Hello, my name's Mrs. Tamasi and I'm here to work with you on your citizenship lesson today.

Hopefully you've got everything you need and if you're all good to go, then we will get started.

Today's lesson title is "What is the Difference Between Democratic and Non-Democratic Countries", and that forms part of the unit on how others govern.

So by the end of the session today, hopefully you'll be able to explain what a democratic and non-democratic government is and describe the key differences between them.

So we'll make a start with our keywords today.

Now remember you will see these throughout the lesson in bold.

So if you ever can't remember what they are, you can always refer back to them here.

So we've got two key words, a democracy, a system of government in which citizens vote in regular fair elections for representatives who then make laws and decisions on their behalf and then government.

And a government is the group of people with the authority to govern a country.

In the UK, the government is chosen and led by the prime minister, sometimes known as the PM.

So with the keywords done, we'll make a start on our first learning cycle and that is what features exist in democratic governments.

So you might already have heard of the word democracy.

If you have, start to think, do you know what that means? What does it involve? So if we break it down where it comes from, democracy derives from Greek words in demos, meaning common people, and then kratos meaning rule.

So the rule of the common people.

Now can you put that together? Hopefully it makes a bit of sense that democracy is means rule by the people.

A democratic government involves some key features and these include free and fair elections, multi-party system, protection of human rights, active citizenship, rule of law, and separation of powers.

Now what this is saying is that hopefully in order to be a democratic government, you would see these things.

So you'd see by multi-party, we mean more than one political party is there representing and there's more choice.

There's protection of human rights so people's human rights are maybe protected within the law or the constitution in the country.

Active citizenship, so they've got a chance to get involved.

Rule of law that nobody is above the law.

And then a separation of powers, so it's not just one person that's got full control.

Power is separated to ensure that nobody takes over.

And we will see some examples of this throughout this learning cycle.

So to start with a quick check for understanding, because those are important key features, can you identify which key feature of democratic governments are missing from the list? So you've got there free and fair elections, protection of human rights, active citizenship, and separation of powers.

What are the two that are missing? Take some time and then we'll see if you got it.

Did you remember 'em, so we were missing multi-party system and rule of law.

So to start with, we've got Alex here who says if a country runs elections, does that mean it has a democratic government? Well that's a good question 'cause we know free and fair elections is one of the features.

And Sofia replies, well, not necessarily, the elections must be free and fair in order for it to be a democratic government.

So that is the importance there.

If a country just has an election, it doesn't mean it's free or fair.

They could be rigged elections, which we'll see throughout this lesson.

So free and fair elections need to reflect the free expression of the will of the people.

That means we don't just have an election that's held once and then it doesn't happen for another 20 years.

They need to be held regularly.

So they happen every four years, every five years and have a secret ballot 'cause if it's not secret, then what does that mean? If you had to vote in front of somebody, could that alter the way that you were gonna vote? So by ensuring it's secret, it means that everyone gets to have their say and making sure that actually we might have regular elections and a secret ballot, but if only a small percentage of people in the population can actually vote, well is that really fair? So we're making sure that the right to vote is for as many people as possible.

Sometimes we call that universal suffrage.

Give you a bit of an example here.

So we're gonna see some countries that this happens to.

So this first one here is New Zealand.

Now New Zealand is an example of democratic country and that's because they use proportional representation in their elections.

So what that means is that those that become elected in New Zealand are elected based on the share of the vote of the citizens.

So if 20% of the citizens in New Zealand voted for for party A, then party A would have 20% of the seats in parliament.

So it ensures a really fair system.

Now in New Zealand, they also have an independent body called the New Zealand Electoral Commission.

And what that means is that's to prevent any kind of rigged elections.

And when we say rigged, so it means that they could ban cheating or it could be one-sided.

So by having an independent body, it means they're separate to the people that are getting voted in.

And so they're impartial and they're not there to take sides and therefore it allows fair elections.

So check for understanding now, a country that has elections will always have a democratic government.

Is that true or false? That is false, do you remember why that's false? Thinking back, it's because they have to have free and fair elections in order to be a feature of a government.

So we will move on to multi-party system now, and as I said earlier, that's more than one political party.

So if you start to think if you know anything about the UK, what kind of political parties we have here, how many can you think of? So in order to be a democratic government, you would have more parties and more choice.

The reason is 'cause it offers citizens choice, scrutiny, so it allows 'em to really investigate and go, do you know what, is this right, what's going on? And a limitation of power, it stops one person having all the control.

So give you an example of another country, this is an example in Belgium.

So Belgium, as of February 2025, 13 political parties have represented in their Chamber of Representatives.

And when we say their Chamber of Representatives, that's like the House of Commons, it's their Parliament and there's a coalition government consisting of five of those parties.

And coalition government means that there's more than one political party in charge.

So to give you an example, in 2025 in the UK, labour parties in control, but in Belgium, they've got five political parties that are all leading the country.

And what that offers is it means that there are lots of different voices that are being heard so decisions can cover a wider variety of people, which then emphasises the fact that it's a democratic government.

So we are moving on to protection of human rights.

Now this is that a strong democracy aims to protect human rights such as freedom of speech, freedom association, individual minority rights.

Because if we go back to like the universal suffrage, if a country is only allowing some people the right to vote, well then they are only allowing some voices to be heard.

So really is that protecting human rights.

So give you an example of a country here, we are looking at Denmark.

Now the reason Denmark is classed as democratic country is 'cause their constitution.

Have you heard of constitution before, you might have.

So hopefully when we talk about constitution, we're talking about how that country is governed and run.

So right there in the heart of it is that in Denmark, they're guaranteeing freedom of expression, assembly and religion.

So it means that in their running of the country, they are thinking about people's human rights and ensuring that this is protected.

So we are gonna move on to active citizenship.

Now, so this is what we said earlier, this is about the people having that chance to get involved.

Can you think of any ways that citizens can get involved in a democracy? So if you think of things like it tends to be the obvious one that comes to mind is like protesting but even petitions or being able to take part in select committees, being able to have their voice and have their say in what is going on.

So in a democratic government, you can openly criticise the government and your representatives will listen to your views.

The reason that's on there is 'cause there are actually some countries where you cannot criticise the government and you cannot argue or question what is being done.

So that is why it's a feature of a democratic government.

To give you an example, in Norway, the reason they're classed as a democratic government with active citizenship is in the 2021 general election, over 77% of members of their electorate participated in the vote.

So that's like nearly four out of five people.

So that's saying that actually because they've got a high turnout that people are there and they are getting involved.

Switzerland is another example, not because of their participation there, but they do something a little bit different, which is they have direct democracy.

If you've heard of that before, then you will know that it is where the citizens themselves get to vote on proposed laws.

So they don't just vote on the general election and for a candidate, they actually get to vote a bit like a given example, if you are aware of the referendum that happened in the UK with the EU and then that made the decision went to the public, well Switzerland get to do that quite a lot on different laws and they get to do it throughout the year.

So they are able to really participate and make a difference in what happens in their country.

Check for understanding now, 'cause we've gone through a few different ideas there.

So can you fill in the blanks with the correct country? So we've got the first one, which has a good protection of human rights as freedom of expression is guaranteed in their constitution.

And for the second one has direct democracy which allows citizens to actively engage in their democracy.

Which country is it? Did you remember the first one was Denmark and then that second one with direct democracy, that is Switzerland.

Good job if you managed to remember them because this is probably something new, learning about different countries and how they're governed.

We will move on.

So rule of law, now said earlier, that's the idea that nobody is above the law, so everybody is equal.

So to give you a bit of an example, like in the UK, even the Monarch is not above the law, everyone is equal.

So in democratic governments, public officials can only act if authorised by law.

Laws must be clear, public, stable and applied equally to protect the citizens from abuse of power.

An example of a country there.

So Finland has a democratic government and they follow the rule of law by ensuring there is equality before the law and they have a judiciary that operates independently.

What that means is that their judges in that country and their court system is independent from the government and from parliament.

So then there, it means that decisions are made.

So it means there's no crossover there and that they can just work and they work for the courts to ensure that the law is followed correctly.

There are quite a few democratic countries and governments that will have a independent judiciary.

That moves us onto this one here, which is separation of powers.

And this links in actually if you know what separation of powers is.

So you might have heard the words before like executive, legislative and judiciary and what it means that the different branches are separate to ensure no one or a group hold too much power.

The reason this happens is it 'cause it allows scrutiny, accountability in checks and balance.

So to give you a bit of an example, say the prime minister was also the head of the courts and they wanted to try and put something through that wasn't quite gonna be fair and they were part of the courts, but then no one's gonna tell them no, but they would be the head of that as well.

So allowing it all separate means that other people can go, actually no, what you're doing isn't fair and what you are doing doesn't follow the law, so therefore we are gonna change it.

So to give you a bit of an example, Germany is democratic government and their powers are separated between the executive.

So in there for them, that's the Chancellor, the legislative, which is the Bundestag and Bundesrat, which is their parliament.

And then you've got the judicial, which is the Federal Constitutional Court.

So each three are separate and it means that they have to check each other and make sure everyone is doing a fair job.

To give you a bit of an example of that, judicial branch in Germany can overall both executive and legislative actions.

So if it went against the court, then the judicial branch could overall that.

Another check for understanding now, so hopefully we've gone through some different ideas about democratic government.

So can you highlight all the statements that apply to democratic governments? If you need to pause it so that you can read through them all.

If you don't, then take some time and see if you can work them out.

So did you manage to work out that there is.

There is a free and open media, you can openly criticise the government, your representative will listen to your views.

Secret ballots are held and elections are free and fair.

That leads us on to our first task.

So a new democratic country has been founded.

You are part of the country's government and need to explain to the citizens how the country will function, including how the leaders will be chosen, how you'll protect human rights, how citizens can participate in decision making, and how you will ensure the rule of law and separation of powers.

Now if you've got a bit of time here, I mean feel free to go really creative, you can design it, you could draw it out, maybe you wanna add different parts to it, maybe you wanna make it.

If you haven't got time, then obviously you can write down your key ideas.

But feel free to produce this in whatever format you like.

So take some time, pause, and when you're ready we can go through and have a look and see some ideas.

How did you get on with that? This response is an open letter to the citizens of the country.

As I said, you could have done and produced this in any format that you liked.

Hopefully what this will do is just give you an idea of how you could share with the citizens that the country will function.

So dear citizens, we are proud to introduce our new democratic government built on fairness, freedom, and participation.

Here is how our country will function.

Our leaders will be chosen through free and fair elections where every citizen over 16 has the right to vote.

Political parties will represent candidates and the people will decide who represents them.

Elections will be held regularly to ensure accountability.

We are committed to supporting human rights, including freedom of speech, religion, and equality before the law.

Our constitution will guarantee these rights and an independent court system will ensure they're upheld.

Democracy thrives when citizens are involved.

You can participate by voting, joining little parties, engaging in peaceful protest tests and contributing to public discussions.

We'll also hold public consultations and referendums on important national issues.

No one is above the law, including government officials.

Our system will have three branches of government, the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, to prevent too much power.

Together, we will build a strong and fair democracy where every citizen has a voice and a stake in our country's future, thank you.

So as I said, hopefully you managed to find that all right, and you've managed to create something or you might have designed something, but hopefully it's given you a better idea of what is involved in the democratic government.

So moves us on to the second learning cycle, which is what features exist in non-democratic governments.

Hopefully you can start to get a bit of a thinking cap on because we've looked at democratic, so what might a non-democratic be.

In non-democratic governments, leaders are not elected fairly or by the people.

And some features that you might see in non-democratic governments include no free and fair elections, one party rule or a dictatorship.

We'll explain these more if you haven't heard of some of these terms. So don't worry too much.

No protection of human rights, restricted citizen participation, and a government control over media information.

So we will, as I said, we'll go through these one by one in a bit more detail now.

So non-democratic governments might have elections, but these tend not to be free and fair.

So we've mentioned a word earlier, can you remember what it is in relation to elections? That idea of rigged elections.

And what that means is, so leaders could be chosen through force, hereditary rule or rigged elections.

And what that's saying is that the elections, maybe someone's cheated or they've not allowed other candidates to get involved.

Something that it's been manipulated with basically.

And when we say hereditary rule, have you heard of the term hereditary before? So if you're born into it or force is sometimes, countries maybe the parliament or government might be forced into power.

So to give you a bit of an example, Belarus has a non-democratic government.

So after the 2020 presidential election, there were protests by citizens believing the results were rigged.

So no one's saying they were or they weren't, but the citizens themselves felt that it wasn't a free and fair election so they then protested about the results in that country.

Next we're gonna move on to one party rule or dictatorship.

So this is where there's no real opposition.

So power is concentrated in a single leader or a ruling party.

So example in the one party rule, the dictatorship tends to be one leader.

And what this can mean is that there's limited or no political freedom as citizens can't freely express their opinions or challenge the government.

So again, like we were saying earlier, actually non-democratic governments, you tend not to be able to challenge what is being said and there's little opportunity.

So to give a bit of example here, we've got North Korea is a non-democratic government as it has a one party rule and it has one family that has run the country since 1948.

So there is a hereditary rule.

So as they die, the next in line in the family becomes the leader and there's no chance for it to change or for opposition to come up and be a party in charge.

So check for understanding.

Complete the sentences with correct missing words.

A is where power is concentrated with a single leader or one rule in party.

And then in non-democratic governments, citizens cannot freely challenge the.

Take some time, have a think, see if you can come up with the answer.

Did you work it out, so the first one's a dictatorship is where the powers concentrated with a single leader or one ruling party.

And in non-democratic government, citizens cannot freely challenge the government.

So we are gonna move on now and we are gonna look at citizen participation being restricted.

And what that means is that there's little to no say in decision making or governance.

You cannot question or criticise the government and there's minimal freedom of speech.

There might be restricted access to the media as well.

So that could be because it could be censored, which means that parts of it are hidden, or it could be that it's restricted and actually that certain sites are not allowed.

To give you a bit of an example, Saudi Arabia is seen as non-democratic and it's an absolute monarchy.

What that means is the monarch, so the king and queen, is full power of control.

Saudi Arabia have a zero tolerance approach to anything perceived as criticism towards the royal family, government, or religion.

So in that way, citizens are not able to make comment there.

Then we have the control over the media.

So we started to talk about that a minute ago.

And what that is strict censorship, which is strict control of information of ideas within society, propaganda that shapes perception.

So when we say propaganda, we are talking about information that is given to shape public's opinions and ideas.

So maybe it could be in adverts or it could be through TV programmes, radios, but constant messages that are passed on to shape the public's opinion on things.

To give you a bit of an example here, so China has a non-democratic government.

In China, some information is censored.

So that's this idea of controlled through the Great Firewall of China.

And what that does is it blocks access to some internet and social media sites, which can impact freedom of speech because it's not allowing individuals that full access to information that they might want to get hold of.

Check for understanding now.

So can you highlight all the statements that apply to non-democratic governments? So we already did democratic, but this time, we are looking specifically at non-democratic governments.

Take some time, again, if you need a bit of time to read through them, you might wanna pause and then go through the answers.

How did you get on with this one? Hopefully we've recognised that it tends to be the opposite to democratic.

So in this one, citizens have little access to the political system, lack of an effective opposition party, little opportunity to speak out against those in power, and the media is controlled by the government, all examples that apply to non democratic governments.

And that leads us onto the second task.

Hopefully as well, what I should say is that with democratic and non-democratic, it doesn't mean that they are all gonna have all of those features.

They can interchange and there might be one, so there might be free and fair elections, but then there might be a lack of rule of law so that it does vary depending on each country.

So we've got here task B.

Change Jun's definition of a non-democratic government to make it correct.

A non-democratic government is one where leaders are elected fairly by the people.

Examples of non-democratic governments include Belgium, the UK, and Finland.

So take some time, see if you can make Jun's definition correct and then we'll go through the answers.

How did you get on? Hopefully you realise that actually, it should be one where leaders are not elected fairly.

And examples of non-democratic governments include China, Saudi Arabia, and North Korea.

Now you could have given different countries as well like Belarus, fine if you have given different countries, but also the important part is that you're remembering they are not elected fairly.

Now the second part, discuss with a partner the difference between democratic and non-democratic governments and then write a short summary of your discussions.

Obviously if you're on your own, you can see if you can just come up with a summary or see if you can come up with some ideas.

Obviously pause it now and then when you're ready, come back and we can feedback.

How did you get on? Now you could have written a democratic government is one where the people have power for elections, meaning they can choose their leaders and influence decisions.

It protects freedoms such as speech and press and follows laws that ensure human rights.

Examples include Norway, Denmark, or Germany.

A non-democratic government is one where power is controlled by one person, a small group or a single political party and citizens have little or no say in decision making.

Freedom of speech and press are often restricted and criticising the government can lead to punishment.

Examples include Belarus and Saudi Arabia.

Now that is bringing us to the summary.

So hopefully now you are able to recognise the difference between democratic and non-democratic.

We will go through the summary now as well in case there are any parts that you are not quite sure on.

So key features of democratic governments include free and fair elections, multi-party system, protection of human rights, active citizenship, rule of law, and separation of powers.

Examples of democratic governments include Belgium, Denmark, and Norway.

Key features of non-democratic governments include no free and fair elections, one party rule or dictatorship, no protection of human rights, restricted citizenship participation, and government control over media information.

Examples of non-democratic governments include Belarus, China and North Korea.

Now as I said earlier, it's important to remember that some of the countries might cross over between the two.

It is like a sliding scale rather than you are either fully democratic or you are fully not democratic.

So that's one thing to also remember for this.

So thank you for working with me today and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.