Stage 2 Australian and International Politics

About the subject

They study a selected topic related to international politics, and explore both conventional and unconventional forms of participation. Students consider and evaluate political systems, institutions and principles, and the ways in which these are justified in the face of competing ideologies and philosophies.

Course content

Stage 2 Australian and International Politics consists of:

• four topics from the ‘Australian Politics’ section
• one topic from the ‘International Politics’ section.

Australian Politics

Students study all four of the following topics:

• The Australian Constitution and Federalism
• Political Representation, Parliament, and the Executive
• Voting and Elections
• Political Parties.

International Politics

Students study one of the following topics:

• Global Citizenship
• Global Media
• Australian International Relations
• The United Nations and Human Rights
• The Politics of the Asia–Pacific Region
• The United States of America and World Affairs
• Comparative Political Systems.

Assessment

Students demonstrate evidence of their learning through the following assessment types:

Information on the External Assessment

The 2-hour external examination is divided into two sections:

• Section A examines topics from the ‘Australian Politics’ section
• Section B examines topics from the ‘International Politics’ section.

Students write two essays, one on Section A and one on Section B.

The examination will be graded by external assessors with reference to the performance standards.

Performance Standards

The Australian and International Politics Subject Outline includes performance standards, which describe five levels of achievement that are reported with the grades A to E at the student’s completion of the subject.

The school-based assessments and the external assessment will be graded with reference to the performance standards.