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History, Civics & Social Studies · Grade 12

Compare Political and Economic Systems

Learners compare how countries organize power and economies: democratic and authoritarian regimes; presidential (United States), parliamentary (United Kingdom) and semi-presidential (France) systems; unitary, federal and confederal structures; plurality, proportional and mixed electoral systems (Germany); and market, command and mixed economies. They calculate how electoral rules turn votes into seats and analyze the trade-offs each design makes, rather than ranking systems.

  • 4 lessons
  • About 140 minutes
  • Comparing systems check: 9 questions
  • Ways to answer: fill in the blanks, choose an answer, pick map regions, match pairs, type a number and sort into groups
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What learners will discover

  • Distinguish democratic from authoritarian regimes using clear criteria.
  • Compare presidential, parliamentary and semi-presidential systems using the United States, United Kingdom and France.
  • Compare unitary, federal and confederal structures and calculate how plurality and proportional electoral systems allocate seats.
  • Compare market, command and mixed economies and analyze the trade-offs of each design.

Lessons

  1. Democracy and authoritarianism 3 steps2 practiceabout 33 min
  2. Executives and legislatures 4 steps3 practiceabout 35 min
  3. Structures and electoral systems 5 steps4 practiceabout 36 min
  4. Economic systems and trade-offs 4 steps3 practiceabout 36 min
  5. Comparing systems check 9 questions at the end

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