Ted Cruz. Could he be the Republican Presidential Candidate in 2016? If so, it promises to be a fiery election campaign!
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13 Jan 2016
In Search of Endangered Species - Scottish Conservatives
Conservative voters in Scotland are hard to find. However, this somewhat tongue-in-cheek report by BBC Newsnight has a more serious purpose. It features an interesting interview with Ruth Davidson,...
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13 Jan 2016
Feminism back in the new A-level Politics syllabus
After much hoo-hah in the media and in schools, feminist ideology has been added back in to the proposed new A-level Politics syllabus, following a debate in the Commons last Monday. The final...
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13 Jan 2016
Is the UK government becoming authoritarian?
Lord Kerslake, the former civil servant and Cabinet Secretary who was "ousted" in the 2014 Cabinet reshuffle, is now a crossbench peer in the House of Lords, warned yesterday in the Lords that he...
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12 Jan 2016
English votes for English laws - the first outing
The new "English votes for English laws" voting procedure was used today in the Commons for the first time in a vote on a new Housing Bill, in an attempt to tackle the issue of the West Lothian...
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12 Jan 2016
Tackling poverty in the US and the link to federalism
Last weekend the Republican party held a presidential forum on tackling poverty, chaired by the popular House Speaker Paul Ryan - most of the Republican presidential hopefuls were present (Trump...
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12 Jan 2016
Ireland and the 1916 Easter Rising
I found this super BBC iWonder exploration of the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland on my daily politics surf earlier - a great piece of extension material for AS students in terms of understanding the...
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11 Jan 2016
Ted Cruz and the super Super PACs
As Ted Cruz increasingly seems to be the main alternative to Donald Trump for the Republican Presidential nomination, the number of Super PACs supporting him has increased - the Washington Post...
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11 Jan 2016
The conflict between MP duties
The resignation today of shadow attorney general Catherine McKinnell caught many by surprise, especially given Jeremy Corbyn's claims earlier in the day that the Labour party was "moving on" from...
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11 Jan 2016
EU Referendum and the end of collective Cabinet responsibility?
David Cameron's relaxation of the doctrine of Collective Cabinet Responsibility over the EU In/Out Referendum is fascinating.
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11 Jan 2016
The Arab Spring - a 5 year summary
A super article summarising the changes in the Arab world and the role of the Middle East in the global political system appeared in last week's Economist.
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8 Jan 2016
Blockbusters! An interactive resource on Elections
Okay, here's a game format many of your students won't have seen before - Blockbusters! However, it's your chance to be 'Bob' and run a quick game of Blockbusters with your students. The format is...
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8 Jan 2016
Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet reshuffle and the role of social media
The shadow cabinet reshuffle is fascinating for a number of reasons: the announcements of sackings, resignations and appointments on Twitter, the huge media interest in the shadow cabinet, the...
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8 Jan 2016
Clinton and Blair - the Special Relationship
Following a Freedom of Information request, the BBC has accessed transcripts of many of the conversations between former US President Bill Clinton and former PM Tony Blair between 1997 and 2000....
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8 Jan 2016
Long Lost Family - In Iraq
A truly memorable short (10 minute) film here by the BBC Newsnight team which follows the efforts of Kurdish Iraqi woman to trace her real family.
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7 Jan 2016
Explaining the Tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran
Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran have increased since the execution of Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. What are the short and longer-term reasons for this?
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7 Jan 2016
Obama Takes on the Gun Lobby
Some might say "about time too". As he enters his final year in office, President Obama has chosen gun control as a central part of his remaining time in the White House.
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6 Jan 2016
A liberal Supreme Court?
The Washington Post, has correctly pointed out a number of key facts meaning the Supreme Court will from 2016 favour liberal rulings in cases, regardless of who wins the Presidency in 2016. In...
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5 Jan 2016
Cameron allows cabinet a free vote on EU referendum - other notable 'free votes'
Happy New Year! It will be announced today that David Cameron will allow his cabinet to vote freely during the EU In-Out referendum. It's an unusual but not overly surprising outcome, following...
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