Why governments exist, and the main forms they take

Grade 12 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Card A, forms of government (our words; described, not ranked). Direct democracy: citizens make the laws themselves by voting on them. Republic: there is no monarch; citizens elect representatives who make the laws, and the head of state is chosen by voters or by elected officials. Absolute monarchy: a monarch inherits power, and no law or body can limit it. Constitutional monarchy: a monarch inherits a role as head of state, but a constitution and an elected parliament limit it. Authoritarian rule: one person or a small group holds power without free and fair elections or legal limits, and the position is not passed down by inheritance. Card B, five made-up places. Aldermoor: its 400 voters meet each spring; each voter may speak, and the whole meeting votes yes or no on each law. A three-person board the voters elect carries out the laws. Brenhaven: in free and fair elections, voters choose a 60-member assembly that writes the laws and a president who carries them out. Once a decade voters also vote yes or no on a change to the constitution. Corvale: a queen inherits the throne. She can veto any law, can dismiss the elected parliament without giving a reason, and no court can overrule her. Dunmark: a king inherits the throne. A written constitution says he signs the laws an elected parliament passes and cannot change them or dismiss the parliament. Eastfold: a general took power with the army. Elections are held, but just the general's party may put up candidates, and the courts follow his orders.

2. 1.

   Zee reads cards A and B. Which form on card A fits Aldermoor?

   • Republic: the meeting of 400 voters is an assembly that speaks for the rest of the town
   • Republic: the voters elect a three-person board, so they rule through representatives
   • Direct democracy: the citizens themselves vote on each law at the spring meeting
   • No form fits, since a meeting of 400 voters is too small to count as a government
3. 2.

   Ari reads cards A and B. Which form on card A fits Brenhaven?

   • Direct democracy: voters take part directly each decade by voting yes or no on the constitution
   • Republic: voters elect an assembly to write the laws and a president to carry them out
   • No form fits, because a place with both an assembly and a vote cannot be classed
   • Constitutional monarchy: the constitution limits the president as it would limit an inherited monarch
4. 3.

   Luz reads cards A and B. Which form on card A fits Corvale?

   • Constitutional monarchy: the queen inherits the throne and an elected parliament exists in Corvale
   • Republic: an elected parliament sits in Corvale, so its people choose their representatives
   • Absolute monarchy: the queen inherits power, and no law, court or parliament can limit it
   • Authoritarian rule: one person holds power without free and fair elections or legal limits
5. 4.

   Noah reads card B. Both Corvale and Dunmark have inherited monarchs and elected parliaments. Which detail separates them?

   • A constitution limits Dunmark's king, but Corvale's queen can dismiss parliament and no court can overrule her
   • Corvale's ruler inherits the throne and Dunmark's king does not, so the throne decides the form of each
   • Dunmark has an elected parliament and Corvale lacks one, so just Dunmark has a lawmaking body that can pass laws
   • Dunmark's ruler is a king and Corvale's is a queen, and those two titles mark the two forms
6. 5.

   Bo reads card B. Eastfold and Brenhaven both hold elections. Which detail makes the two differ?

   • Brenhaven's elections are free and fair, while in Eastfold just the general's party may put up candidates
   • Eastfold's leader gained power through an election and Brenhaven's president through the army
   • Eastfold's elections choose a president, while Brenhaven's voters choose just an assembly
   • Eastfold holds elections on a fixed date and Brenhaven's date changes, so the timing of the votes separates them
7. 6.

   Tala reads cards A and B. What change would turn Aldermoor from a direct democracy into a republic?

   • The number of voters grows from 400 to 4,000, with each still voting on each law at the spring meeting
   • The three-person board gets the power to veto the laws the meeting passes
   • Voters elect a council that writes the laws, and the meeting no longer votes on them
   • No change could, since a place with a spring meeting stays a direct democracy
8. 7.

   Esme reads cards A and B. A classmate says card B shows constitutional monarchy works better than absolute monarchy. What do the cards support?

   • The cards show the two forms differ in who limits the ruler, which settles the ranking
   • Card B says nothing about monarchies, since both of its monarchs belong to made-up places and not real ones
   • The cards describe how each place is arranged and report no results, so they cannot show which works better
   • Dunmark works better than Corvale, since its constitution stops the king from dismissing parliament
9. 8.

   Milo reads card A. A student says Corvale's queen is authoritarian because no free elections choose her. Which reply fits card A?

   • Card A separates them: an inherited ruler with unlimited power is an absolute monarch, not authoritarian
   • She is neither form, because card A does not allow a queen to hold unlimited power over a parliament
   • She is authoritarian, since the lack of free elections is the main test card A gives for that form, whatever else is said
   • Corvale fits both forms at once, because card A lets one place sit in two forms when a ruler holds power
10. 9.

    Ren's note says: "Dunmark is a republic because an elected parliament passes its laws." Which fix fits cards A and B?

    • Dunmark is an absolute monarchy, because its king inherits the throne and signs the laws of the country
    • Dunmark is a constitutional monarchy: an inherited king is head of state, and a republic has no monarch
    • Dunmark is a republic once its king signs, since signing makes the king an elected official
    • Dunmark is a direct democracy, because voters choose the parliament that passes its laws for them
11. 10.

    Kira's note says: "Brenhaven is a direct democracy because voters vote on the constitution." Which fix fits cards A and B?

    • Brenhaven's assembly writes the laws, so it is a republic, with one direct vote added each decade
    • Brenhaven is a republic, but the decade vote must go, since card A allows no direct votes
    • Brenhaven cannot be classified, because it mixes an assembly with a direct vote on the constitution
    • Brenhaven is an authoritarian state, because its president carries out the laws of the country