IB Global Politics SL study plan

Define power, sovereignty, legitimacy and interdependence in your own words and map how each concept links to the others

Distinguish hard, soft and smart power and classify six real actors (states, IGOs, NGOs, MNCs) by the type of power they exercise

Explain how sovereignty is challenged by intervention, globalization and supranational bodies, using at least two concrete cases you can describe from memory

Build a concept glossary with one worked example per term

Compare realist, liberal and constructivist readings of state behaviour and apply each to the same event

Analyse how IGOs and treaties constrain or enable state action in one case you can summarise in 150 words

Practise writing a thesis statement that takes a position on whether sovereignty is eroding

Self-mark one 10-mark response against IB-style criteria (knowledge, application, analysis)

Identify a research question for the internal assessment that is political, local-to-global in scope and answerable with primary data

Draft a rationale that justifies the question against Domain 1 and 2 concepts already studied

Select two credible sources and evaluate their reliability and bias in writing

Design a data collection tool (survey, interview guide or document analysis grid) with 6-10 items

Pilot the data collection tool with at least three respondents or documents and log what failed

Revise the tool to remove leading questions and add a consent or ethics note

Map each planned finding to the concept it will test

Write a 200-word methodology paragraph explaining choices and limits

Distinguish the three generations of rights and explain the tensions between them with examples

Explain how the UDHR, ICCPR and ICESCR differ in obligation and enforcement

Analyse one case where state security claims have been used to limit rights, weighing both sides

Evaluate the roles of courts, NGOs and the UN Human Rights Council in protecting rights

Compare at least three measures of development (GDP per capita, HDI, Gini, multidimensional poverty) and state what each hides

Explain how colonial legacies, trade rules and debt shape development outcomes

Analyse one aid or development intervention and judge whether it built capability or dependency

Link one development claim to a human rights argument from Week 5

Distinguish interstate, intrastate, asymmetric and structural conflict with a named example for each

Explain the causes, conduct and limits of peacekeeping and evaluate one mission's record

Compare negative and positive peace and apply both to one post-conflict case

Assess how the laws of war and the responsibility to protect interact with sovereignty

Complete data collection and write up findings organised by concept rather than by question

Draw one conclusion that answers the research question directly and acknowledge counter-evidence

Revise the full IA draft for structure, sourcing and word count

Sit one timed mixed paper covering Domains 1-4 and mark it against the criteria