Leadership and Democracy
Senior 2 · English
Leadership and Democracy
Lesson 1 of 4
20 min
Your class wants to go on a study trip, and there are two choices: Akagera National Park or the Kandt House Museum in Kigali. Who should decide: the class teacher alone, the class monitor, or every student with a vote? However you answer, you are already thinking about democracy.
In this lesson you will read what democracy is and how it began, learn the key words for talking about elections and political aims, and practise building word families such as elect – election – electoral.
This text is adapted from the Simple English Wikipedia article Democracy.
Democracy means rule by the people. The word comes from two Greek words: demos, "the people", and kratos, "power" or "rule". There are different ways in which the people can rule.
In a direct democracy, citizens meet and decide on laws themselves. This works only in very small communities, because modern countries have far too many people for everyone to vote on everything. A modern example of direct democracy is a referendum, in which every voter answers yes or no to one important question, such as whether to accept a new constitution.
In a representative democracy, the people elect leaders, such as members of parliament, councillors or a president, to make laws and decisions for them. This is the most common kind of democracy today. Elections are held regularly, after a fixed period of time.
Not everyone may vote. The right to vote is called suffrage, and it is usually given only to adult citizens. People who want to be elected are called candidates, and many of them belong to a political party, a group of people who share ideas about how the country should be run.
The opposite of democracy is a dictatorship, a system in which one person holds most of the power, and people are not free to criticise the ruler or to replace him.
Democracy began long ago in the Greek city of Athens. There, citizens met in an assembly to discuss laws and to vote on them. But not everyone counted as a citizen: women, slaves, foreigners and children could not take part. Over the centuries, more and more people have won the right to vote.
Why is direct democracy not used to run a whole country?
A country has too many people for everyone to vote on every law.
Give one example from the text of a modern form of direct democracy.
A referendum.
Who could not vote in ancient Athens?
Women, slaves, foreigners and children.
Rwanda's 2003 Constitution was adopted by referendum. Was that direct or representative democracy? Explain.
Direct: every voter answered yes or no to the question themselves, instead of leaving the decision to representatives.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ballot | the paper (or system) on which a voter secretly marks a choice |
| campaign | a planned series of activities, such as speeches and meetings, to win votes |
| constituency | the area, or group of people, that an elected person represents |
| manifesto | a public statement of a party's or candidate's aims and promises |
| term (of office) | the fixed period for which a leader is elected |
| accountable | having to explain your actions and decisions to the people who chose you |
| objective / aim / goal | something a party or leader is trying to achieve |
Knowing one word lets you build several more. Worked example with elect:
| Idea (noun) | Adjective | Person | Verb |
|---|---|---|---|
| democracy | democratic | democrat | — |
| representation | representative | representative | represent |
| government | governmental | governor | govern |
| politics | political | politician | — |
A manifesto lists objectives. To report them, use aim to / plan to / promise to + base verb, or objective is to + base verb.
Worked example. Manifesto note: more classrooms; clean water in every village.
→ The party aims to build more classrooms. Its second objective is to bring clean water to every village.
Tip
Direct = decide yourself. Representative = choose someone to decide for you. In essays, use the word family correctly: a country is a democracy (noun), it holds democratic (adjective) elections.
Complete with the right form of represent: Each deputy is a ___ of the people. Parliament gives the people ___.
Solution: representative (person); representation (noun, the idea).
Direct or representative? (a) The whole school votes by show of hands on the colour of the new uniform. (b) S2 B elects a monitor who attends staff meetings for the class.
Solution: (a) direct, because everyone decides; (b) representative, because one person speaks for the class.
Correct the mistake: Rwanda holds democracy elections every five years.
Solution: Rwanda holds democratic elections. Before a noun (elections) we need the adjective.
Report this aim with aims to: "Free Wi-Fi in every secondary school."
Solution: The party aims to provide free Wi-Fi in every secondary school.
Explain to a younger brother or sister, in five sentences, the difference between direct and representative democracy. Use one school example and one national example.
Model answer: Democracy means that the people rule. Sometimes we all decide ourselves; that is direct democracy. For example, our class voted by show of hands to visit Akagera. Most of the time, though, we choose people to decide for us; that is representative democracy. In Rwanda, citizens elect deputies to make laws in Parliament.
Remember
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
