Leaving Cert
Leaving Cert Politics and Society notes & guides
Leaving Cert Politics and Society: the four strands, how the exam and citizenship project are weighted, free guides and ways to use the Dáil record.
Leaving Cert · Ideas you can use
Learn the argument behind the name.
Use a thinker to explain a problem, test an idea and challenge your own conclusion. Start with Hobbes, Locke and Marx, then apply their arguments to evidence from Irish public life.
Start with Hobbes
Updated
A focused starting set
These three guides introduce thinkers named in the published Politics and Society specification. They are a starting set, not the full course or a list of predicted exam questions. Check the requirements for your cohort with your teacher.
Each guide gives you a core argument, a contemporary application, a criticism to consider and questions for practice. Open the primary text to check an interpretation rather than relying on an unattributed quotation.
Compare Hobbes and Locke on the same question
- Why do people need government? Identify the problem each account is trying to solve.
- What authorises political power? Explain how agreement or consent works in the argument.
- What limits the exercise of power? Consider protection, rights, trust and resistance.
- Use one bounded case about public authority. Apply both arguments to the same evidence before making a judgement.
Use Marx to ask about material power
Identify who owns or controls the resources relevant to the issue. Ask how that relationship could shape influence and whose interests are at stake. Then test the interpretation against evidence and a competing explanation.
For a housing example, distinguish different groups and read the actual question in any division you use. A voting record is not proof of a private motive, and ownership is not the only possible source of influence.
Build a revision sheet that makes you think
- ExplainWrite one concept accurately in your own words. Check it against a named text or your course source.
- ApplyChoose a specific Irish example and a source. State exactly which claim the evidence can support.
- ChallengeDevelop an objection and consider an alternative explanation or another thinker.
- JudgeExplain your conclusion and its limits. Turn the gap in your knowledge into your next practice question.
Free guides to read next
Plain-English background with links to the official sources.
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Official sources
Frequently asked questions
No. This starting set covers Hobbes, Locke and Marx. Use the full specification and your teacher's course plan to organise the rest of your study.
Ask each the same question, explain their reasoning and apply the ideas to the same evidence. Evaluate a difference rather than putting two biographies side by side.
Yes, where they are relevant. Cite the actual record and distinguish what it establishes from your interpretation. Read the question and context of a vote before using it.
DáilDex is independent and is not affiliated with the Department of Education, the State Examinations Commission, the NCCA or the Houses of the Oireachtas. Check your school’s or college’s current requirements before you rely on any summary.