July 23, 2001

Delegating Authorities
Comparing Democratic Systems Around the World

Grades:  6-8,9-12
Subjects:  American History,Civics,Global History,Language Arts,Social Studies

Related New York Times Article
"As Labor Lost Ideology, U.S. Parties Found It", By ADRIAN WOOLDRIDGE, July 23, 2001

Overview of Lesson Plan: In this lesson plan, students compare and contrast democracies around the world.

Suggested Time Allowance: 45-60 minutes

Objectives:  Students will:

  1. Define "democracy"; demonstrate their current understanding of democracy by developing a concept map of related words and phrases.
  2. Compare and contrast the current state of two democratic systems by reading and discussing "As Labor Lost Ideology, U.S. Parties Found It."
  3. Examine different democracies in depth; create posters of their findings.
  4. Participate in a "democracy roundtable;" compare and contrast two democracies.

Resources / Materials:

Activities / Procedures:
1. WARM-UP/DO-NOW: In their journals, students respond to the following prompt (written on the board prior to class): "Think about what the word 'democracy' means. Write a definition for the word, and then create a list of as many words and phrases that come to mind when you think of democracy." After about five minutes, ask students to share their definitions of 'democracy' and develop a class definition. (You may wish to share Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary's definition: "a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.") Then, ask students to share the words and phrases that they listed, and create a "concept web" on the board to record their responses. Write "democracy" in the middle of the board, and draw "stems" that lead to different aspects of democracy that students listed, such as political parties (for example, "Independent," "Democrat" and "Republican" would branch off from this section), elections, and larger concepts such as liberty and freedom. Can students list countries with democratic governments?

2. As a class, read and discuss "As Labor Lost Ideology, U.S. Parties Found It", focusing on the following questions:
a. How have Tony Blair and George W. Bush been interacting since Bush's inauguration?
b. Why are there doubts about this relationship?
c. What is the "third way"?
d. What is the difference between the two leaders' approach to politics?
e. In what social and political context was the Labor Party formed?
f. How does the author of the article describe American political parties and the impact of the Civil War on their formation?
g. How does the author of the article characterize Eisenhower? What examples does the author give for this characterization?
h. How does the author characterize Nixon?
i. Against what did the "Labor Party ideologues" hold out? What happened in 1987?
j. How is the New Labor Party described in the article?
k. What was happening in the United States as the Labor Party was becoming more pragmatic? What examples does the author give?
l. What are some examples of the growing contrast between America and Britain?
m. How does the "religious divide" affect Americans but not the British?
n. Why is it "hard to find the magic that touched the relationship between British and American politicians in the past?"

3. Divide the class into pairs or small groups, and assign each group a different country with a democratic government. Suggested countries include the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Germany, Italy, Israel, Japan, Mexico and South Africa. Using all available resources, students research the answers to the following questions (written on the board for easier student access):
--Is this a republican or parliamentary democracy? (Support your answer with a definition of this type of democracy.)
--When did this country become democratic?
--What are the different political parties in this country? (Include names and their positions on key issues.)
--How does the country set up their political parties?
--What is the electoral process like in this country?
--What shifts or additions, if any, have occurred within this country's political parties throughout history?
--What is the current party make-up, and who controls the government?

4. WRAP-UP/HOMEWORK: Upon completing their research, each group creates a poster exploring democracy in their assigned country. The posters should clearly and accurately cover all of the answers to the research questions. In a future class, students participate in a "democracy roundtable" in which they present their findings and take notes on other groups' presentations. Then, for homework, each student should select two of the countries presented as the subject of a comparison-contrast essay. They should either choose the two countries that they think are the most similar or the two that they think are most different (excluding a comparison between the United States and Great Britain), and support their position with facts, examples and specific details.

Further Questions for Discussion:
--Why do you think the "trans-Atlantic relationship" is important to Americans and Britains?
--How important do you think ideology is in politics, and why?
--Do you agree that "the contrast between America and Britain is growing"? Why or why not?
--Does America have a responsibility to "spread" democracy throughout the world?
--What do you predict for the future of the relationship between the United States and Great Britain?

Evaluation / Assessment:
Students will be evaluated based on written journal responses, participation in small and whole-class discussions, group poster and oral presentation about a democratic country, and thoughtful comparison-contrast essays.s

Vocabulary:
accuse, spectrum, inclined, transformed, respective, ditched, bland, effective, pragmatism, forged, commanding, nationalized, electoral, interminable, compromise, isolationist, emphasis, tribune, bureaucracy, ideologue, implementing, technocratic, combustible, homage, relativistic, constituency, posturing

Extension Activities:
1. As stated in the article, Tony Blair and George W. Bush belong to a "series of trans-Atlantic fellow travelers" that included "Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, Wilson and Kennedy, and Macmillan and Eisenhower." Research the relationship between one of these pairs and write an article modeled on the Times article read in class, discussing this relationship during its beginning stages and describing the political context of the time.

2. The article describes political and cultural differences between the United States and Britain. Explore the political and cultural divides within your own country. Why might regions differ in their cultural and political views? Find election maps that show voting preferences by region. What generalizations can you make?

3. Create an illustrated timeline of the development of the Labor Party, the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. Include key elections and leaders.

4. Compare and contrast "parliamentary democracy" and "republican democracy." Create a chart representing your findings.

5. Read the constitution (or other guiding document) of one of the countries studied in class, and compare it to the Constitution of the United States. Learn more about the framers of the document. Choose phrases or passages that you feel highlight the essence of the document and put them into your own words, creating a poster that explains to your classmates the country's ideology.

6. Discuss the famous Oscar Wilde quote: "We are two countries divided by a common language." Brainstorm specific examples of how the same words are used differently in the two different forms of English - King's English and American English.

Interdisciplinary Connections:
Current Events- The week in which the featured article was written marks the first six months of George W. Bush presidency. Use Internet and print news sources to trace Bush's travels abroad and his relationships with foreign leaders. How have his travels impacted foreign policy? Color-code a map showing the countries that he has visited and the countries whose leaders have visited him.

Geography- Compare maps of the United States and Great Britain. Look at various factors including, but not limited to, differences in size, geographical features, population, and borders. How do you suppose these factors affect politics? Expand this exercise to include one of the democratic countries studied in class.

Health- Research the health care systems of the United States and Britain (or another country researched in class). What similarities and differences can you identify? What are the challenges each face? What successes or failures have each had? Write a letter to the Surgeon General of the United States or an editorial article describing your opinions on democracy and health care.

Copyright 2001
The New York Times Company

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