Oklahoma Academic Standard 3. The student will identify the characteristics, distribution, and demographic patterns of human populations and systems of the Western Hemisphere. 

Objectives:

6.3.5  Compare the systems of government, including representative governments (democracy, republic, constitutional monarchy) and authoritarian systems (dictatorship, absolute monarchy).

6.3.6  Identify the role of the citizen in the selection of government officials and lawmaking; compare individual liberties under different forms of government. 

In a Nutshell

Students should understand that they live in a diverse world, made up of different types of governments representing a wide spectrum of practices and philosophies. Students should understand in broad terms that representative governments and authoritarian systems are significantly different regarding such issues as source of authority, human rights, government responsibilities, and the selection of leaders.

Teacher Action 

Student Action 

• Provide opportunities for students to analyze the powers and responsibilities of the United States government and compare it to other forms of government, including other representative governments and authoritarian systems in the Western Hemisphere. 

• Assist students to apply a range of deliberative and democratic procedures to debate, make decisions, and propose action about authentic, real-world problems.

• Assess the role of government and laws as means of addressing historic and current national and international problems in the Western Hemisphere. 

• Explain the concept of the “rule of law” and how limits on government authority guarantee individual liberties. 

• Explain the challenges people have faced and the strategies used to address local, regional or national problems.

Key Concepts 

Misconceptions 

• representative systems of government, including democracy, republic, constitutional monarchy

• authoritarian systems of government, including dictatorship and absolute monarchy

• citizen, civic rights, human rights

• legislative authority, executive authority, and judicial authority within different forms of representative governments

• role of elections and voter rights in representative versus authoritarian systems

• Most students will have limited prior knowledge of different forms of government beyond that of the United States; therefore, introductory comparisons is appropriate, followed by more extensive analysis of the world's systems of government in grade 7.

• Some students will mistakenly assume that citizens in all nations are granted similar civil and human rights as those protected by the Constitution of the United States.

• Some students will have limited understanding of the differences between civil rights and civil liberties, including their relationship to the concept of universal human rights. 

Instructional Resources