Many of the basic ideas and arguments of social and political sciences, anthropology and political philosophy are concerned with how the maintenance of social order can enhance people’s lives and with who wins and loses from the different ways of organising societies. This includes debates and discussions on the ways in which people are interdependent; the roles of rules, laws, norms and values in ensuring order; the way in which the weak can be protected by and from the strong; who wins and who loses under the rules and laws of contemporary societies; and on the most appropriate ways of bringing about change in society. Underpinning all of these ideas and arguments lies a concern for ‘power’ and an interest in who has and can use power: to get people to act in ways they might otherwise not act; to establish and enforce rules and practices and to shape ideas and beliefs. While there are many avenues through which these ideas could be explored, in this strand they are addressed through looking at who participates in decision-making and on what basis they participate. This strand explores these foundational ideas in social and political sciences through two contexts: decision-making in the school and decision-making in democratic institutions at national and European level. Topic 1 starts with an exploration of participation in decision-making in schools. In doing so it allows learners to look at the debates and issues about power and decision-making in a context where the issues are very real and meaningful for them. This will enable them to see the ideas, debates and data of social and political science as directly relevant to their lives. The debates addressed in this topic focus on why or if we need rules/laws who should be involved in making these laws/rules and why whether laws/rules should be limited to a focus on personal safety or whether we need a broader set of rules who benefits from the way the laws/rules are designed who enforces rules/laws and how do they do so. Ultimately, through engaging in these debates, learners will develop an understanding of the different dimensions of power in social and political life. Topic 2 focuses on decision-making in democratic institutions at a national and European level. There are numerous different branches of government and different institutions through which decision-making could be explored. This topic focuses particularly on the way in which people are represented within the executive branch of government in Ireland, and, for comparison purposes, in Northern Ireland and in the European Union. Such a comparison retains the focus on institutions which are directly meaningful to people’s lives in Ireland while at the same time allowing learners to better understand that any form of political organisation is a result of choices which are made. The media plays a particularly important role in contributing to and shaping the nature of debate in democratic societies. In addition to a focus on the executive branch in government, therefore, topic 2 also contains a particular focus on the role of the media in democracies. By the end of strand 1 learners will have been exposed to many of the foundational ideas and concepts of Politics and Society. These include power, representation, democracy, social class and gender. Later strands will provide opportunities to further apply and deepen the understanding of these concepts. Learners will also have begun to use evidence and data in coming to reflective judgements on foundational questions in social and political life.
Strand 1 deals with the concepts and ideas which are foundational to Politics and Society. It also addresses some of the foundational skills of analysing and interpreting evidence and data. Strand 2 deals with a range of other skills which are also foundational to active and reflective citizenship. These include the skills of effectively contributing to communities and the skills of deliberating and coming to decisions when working with others. One way in which learners are enabled to bring their learning from across the strands of Politics and Society together is through a citizenship project, which will be undertaken in relation to one of the themes of the subject. This project will enable learners to evaluate opportunities for taking action in communities, to justify the activity they choose to undertake and to evaluate their own learning from being an active participant in civic, social and political life. While learners will draw on learning outcomes from all strands in undertaking this project, the learning outcomes identified in strand 2 are most directly associated with the project. The project will be allocated a weighting of 20% in the marks for the final assessment of Politics and Society. Topic 3 focuses on being an active participant in a dimension of civic, social and political life. It reflects the key skill of ‘being personally effective’. Topic 3 begins with a focus on different forms of action possible within social and political life, before moving on to explore the skills that enable someone to be effective in the actions they choose to undertake. Topic 4 addresses the skills involved in working with others in groups and in broader democratic society. It reflects the key skill of ‘working with others’. By beginning with a focus on the rights and responsibilities related to communication it provides a link to Strand 3: Human rights and responsibilities. While Strand 1 and 2 are presented sequentially, in practice the skills that are reflected in Strand 2 will often be taught alongside the concepts and ideas addressed in Strand 1. They will also continue to be practiced and applied throughout the approaches to teaching and learning chosen for all four strands.
While strands 1 and 2 outline the foundational concepts, ideas and skills of Politics and Society, strands 3 and 4 provide an opportunity to apply and practice these in more detail. An understanding of and a respect for human rights and responsibilities and for human dignity is a key objective of Politics and Society. Strand 3 addresses this objective directly. As with other strands and topics, it begins with a focus on a context which is directly relevant to young people’s lives, that is, their rights to education. Learners will also be able to refer back to their earlier treatment of rights and responsibilities related to communication. Together, these different rights provide learners with a range of different experiences and issues to relate to their study of rights and responsibilities. Through an exploration of the different ways in which their rights to education and communication are framed, learners will gain an understanding of a selection of key instruments for articulating rights. There are many different human rights instruments that could be addressed as part of such a study: in topic 5 the Irish constitution and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child are selected for particular study. Together they provide learners with an opportunity to understand the different sorts of instruments that exist and the sorts of impacts they can have. Learners will also gain an opportunity to explore human rights concepts and the limitations to and constraints upon applying human rights concepts. The concept of equality of rights is also explored and evidence in relation to equality is examined and evaluated. Topic 6 broadens the focus to look at human rights and responsibilities in a European and wider-world context. It introduces a further selection of rights, including the right to survival and development, the right to freedom of thought, conscience and to have and manifest religion or beliefs, the right to protection from physical or mental violence, injury, neglect or abuse and the right to rest, leisure play and recreation. It also introduces a number of further relevant human rights documents: the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Declaration on the Right to Development. It broadens the debate on human rights issues to include an exploration of the interplay between human rights and culture and it enables learners to further develop and use their skills of data interpretation in relation to human rights.
Globalisation concerns the interconnectedness of the diverse parts of the globe through increased and higher-speed communications, through the increased integration of local economies and national political strands into a more global economic and political context, and through the cultural exchange that arises from these processes. Although it can be regarded as an abstract idea, globalisation can be seen to have an enormous impact upon people’s lives today, for example in the changing social and cultural make-up of contemporary societies, in the use of communication technology, in the jobs that people do and the ones they will do in the future, in the impact of international political institutions upon people’s lives, in the changing nature of civil society organisations, and in the capacity of people to impact upon national and international political institutions. It is sometimes argued that, alongside an increased focus on the ‘global’ the contemporary world is equally marked by an increased focus on the ‘local’. This is reflected in a growing interest in ‘identity’ and in the politics of identity, in a growing recognition of diversity within countries and communities, and in a growing recognition of the ways in which the ‘global’ has impacts which are ‘local’, and in ways in which the ‘local’ has impacts which are ‘global’. There are many ways in which globalisation and localisation can be explored in contemporary societies. This strand looks at two of them: a focus on identity and diversity and a focus on development that is sustainable. One of the impacts of globalisation has been an increase in travel and migration around the globe. This has led to contemporary societies being increasingly diverse. Globalisation is also associated with an increased focus on identity and on the politics of identity. Both these ideas are represented in topic 7 which looks at the diversity that is a characteristic of contemporary societies. Building on the learners’ understanding of diversity and of cultural difference developed in strand 3, it provides them with an opportunity to think about the ways in which other cultures are characterised within their own culture, and to discuss the appropriate relationship between different cultures. In this context, learners will have the chance to examine a number of alternative perspectives on the relationship between ‘western’ culture and other cultures. Other impacts of globalisation can be seen in the inter-related areas of global inequalities in wealth and poverty, and global environmental impacts of human activity. In topic 8 learners can explore the different ways in which people see the linkages between the local and the global in the processes of sustainable development. This allows them to explore the idea that interdependence and inter- linkages between different parts of the globe, such as through multinational companies or through trade links, is a positive force for global development in that it provides employment opportunities to developing countries as well as opportunities for them to learn from more developed countries and economies. Learners also explore the alternative view, that these inter-linkages simply provide opportunities for strong, wealthy economies to exploit poorer economies. Processes of development—intended to bring industry and employment to an area—can also have environmental impacts which are felt across the globe. Topic 8 also explores how different ideas on environmental sustainability can be related to ideas on the processes of global development.