Compare democratic and non-democratic governments

Grade 12 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to C on two ways to arrange the executive (the excerpts are exact; cards B and C are made up). Card A, "The Constitution (1787)". Who made it: the Constitutional Convention. When: September 17, 1787. For whom: the states and the people. Why: to set up the national government. Excerpt 1 (Article II, Section 1): "The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America." Excerpt 2 (Article I, Section 6): "…and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office." Card B, "Brennor, a made-up country". Who made it: written for this sheet. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Brennor's voters elect a parliament. A majority of the parliament chooses a prime minister, who is a member of the parliament and runs the government with a cabinet of other members. If a majority of the parliament votes no confidence, the prime minister and cabinet must resign or call an election. Card C, "Arlia, a made-up country". Who made it: written for this sheet. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Arlia's voters elect a president for a fixed term of 4 years and, separately, a legislature. The president is not a member of the legislature. The legislature cannot end the president's term by a vote of no confidence. A president can be removed only by impeachment for serious wrongdoing.

2. 1.

   Jun reads the two excerpts on card A. Which feature of the American system do they show?

   • The executive power sits in its own office, and an officeholder cannot also be a member of Congress
   • Congress picks the executive from among its own members, because the Constitution names Congress first
   • The President cannot act without a vote of Congress, because the two offices are kept separate
   • The people elect the President directly, because the first excerpt names a President as the executive
3. 2.

   In Arlia the legislature votes that it has lost confidence in the president. Pia checks card C. What happens?

   • The legislature may call a new election, because both countries settle a loss of confidence with a vote
   • The president must resign or call an election, as Brennor's prime minister would after a lost vote
   • Nothing changes in the president's office, because Arlia's president can be removed only by impeachment
   • The vote counts as the first step of an impeachment, because it shows the legislature wants a new president
4. 3.

   Milo puts cards A to C together. Which claim do the three cards support?

   • A legislature can remove a president more easily than a prime minister, because the two offices are separate
   • A prime minister sits in the parliament, because card B says the prime minister is a member of it
   • A prime minister depends on the legislature's support, while a president serves a term apart from it
   • Parliamentary systems are less democratic, because the legislature there can end the head of government's term

5. Use this

   Cards A to D on how power sits between a central body and the states (the excerpts are exact; card D is a summary in our words). Card A, "Articles of Confederation (1781)". Who made it: the Continental Congress. When: ratified in 1781. For whom: the thirteen states. Why: to set up the first national government. Excerpt 1 (Article II): "Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom and independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled." Excerpt 2 (Article V): "In determining questions in the united states, in Congress assembled, each state shall have one vote." Card B, "Articles of Confederation, Article VI". Same maker, date, readers and aim as card A. Excerpt (Article VI): "No State, without the Consent of the united States, in congress assembled, shall … enter into any … agreement, alliance, or treaty, with any King prince or state;" Card C, "The Constitution (1787)". Who made it: the Constitutional Convention. When: September 17, 1787. For whom: the states and the people. Why: to set up the national government. Excerpt (Article I, Section 10): "No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; …" Card D, "Three arrangements". Who made it: written for this sheet. Summary in our words, not a quotation: In a unitary system the national government holds most power and can create or change local governments, as in the made-up country of Torvald. In a federal system power is divided between the national government and the states. In a confederal system the member states keep most power and a weak central body serves them.

6. 4.

   Zee reads the first excerpt on card A. What does "retains" show about how the Articles divided power?

   • The states give up their independence when they join the league, and Congress lends some powers back
   • Congress keeps the powers not expressly given to the states, so the states start with what is listed
   • The states keep the powers not expressly given to Congress, so the center starts with only what is listed
   • Each state is independent, because the article names its sovereignty, freedom and independence
7. 5.

   Kira reads the second excerpt on card A. What does "each state shall have one vote" show?

   • A state with few people has the same vote in Congress as a state with many people
   • Votes were divided by population, because the size of a state decides how many votes it has
   • Small states controlled Congress, because each of them held a vote in the deciding of questions
   • Each state sent one delegate to Congress, because the article gives each state a single vote
8. 6.

   A state signs a treaty with a foreign power. Ren reads cards B and C. What do they show?

   • Neither bars it, because both documents leave dealings with foreign powers to the states themselves
   • Both bar it, but the Articles allow it with the consent of Congress and the Constitution does not
   • The Constitution alone bars it, because the Articles let each state keep the powers it had before
   • Both bar it without exception, because both documents list treaties among the acts that states may not do
9. 7.

   Esme matches the cards to the arrangements in card D. Which match is supported?

   • Card A shows a confederal arrangement, and card C a federal one in which states give up listed powers
   • Card A shows a federal arrangement, and card C a confederal one in which the states keep their powers
   • Card C shows a unitary system, because it bars the states from acts such as coining money or making treaties
   • Both cards show federal arrangements, because both divide power between a center and the states

10. Use this

    Cards A to C on who holds power (the excerpts are exact; cards B and C are summaries in our words). Card A, "James Madison on tyranny". Who made it: James Madison, writing as Publius. When: early 1788. For whom: the people of New York. Why: to explain how the Constitution guards against tyranny. Excerpt (The Federalist No. 47): "The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." Card B, "The Soviet Union under Stalin". Who made it: written for this sheet from standard histories. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The Soviet constitution of 1936 listed freedom of speech and of the press. In the same years one party controlled the government, the newspapers and the courts, and Joseph Stalin led the party and the state until his death in 1953. Card C, "Pellmar, a made-up country". Who made it: written for this sheet. Summary in our words, not a quotation: In Pellmar a single council is elected by the voters every 4 years in open elections. The council writes the laws, runs the ministries and acts as the final court.

11. 8.

    Card C says Pellmar's elected council writes the laws, runs the ministries and acts as the final court. Ari applies card A. What follows?

    • Madison's words would call it safe, because the voters choose the council in open elections every 4 years
    • Madison's words would call it tyranny, even though the voters elect the council every 4 years
    • Card A cannot apply, because it speaks of one person's rule and the council has many members
    • Madison's words would call it tyranny just if the council were hereditary or had appointed itself
12. 9.

    Luz lists questions about cards A to C. Which question can the cards not answer?

    • Whether the voters of Pellmar choose the members of the council in open elections at 4-year intervals
    • How many people voted in the Soviet Union's elections during the 1930s, and for which candidates
    • Whether Madison thinks that a group chosen by the voters can still rule as a tyranny over them
    • Whether the Soviet constitution of 1936 listed freedom of speech and of the press among its rights
13. 10.

    Someone says: "A government that lists freedoms in its constitution protects them." Tala looks for the card that tests the claim.

    • Card B: the Soviet constitution listed freedoms while one party controlled the press and courts
    • Card A: Madison's warning about joined powers shows that a written list of rights has no value
    • Card B cannot be used, because a summary of events in another country says nothing on written rights
    • Card C: Pellmar's council is elected, so the laws it writes must protect the freedoms of its voters