Starter quiz
- Which of these are examples of active citizenship in a democracy?
- paying your taxes
- lobbying your representatives ✓
- taking part in protests ✓
- showing respect to neighbours
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- What is a multi-party system?
- All political parties are banned and the leader makes all decisions
- There is one political party that exists for people to vote for
- There is more than one political party that exists for people to vote for ✓
- People vote for multiple parties at once
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- A strong democracy should also aim to protect ______ rights.
- 'human' ✓
- Match the type of democracy to its example.
- direct democracy⇔taking a vote or having a referendum on each issue ✓
- representative democracy⇔electing a Member of Parliament to act on your behalf ✓
- ______ is the principle that all individuals within a state, including Government and leaders, are subject to the same laws and must follow them - it ensures fairness, justice and accountability.
- 'Rule of law' ✓
- There is a separation of powers in the UK between ______, Government and judges.
- 'Parliament' ✓
Exit quiz
- What is a marginal seat in an election?
- These are seats that are not won at all.
- These are seats that are won with a relatively small minority. ✓
- These are seats that are won with a large majority.
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- ______ is the voting system used in the UK.
- 'First-past-the-post' ✓
- Match the voting system with its explanation.
- First-past-the-post⇔the candidate with most votes wins ✓
- Proportional representation⇔the share of seats a party wins matches the share of votes it receives ✓
- What is a disadvantage of proportional representation?
- can produce more coalition Governments ✓
- smaller parties with significant support can be disadvantaged
- some constituencies are ‘safe seats’
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- Match the word to its description.
- election⇔the voting process to select a person for a public position ✓
- general election⇔when the citizens of a country vote to elect a new government ✓
- constituency⇔the geographical area that is represented by each Member of Parliament ✓
Worksheet
Presentation
Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- There are two main voting systems: first-past-the-post and proportional representation.
- Advantages of first-past-the-post are: it produces a clear winner. However, winners might have little public support.
- Advantages of proportional representation include fairer representation. However, it can lead to coalition governments.
Common misconception
Individual votes do not count so could be pointless taking part.
Marginal seats are an example of why every vote matters.
Keywords
Election - the voting process to select a person for a public position
General election - when the citizens of a country (the electorate) vote to elect a new government; a general election in the UK happens at least every five years
Constituency - the specific geographical area that is represented by each Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons
First-past-the-post - the voting system used in the UK to elect members of some local councils and Members of Parliament, whereby the candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins
Proportional representation - an electoral system where political parties get a number of seats in Parliament that matches the percentage of votes they receive in an election