Important Rarely an essay on its own, but sovereignty is the single most reused idea in the whole paper.
Wording above is the Pearson specification, unchanged. Tick a line only when you could answer a question on it without notes.
The 30-mark essays (Section C). Marks split 10/10/10 across AO1 (knowledge), AO2 (analysis) and AO3 (evaluation), so an answer that describes without judging gives away a third of the marks. Examiners reward "a clear and consistent line of argument": decide your answer before you write, argue it in every paragraph, weigh the counter-argument as you go, and reach "fully substantiated" judgements. A one-sided essay is capped at Level 2 however much it knows. Structure by theme, never by date and never as a list of examples.
The 12-mark Examine questions (Q1). Marked on AO1 and AO2 only, 6 marks each. There is no AO3, so no introduction, no conclusion and no overall judgement. Write three short, dense paragraphs, each one comparing the two named items directly. An answer that discusses only one of the two named items is capped at Level 1.
Full official mark schemes for every Paper 3 Global question, year by year: open the Paper 3 Global mark scheme viewer.
Has globalisation and international law eroded national sovereignty?
The clearest way to hold this subsection together is the supranational versus intergovernmental split: it tells you instantly whether a body can override a state. The sovereign state dates to the Peace of Westphalia, 1648 (see the world-order roller near the end).
Important Learn sovereignty as a transferable tool, not a topic in isolation. It powers the regionalism, human-rights and globalisation essays.
Essential High-frequency. The three types power the advantages, poverty and cultural-impact essays.
Wording above is the Pearson specification, unchanged. Tick a line only when you could answer a question on it without notes.
The 30-mark essays (Section C). Marks split 10/10/10 across AO1 (knowledge), AO2 (analysis) and AO3 (evaluation), so an answer that describes without judging gives away a third of the marks. Examiners reward "a clear and consistent line of argument": decide your answer before you write, argue it in every paragraph, weigh the counter-argument as you go, and reach "fully substantiated" judgements. A one-sided essay is capped at Level 2 however much it knows. Structure by theme, never by date and never as a list of examples.
The 12-mark Examine questions (Q1). Marked on AO1 and AO2 only, 6 marks each. There is no AO3, so no introduction, no conclusion and no overall judgement. Write three short, dense paragraphs, each one comparing the two named items directly. An answer that discusses only one of the two named items is capped at Level 1.
Full official mark schemes for every Paper 3 Global question, year by year: open the Paper 3 Global mark scheme viewer.
Has cultural globalisation had the greatest impact?
A state can be economically integrated yet culturally insular (Saudi Arabia), which proves the three types are separable. The three theoretical positions on globalisation are covered in 1.2.2 below.
Essential The three types are the building blocks of most globalisation essays. Learn one strong example for each.
Essential The richest subsection: interdependence, control of citizens, international law, intervention, and the three positions.
Wording above is the Pearson specification, unchanged. Tick a line only when you could answer a question on it without notes.
The 30-mark essays (Section C). Marks split 10/10/10 across AO1 (knowledge), AO2 (analysis) and AO3 (evaluation), so an answer that describes without judging gives away a third of the marks. Examiners reward "a clear and consistent line of argument": decide your answer before you write, argue it in every paragraph, weigh the counter-argument as you go, and reach "fully substantiated" judgements. A one-sided essay is capped at Level 2 however much it knows. Structure by theme, never by date and never as a list of examples.
The 12-mark Examine questions (Q1). Marked on AO1 and AO2 only, 6 marks each. There is no AO3, so no introduction, no conclusion and no overall judgement. Write three short, dense paragraphs, each one comparing the two named items directly. An answer that discusses only one of the two named items is capped at Level 1.
Full official mark schemes for every Paper 3 Global question, year by year: open the Paper 3 Global mark scheme viewer.
Has globalisation caused the decline of the nation-state?
A useful framing of the three positions: hyperglobalisers broadly favour globalisation; sceptics overlap with nationalists and socialists; transformationalists tread a middle path. A ready counter to the hyperglobalisers is that governments still attract investment and pool sovereignty to manage shared problems.
Essential The most examinable subsection in this area. The three positions and intervention recur across the paper.
Essential A 30-mark essay in its own right (2024 Q3B).
Wording above is the Pearson specification, unchanged. Tick a line only when you could answer a question on it without notes.
The 30-mark essays (Section C). Marks split 10/10/10 across AO1 (knowledge), AO2 (analysis) and AO3 (evaluation), so an answer that describes without judging gives away a third of the marks. Examiners reward "a clear and consistent line of argument": decide your answer before you write, argue it in every paragraph, weigh the counter-argument as you go, and reach "fully substantiated" judgements. A one-sided essay is capped at Level 2 however much it knows. Structure by theme, never by date and never as a list of examples.
The 12-mark Examine questions (Q1). Marked on AO1 and AO2 only, 6 marks each. There is no AO3, so no introduction, no conclusion and no overall judgement. Write three short, dense paragraphs, each one comparing the two named items directly. An answer that discusses only one of the two named items is capped at Level 1.
Full official mark schemes for every Paper 3 Global question, year by year: open the Paper 3 Global mark scheme viewer.
Do the advantages of globalisation outweigh the disadvantages?
Linking the disadvantages to dependency theory and the North-South divide is the bridge into content area 2 (Global governance: economic). Use it to deepen the "against" side.
Essential A live 30-mark title and the backbone of the poverty and environment essays.
Essential Poverty, conflict, human rights and the environment - the synoptic hinge into the rest of the paper.
Wording above is the Pearson specification, unchanged. Tick a line only when you could answer a question on it without notes.
The 30-mark essays (Section C). Marks split 10/10/10 across AO1 (knowledge), AO2 (analysis) and AO3 (evaluation), so an answer that describes without judging gives away a third of the marks. Examiners reward "a clear and consistent line of argument": decide your answer before you write, argue it in every paragraph, weigh the counter-argument as you go, and reach "fully substantiated" judgements. A one-sided essay is capped at Level 2 however much it knows. Structure by theme, never by date and never as a list of examples.
The 12-mark Examine questions (Q1). Marked on AO1 and AO2 only, 6 marks each. There is no AO3, so no introduction, no conclusion and no overall judgement. Write three short, dense paragraphs, each one comparing the two named items directly. An answer that discusses only one of the two named items is capped at Level 1.
Full official mark schemes for every Paper 3 Global question, year by year: open the Paper 3 Global mark scheme viewer.
Has economic globalisation significantly reduced poverty?
Structural Adjustment Programmes (reduce the state, low taxes, fewer trade barriers, follow Western policy) and the Washington Consensus enrich the counter-argument and pre-load content area 2.
Essential Poverty and environment are recurrent 30-mark titles and the bridge to areas 2 and 3.
The spine for the synoptic questions on whether world order has "scarcely changed since 2000" (2020 Q3C), whether globalisation made the world unipolar (2019 Q3A) and whether order is "more multipolar than unipolar" (2025 Q3C). Roll through the eras.
The multipolar age of great powers. The Peace of Westphalia (1648) founds the nation-state system and sovereignty. Power has many centres: rival great powers with spheres of influence. No single hegemon.
End of WW2 and the bipolar Cold War. Two poles. The UN (1945) and Bretton Woods (IMF, World Bank) are created. Order is balanced or frozen by USA-USSR rivalry, fought out through proxy wars. Economic liberalism spreads.
End of the Cold War and the unipolar moment. One pole: US hegemony. Liberal triumphalism and renewed faith in a rules-based international order. New IGOs created; regionalism grows as a step into the system.
9/11 and the return to multipolarity. Many poles: China, the USA and the EU, with India, Russia, Turkey and the Gulf rising. China's Belt and Road and authoritarian capitalism challenge the Western model.
Contested multipolarity. Great-power rivalry returns (Ukraine 2022, US-China tariffs). The institutions of 1945 survive, but the distribution of power has moved.
Roll up and down: the arrows, scroll or swipe inside the box, the up and down keys, or click a year above. Full interactive timeline on Panther →
Exam use: name the strand the question is about, then judge it with the three schools. The 2020 12-marker asked hyperglobalisers against sceptics directly, and the strands feed the sovereignty and non-state-actor essays.
Exam use: six red arrows = six AO1 points for "sovereignty is eroded"; the green box is the rebuttal evidence. Works for sovereignty, globalisation and non-state-actor essays alike.
Each row takes an evaluative demand the specification makes in this area, quoted word for word, and shows the 30-mark question it tends to become. Learn both sides for every row.
| The spec wording | The question this becomes | The two sides in one line |
|---|---|---|
| "The debate between hyperglobalisers, globalisation sceptics and transformationalists" | Evaluate the view that the nation state is in decline. | Yes: hyperglobalisers say borderless markets and global problems have left the state behind. No: sceptics say states still write the rules and reassert control in every crisis. |
| "Challenge to state control over citizens" | Evaluate the view that states can no longer control what happens inside their own borders. | Yes: markets, TNCs and the internet cross borders at will. No: legal sovereignty survives, and Covid and sanctions showed borders coming back. |
| "Humanitarian and forcible intervention" | Evaluate the view that humanitarian intervention does more harm than good. | Yes: Libya and Iraq show intervention breaking the states it meant to save. No: Sierra Leone, Kosovo and East Timor show lives saved when states act. |
| "The impact of globalisation, and its implications for the nation state and national sovereignty" | Evaluate the view that the advantages of globalisation outweigh the disadvantages. | Yes: trade has cut extreme poverty and raised living standards worldwide. No: the gains are concentrated and the losers are left behind. |
| "The ways and extent to which globalisation addresses and resolves contemporary issues" | Evaluate the view that globalisation has significantly reduced global poverty. | Yes: trade-led growth in East Asia lifted hundreds of millions. No: sub-Saharan Africa shows the gains bypass the poorest. |
Twelve mixed questions covering the whole section. Your most recent score is shown in the top bar.