How can we tell if a country is democratic? Lesson 1 of 6
GCSE • Politics, Parliament and Government • Model curriculum
How can we tell if a country is democratic?
This lesson is part 1 of a sequence of 6 lessons addressing the key enquiry: What are the strengths and weaknesses of the UK as a parliamentary democracy?
This lesson focuses on understanding the concept and evaluation of democracy, using case studies from various countries to explore how democratic principles are implemented and judged. Students begin by brainstorming their prior knowledge about democracy, using mind maps or lists, and connecting these ideas to a formal definition. Through structured activities, they learn about the six core features of democracy and how these are used to assess countries’ democratic status. The lesson encourages critical thinking through tasks such as analysing Churchill’s perspectives on flawed democracy and comparing it to other forms of governance.
The highlight of the lesson involves group work where students investigate specific countries, assess their democratic characteristics, and classify them as full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrids, or authoritarian regimes. This task develops analytical and evaluative skills, supported by class discussions and presentations. Students are guided to reflect on their judgments and compare them against established democratic indices. The session concludes with a reflective activity where students articulate the key features of an ideal democracy, consolidating their understanding and preparing them for follow-up tasks.
This lesson has been designed for delivery as a double lesson. Timings for each task are given as guidelines.
Students will work towards answering the following questions:
- What do we mean by ‘democracy’?
- What are the key features of a democracy?
- Is a democracy always better than other forms of government?
- How can you judge how democratic a country is?
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