the group of people with the authority to govern a country; in the UK, the Government is chosen and led by the Prime Minister (PM)

a system of government in which citizens vote in regular, fair elections for representatives who then make laws and decisions on their behalf

How does the UK political system compare to other systems?

Citizenship

Pupils explore the difference between local, regional and national governance and compare the political systems in the UK and US.

How is the UK governed?

Subjects which particular individuals may be sensitive to, eg, adoption, migration, bereavement or death, divorce, poverty, deprivation.

Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

The UK is a represenative {{}} meaning that citizens vote for representatives to make decisions on their behalf.

In a full democracy, citizens have many {{}}, including free elections, freedom of speech and a fair legal system.

The UK Government is made of three parts: Parliament (legislative), government (executive) and judiciary (judicial). This is referred to as the {{}} of powers.

Yes, all countries are democratic in some form.

Yes, but some countries are more democratic than others.

No, but all countries have at least some democratic elements.

Does democracy exist in all countries, just in different ways?

Order the political systems from the largest amount of political and citizen freedom to the lowest.

fair elections and strong freedoms, overall trust in government

few freedoms; unfair or absent elections; government has full control

elections happen, but government may limit freedoms/control media

fair elections, but possible issues like low trust in government

Match each political system to its description.

a group of people who run a country and make important decisions

a system where people vote to choose their leaders

a person who legally belongs to a country

Match the word to its correct definition.

In a democracy, people vote in regular, free and {{}} elections to choose their leaders.

What is *not* the name of a branch of the UK Government?

Rearrange the words into the correct order to make a sentence about governments.

Who is responsible for leading the Government in the UK?

Content guidance

Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Adult supervision recommended

This lesson will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

How does the UK political system compare to other systems?

Lesson outcome

Content guidance

This lesson will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.