Curriculum
The Economist is recommended reading for Politics students, especially A2 students as its American political coverage is so good. Their student subscription details are here
A2 students may also be interested in Time Magazine - thanks Cal for finding these offers
BBC Parliament Blog: Mark D’Arcy
Guardian weekly Politics Podcast
BBC Radio Westminster Hour weekly political round-up
Political Studies Association: Political Insight magazine
The New Yorker Political Scene, including good weekly podcast
US Political cartoons from Cagle at MSNBC (updated weekly)
Democracy in America: The Economist's USA blog
Wonkblog - excellent Washington Post blog on politics and policy
National Constitution Center Newswire - good for political stories with a constitutional angle
Crystal Ball - on the prospects for future elections
CNN State of the Union- good weekly podcast
FT.com: UKIP surge in May 2nd Local Elections brings 4-party politics to the UK (h/t James Martin)
UCL Constitution unit video - Vernon Bogdanor on referendums in the UK
UCL Constitution Unit - Meg Russell on Cameron and the Lords 2013
Mark D'Arcy comment on Gay Marriage Bill in Public Bill Committee
Constitution unit on plans to reform the succession to the Crown
UK Polling Report on the prospects for the parties at the next election
Constitution Unit on problems involved with Scottish independence
Good article on how a hardworking backbench MP can make a difference over time
Constitution Unit on the Government's proposed review of the Civil Service
AS Assessment sheet - pdf
AS Assessment sheet - word doc
A2 Assessment sheet - pdf
Select Committees - pdf
Constitutional Change resources
"Dude Where's My Constitution?" - The Coalition and Constitutional reform - pdf
UK 2010 Election analysis notes - pdf
Past elections materials - pdf
UCL Constitution unit video - Vernon Bogdanor on referendums in the UK
Constitution Unit on a recent problem for AMS in Scotland
Referendums essay set-up document - pdf
BBC survey of referendums in the UK
Boundary Commission consultation
Economist article on boundary changes in UK
Guardian article on boundary changes in UK
House of Commons Library report on 2010 General Election
Conservative Home – Tim Montgomerie’s influential blog
Lib Dem Voice - activist website
The Record Review: BBC weekly report on events in Parliament
They Work for You – tools to follow Parliament and the work of individual MPs
BBC Parliament Blog: Mark D’Arcy
Codified Constitutions essay resources - Word Document
Principles of the Constitution notes - Word Document
Economist article on Impact of European Courts
Article on Scotland and UK Supreme Court
Former Lord Chancellor Derry Irvine on the Human Rights Act and European Law
BBC Democracy Live on a British Bill of Rights
Constitution unit on plans to reform the succession to the Crown
"Dude Where's My Constitution?" - The Coalition and Constitutional reform - pdf
Interesting comparison of different pollsters' methodologies
By-Elections notes and data - pdf
Voting Behaviour Task - pdf
Voting Behaviour data spreadsheet - xls
House of Commons Library report on 2010 General Election
Economist article on regional voting
Judiciary of England and Wales
Former Lord Chancellor Derry Irvine on the Human Rights Act and European Law
BBC The Record Europe – weekly round-up programme
Political Insight article on where power lies in the EU
NY Times: Obama speech to Planned Parenthood attacks recent attempts to curb access to abortion
NY Times: New laws ban most abortions in North Dakota
NY Times: Mississippi's only abortion clinic at risk
NY Times: Police using phone tracking as a routine tool
Sunday Times: Andrew Sullivan compares gun deaths to Boston bombings
NY Times: Arizona's Barrier to the Right to Vote
NY Times: article on the Supreme Court politics behind decisions to hear the gay marriage cases
Wonkblog: Why we shouldn't worry about Gridlock
New Yorker: 4 Reasons the Gun-Control Bills Failed
Monkey Cage: Public Opinion and the Senate Gun-Control Vote
NY Times: Boy Scouts Lift Ban on Gay Members
NY Times: Online Privacy and the Petraus Case
NY Times: Anti-Muslim Police Training
NY Times: Arizona's Barrier to the Right to Vote
NY Times: Supreme Court to hear Voting Rights Case
NY Times Op-Ed: Rewrite the Second Amendment
The 9/11 Trial: Justice Delayed
Drone Strikes: How a U.S. Citizen Came to Be in America’s Cross Hairs
Visions of drones swarming US skies hit bipartisan nerve
Obama Administration weighs new drones policy
Military Tribunals: A Failed Experiment?
New Yorker article on Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Monkey Cage article: How Pressure Groups misrepresent the groups they purport to speak for
Wonk Blog and Monkey cage articles on the GOP's prospects: better than the post-Nov 2012 consensus?
CQ Roll Call analysis of partisan voting in the 112th Congress
New Yorker article: Majority Leader Eric Cantor and the Republicans House of Pain
Washington Post Wonkblog: redistricting didn't win the Republicans the House
Why Congress can't get anything done
Court Decision reducing Presidential ability to make Recess Appointments
Crystal Ball article critical of Electoral College reform proposals
MonkeyCage article: The GOP and the Fiscal Cliff Vote
Ezra Klein: Goodbye and Good Riddance, 112th Congress
Economist: Are the Republicans mad?
Economist: One of the last moderate Republicans quits
Economist: Left, Right and Centre
NY Times on Republican soul-searching
Economist: The Politics of Hurricane Sandy - h/t James Martin
V Good analysis of changing US campaign finance laws
NY Times on Presidents and Foreign Affairs
Obama's problems in filling judicial vacancies
Synoptic Elections - Newly updated with 2012 material - pdf
Third parties in the 2012 election
2012 presentation with graphs showing GOP primary results and delegate totals
A2 Assessment sheet - pdf
A2 Assessment sheet - word doc
Synoptic Constitutions 2011 - pdf file
Articles on the merits of the primary process
US General Election and third parties presentation - pdf
Congressional elections - pdf
Mid terms 2010 overview - pdf
Third parties in US Politics notes - pdf
Synoptic Legislatures 2011 - pdf file
Role of parties in Congress - Powerpoint running as a pdf file
ObamaCare - Powerpoint running as a pdf file (updated Feb 2013)
Kagan Supreme Court appointment exercise - pdf
Washington Post Wonkblog: redistricting didn't win the Republicans the House
Washington Post Wonkblog: Gerrymandering is not what’s wrong with American politics
NY Times: Were Obama's early ads really a game changer? (h/t Henry)
CNN on the importance of the "ground game" to the campaigns
Exit polls data 1992-2012, with graph of changing ethnic mix of US electorate
Interesting article found by Cal defending the Electoral College
Real Clear Politics: 21 reasons for Obama's victory and Romney's defeat
On the huge cost but limited impact of TV ads in the 2012 election campaign
On Voter ID laws - intended as a partisan method to discourage voting?
Very good BBC guide to the battlefind states (h/t Henry)
Wonk Blog and Monkey cage articles on the GOP's prospects: better than the post-Nov 2012 consensus?
New Yorker article: Majority Leader Eric Cantor and the Republicans House of Pain
Partisanship scores for the 112th Congress
MonkeyCage article: The GOP and the Fiscal Cliff Vote
Economist: Are the Republicans mad?
Economist: One of the last moderate Republicans quits
Economist: Left, Right and Centre
NY Times - Room for Debate: The Democrats Know This Script Well
NY Times - Republicans are more united than divided
Article arguing that the Republican party is an incoherent coalition, united only by hatred of Obama
Economist article: Political parties in decline?
Monkey Cage article: How Pressure Groups misrepresent the groups they purport to speak for
New York Times on the limits to campaign finance laws
NY Times: SuperPACS and lobbying
NY Times: Buying the Vote on GMOs
NY Times: American Trade Unions' effort to counter Republican groups
NY Times: Mitt Romney assures NRA of support
NY Times: GOP SuperPAC weighs hardline attack on Obama
NY Times: Political Dividends - on the finance industry as a pressure group
Economist: Corporate Lobbying - on the Chamber of Commerce
Article: The NRA's Star May Be On The Wane
NY Times: Who’s Financing the ‘Super PACs’ - Graphic
NY Times: Cancer Group Halts Financing to Planned Parenthood
The Outcome Of The Internet’s Blackout Against SOPA/PIPA | MoveOn.Org
Thomas – Library of Congress resources on legislation and government
Indiana University’s Centre on Congress
Social representation graphic of 112th Congress
Partisanship scores for the 112th Congress
Ornstein and Mann article in Washington Post blaming GOP for gridlock and failure in Congress
Monkey Cage article on the responsiveness of legislators to constituent opinion
Monkey Cage article on legislators' misperceptions of their constituents' opinions
Monkey Cage article on the impact of constituent contact on Congressional decision making
New Yorker article on the dysfunctional Senate
The Hill on reform of the confirmation process in the Senate
Appointment and ratification example
Filibuster of Presidential appointment in Senate
Filibuster of judicial nominee in Senate
Article attacking the GOP for blocking Obama's judicial nominations
Fox News on recess appointments
Bipartisan ethanol vote in Senate
Boston Globe story on the the continuing use of earmarks
Senate rejection of Balanced Budget amendment
Critical review of the 1st session of the 112th Congress
Washington Times on decline of Conference Committee stage
New Yorker article: Majority Leader Eric Cantor and the Republicans House of Pain
Economist on former Vice-President Dick Cheney's memoirs
Economist on the problems of choosing a Presidential running-mate
MUST READ - NY Times article on Obama's use of Executive power to bypass Congress
MUST READ ARTICLE! Ryan Lizza on Obama's Executive decision making
Vodcast: Professor Bruce Ackerman on Presidential power
Economist article on Obama’s use of executive orders
Article on Obama’s use of pardons 1
Article on Obama’s use of pardons 2
Fox News on recess appointments
Good article on the role of the Vice-President: argues that Biden has been unusually influential
Constitution Center - v good for interactive text of constitution with commentary
Constitution.net - interesting articles on constitutional interpretation
University of Montana resources on changing federalism 1970-1997
For the people who really, really want to know what Marbury vs Madison was about
Article on recent balanced budget amendment attempt
The Hill on the balanced budget amendment
Oyez – covering the US Supreme Court
Connell Law site providing summaries of recent Supreme Court cases
Graph of Supreme Court decision margins - 9-0 vs 5-4, etc
Analysis of Supreme Court rulings: activism or restraint?
New York Times: Supreme Court Term, Striking Unity on Major Cases
Very interesting analysis of the shifting ideological complexion of the Suprme Court
Article on Judicial Activism and Restraint
New York Times on Chief Justice John Roberts
Jeffrey Toobin New Yorker article on how Citizens United was decided by the Roberts Court
New Yorker's Jeffrey Toobin on Supreme Court nominees
Kagan Supreme Court appointment exercise - pdf
Article on the Supreme Court and business
Monkey Cage article: How much is the Supreme Court influenced by public opinion?
New Yorker article on Ruth Bader Ginsburg
ACLU - American Civil Liberties Union
NRA – National Rifle Association
Jeffry Toobin on a Challenge to Voting Rights laws
New York Times profile of Lakhdar Boumediene
New Yorker review essay on Lawrence vs Texas - v good on pressure group involvement in a key gay rights case
NAACP endorses same-sex marriage
The Arithmetic of Gay Marriage
New Yorker comment piece on gay marriage as a judicial and political issue
Arizona Immigration Law argued at Supreme Court
Article: Obama's abysmal record on civil liberties
New Yorker on Gun Laws and the Constitution
The 9/11 Trial: Justice Delayed
Drone Strikes: How a U.S. Citizen Came to Be in America’s Cross Hairs
Visions of drones swarming US skies hit bipartisan nerve
Obama Administration weighs new drones policy
Military Tribunals: A Failed Experiment?
UK Coalition and Constitutional reform - pdf
Synoptic Constitutions 2011 - pdf file
BBC Democracy Live on a British Bill of Rights
Political Studies Association paper on devolution in the UK
Political Insight article comparing US and UK Supreme Courts
Independent on Sunday article on codifying the UK constitution
Open Democracy satire on the UK constitution
Conservative Home article on codification
2011 Paper for the House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee
American Prospect on the weakness of a Presidential system
Article looking at comparing separation/ fusion of powers in a number of countries
Economist on European Constitution
Synoptic Political Parties and Pressure Groups
UCL Constitution Unit articlde- Synoptic Elected second chambers
Ornstein and Mann article in Washington Post blaming GOP for gridlock and failure in Congress
Vladimir Putin returns to the Presidency in Russia
Synoptic Elections - Newly updated with 2012 material - pdf
Article on how FPTP systems disenfranchise voters
US Gun rights compared to other countries
BBC Democracy Live on a British Bill of Rights
(Globe base image from ONT design - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ontdesign/692369952/)