Politips... for A-Level Politics and Beyond

In this second episode in our mini series on political thinkers, we explore the ideas of John Locke, the so-called "father of Liberalism". We consider the biography of Locke and the context within which he was writing. We then reveal his ideas on human nature, society, the state and on the economy, before offering some tentative conclusion on his wider legacy.

How effective are Select Committees at holding the government to account? This short episode explores what select committees are and how they function. It considers recent case studies including appearances by Dominc Cummings, Boris Johnson and Sir Olly Robbins.

Thomas Hobbes gave us the idea of the Leviathan, a metaphorical figure for an all powerful sovereign. In this episode we explore his life and works to determine why he came up with this novel idea. This episode is the first in a new series providing profiles on the political thinkers who created modern political ideologies, and figure on the A Level politics specification.

In this episode we visit Washington DC. We ask our intrepid students for their initial impressions on the federal capital; before discussing the role DC plays in US politics, how the city has changed under Trump, and federal shutdowns.

In this episode we talk to Simon Lemieux, an experienced politics teacher who has co-authored several A Level Politics textbooks and writes for Politics Review. We discuss the impact of UK general elections and the likelihood of electoral reform before considering likely future trends in UK politics.

Who is more powerful, Prime Ministers or Presidents? Presidents obviously. Yet within each system, the answer is more nuanced and complex. Join us in this episode to review the powers of Presidents and Prime Ministers and decide which is the more powerful position.

How significant is judicial review in the UK Supreme Court? This short episode of Politics Explains looks at how judicial review operates, and then explores three case studies; the Article 50 ruling of 2017, the Prerogation of Parliament ruling in 2019, and the gender ruling of 2025.

In this episode of Politics Explains, our series explaining important political concepts, we look at the historic sources of the UK constitution. What are the main milestones in the development of Britain's parliamentary democracy? How significant are they? Are they still relevant today? Listen to this episode to join the discussion.

Join our discussion on whether Donal Trump is an imperial president. We look at where the term first originated in the work of Arthur Schlesinger, before considering the presidency of Richard Nixon. We discuss whether or not the term had any real merit by 2016, before looking at how the two terms of Donald Trump are redefining and reinvigorating the concept.

In this episode we discuss five key things that we learnt about US presidential elections following the contest between Trump and Harris. How significant was money in determining the outcome? Was it all about the economy? Do demographics really matter? Join the discussion in this episode of Politips.