Year 9 - Citizenship
How does the UK political system compare to other systems?
How is the UK governed?
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
Pupils explore the difference between local, regional and national governance and compare the political systems in the UK and US.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to describe the political system of the UK and compare it with other systems around the world.
Key Notes
- The UK is a representative democracy.
- Democracies give citizens many freedoms, which have often developed over many years.
- The government is made of three parts: Parliament (legislative), government (executive) and judiciary (judicial).
- The main categories of political systems are: full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime and authoritarian regime.
Vocabulary To Learn
- government: the group of people with the authority to govern a country; in the UK, the Government is chosen and led by the Prime Minister (PM)
- democracy: a system of government in which citizens vote in regular, fair elections for representatives who then make laws and decisions on their behalf
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Democracy exists in all countries, just in different ways.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
The UK is a representative democracy. Democracies give citizens many freedoms, which have often developed over many years.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'government'
the group of people with the authority to govern a country; in the UK, the Government is chosen and led by the Prime Minister (PM).
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: Democracy exists in all countries, just in different ways. Correction: Democracy exists in many countries and the levels of it vary. However, in many countries, there is a large mix of democratic and non-democratic practices, and in others, there is no true democracy at all, with the government taking full control.
More Lessons In This Unit
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