Synopticity

A brief note about synopticity – a major focus of A2 Gov and Pol under Edexcel. It is a significant part of the marks for the essay (12 out of 45 for Assessment Objective 2). Ultimately they want to probe the candidate’s understanding of viewpoints or perspectives on the question, and at the highest level clearly appreciating the

“nature of the view points and how they shape political analysis and result in competing arguments and rival conclusions”

Edit 13/03/2015:

Essentially the examiner is looking for a good argument. For marks at the top of level 3 (for the synoptic part of Assessment Objective 2) ideally you argue both sides of an issue, to show the pros and the cons of a particular theme. For example, if you are writing an essay on the effectiveness of the US Supreme Court you need to explore the pros and the cons of judicial review. You are not actually trying to explain the Conservative / Republican / Democratic / Liberal view point on an issue.