Global Express
Edition 3: Vote, vote, vote -
democracy in the international context
Activity for the classroom: What is democracy?

An activity for KS2 or KS3

With younger pupils, you could photocopy and cut up the definitions, separating the terms from their explanations, and ask pupils to try to rematch them. When this is done, discuss their meanings.

With older pupils, get them, in pairs, to choose the five they think are most important and to rank them 1 to 5. Do they know which ones we have in the UK?

(We don't have proportional representation, a Freedom of Information Act, and don't often use referendums.)

What do you think is needed for democracy?

All of the following things might be thought important

 Regular elections  A chance every so often for people to vote to decide who should be their leader or representative.
 Political parties  Groups of people who say how they will run the country if they are elected.
 Free speech  The right for anyone to say what they think without fear of breaking the law.
 Freedom of information  People are able to find out the truth and those in power cannot hide things from them.
 Proportional representation  A way to get many political parties represented in parliament. The more votes each party gets, the more representatives they have.
 Referendum  A chance for the people to give their opinion about a single issue that is important. They vote "for" or "against" and idea, rather than a person or a party.
 Rule of law  Everyone must obey the law of the land and must agree to accept the result.


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Global Express
Edition 3: Vote, vote, vote -
democracy in the international context