The AS course is covered in three units, which each have their own written paper at the end of the year. Each unit is equally weighted, and the three units as a whole comprise 50% of the A-level grade.
Unit 1 (People and Politics)
Democracy
Elections
Pressure Groups
Political Parties
Unit 2 (Governing the UK)
Constitutions
Parliament
The Executive [Prime Minister, Cabinet Government, Civil Service]
The Judiciary
Unit 3 (The Changing UK System) *
Electoral Reform [major topic]
Parliamentary Reform [major topic]
Devolution [minor topic]
The European Union [minor topic]
* For unit 3, the exam will cover one major topic and one minor topic; candidates answer just ONE question from the two offered.
LINKS TO EDEXCEL SITE
The full syllabus information can be found in pdf format (Acrobat Reader required) by clicking here.
The AS Government and Politics page, with links to the specifications and other syllabus information, can be found by clicking here.
The home page of Edexcel is here.