Hello, my name is Mrs. Harris, and I'm the person who's going to be guiding you through today's lesson.

The lesson today is called "What are direct and representative democracies," and it's part of a larger series of lessons called "How is the UK governed?" By the end of today's lesson, you are going to be able to say, I can explain what representative and direct democracies are, and some of the key differences between them.

Some of this work might be new to you and some of it might be challenging, but I'm gonna guide us all the way through it and we'll tackle it together.

Let's start with keywords then.

I'm going to say the keyword, you can repeat it back, and then I'll tell you the definition.

Direct democracy.

That's a type of democracy where the people decide on the policy directly, for example, through a vote or a referendum on each issue.

Referendum.

That's a general vote by the electorate on a single political issue, which has been referred to them for a direct decision.

It is a form of direct democracy.

Representative democracy.

That's a type of democracy where citizens choose others to represent them in making important decisions on their behalf.

It's time for our first learning cycle called "What is direct democracy?" A government is the group of people who have the authority to govern a country or a state.

Now, a government will have ideas or policies that they want to put in place to improve life for people in society.

Lucas here says that governments and the political system they rule under all play a major role in deciding what rights and freedoms the citizens of the nation have.

So what they're allowed to do, what they're permitted to do by law comes from the political system.

And Alex says that one type of political system is democracy.

Here, we have the word democracy, and it's split into two different parts.

Now the demo part comes from the Greek word demos, which means the people.

And the second part, the cracy part, comes from the Greek word kratia, which means power or to rule.

And so the word democracy is thought to mean the rule of the people, which means democracy is a system of government in which power is given to the citizens.

Now this power can be exercised by citizens directly or through elected representatives.

Andeep says, well, to be direct means to go straight to someone with nothing or no one in between.

And Sofia says, well, so direct democracy is where people decide on the policy directly with nothing or no one in between.

And that's absolutely right.

In a direct democracy, when a decision about a law or a policy needs to be made, it's the citizens who are asked directly on this.

So for example, through a vote or a referendum on each issue.

So here, we have the citizens, and there's two choices to be made, and the citizens make that choice directly.

Quick check for understanding then.

Direct democracy is when citizens vote for themselves to make decisions on policies.

Is that true or false? Take a few seconds to think.

Okay, is that true or false? That direct democracy is when citizens vote for themselves to make decisions on policies.

It is true.

Yes, it's direct.

So they do it straight for themselves.

Well done.

Alex is giving us a bit of background information then, so he says, "Direct democracy is thought to have originated in Ancient Greece.

In Athens, male citizens would gather in a big assembly to vote on laws and decisions, allowing them to have their say directly." And there we have a map where we have the location of Athens within Greece itself.

Now this system worked in that time because Athens had quite a small population of eligible voters.

So eligible voters were only male Athenian citizens who'd completed their military training.

So that meant everybody outside of that wasn't eligible.

So that included women, non-Athenian citizens, and those who were enslaved, none of them had voting rights.

Today, Switzerland is an example of a country which uses direct democracy, and they do that by having referendums. So that's public votes on specific issues where citizens will decide yes or no on a law or a policy.

They have people's initiatives.

So if there's something that a citizen wants to bring in, they can suggest a new law.

And if they can get more than 100,000 people to sign to support that proposal, then a national vote will take place.

They also do it by having frequent voting.

So Swiss citizens will vote several times a year on lots of different issues including taxes, education, and healthcare.

Now the votes that are chosen, so the way that it's voted for and the decision that the citizens make that is binding, which means that the government have to follow the result of the referendum or vote.

And there on the map, we have the location of Switzerland within Europe.

Now, Switzerland, like many, many other countries, it has a Parliament and it has its elected leaders.

But although it has those things, it's the people that have a lot more power than in most other democracies because they get to make those decisions directly on the laws.

And then those decisions have to be followed by the elected leaders.

Now the system works very well in Switzerland on the whole, because it is a small country, it's got a small population.

It's a very well-organized country for democracy.

And people are used to being involved in politics and the decision-making that being a direct democracy it brings along.

So from a very young age, the children are taught about it in schools, they're taught about it, and they take their responsibility as a direct democracy very, very seriously.

And so it works very well.

Another quick check for understanding then.

Which of these images represents the origins of direct democracy? We have A with a ring around Sparta, B with a ring around Athens, or C with a ring around Switzerland.

Which of these represents the origins of direct democracy? Take a few seconds to think.

Okay, so the origins of direct democracy are in Athens in Ancient Greece.

Well done if you've got that one.

Now direct democracy often works very, very well when you've got a smaller population, when citizens are well-informed and they're taught about their very important responsibility and their involvement in the decision-making.

It works well when the voting system is fair and accurate, and well-organized.

So there's no corruption and there's not a real mistrust there in the system.

It also works well when power is shared between local and national governments.

And that means that decisions can be made about things closer to home, rather than just national things all of the time.

And the government and the political system is stable, is when it works well.

So without huge divisions in society where the political decisions are gonna be swaying this way and that way, depending which way the vote goes.

So if people is generally quite stable, generally, roughly, all along the same lines, it will work very well.

Now the thing about direct democracy is that the elements within it aren't just used in direct democracies.

So although all the countries around the world might not be direct democracies like Switzerland, they might use elements of direct democracy.

And one common way is through the referendums. A referendum is a general vote by the electorate on a single political issue.

And the issue has been given back to the public to decide, yes, do you want this, or no, don't you want this? And it is usually a yes or no answer.

For example, there was one in 1997 which was, do you agree there should be a Welsh assembly as proposed by the government, and the people would vote yes or no.

And that was part of the Welsh devolution referendum, as I say in 1997.

In the United Kingdom, referendums are quite rare, but they do happen when there is a matter of great public interest.

And so we've got three here on the next screen to show you.

So Lucas says, in Scotland in 2014, the question was proposed, "Should Scotland be an independent country?" Sofia says, in Northern Ireland in 1998, the question was, "Do you support the Good Friday Agreement for peace in Northern Ireland?" And Andeep says, in the UK in 2016, there was the question put, "Should the UK remain a member of the European Union?" And it's not just in the UK, there were referendums all around the world as this map will show.

So in Canada in 1942, there was a conscription referendum.

So that's if people had to join the army.

In Colombia in 2016, there was a peace agreement referendum.

In South Africa in 1992, there was a referendum on reforms to end apartheid there and huge social and race division.

In Australia in 1999, there was a referendum on the republic as to whether it should become a presidential country with a president at the head.

In 1999 in East Timor, they had an independence referendum, so if they would gain independence from Indonesia.

In Turkey in 2017, there was a constitutional reform referendum again.

So to change really important things about how the country is run.

And in Ireland in 2015, there was a same-sex marriage referendum.

So you can see there's elements of direct democracy right across the world for many, many years.

Another check for understanding then.

Referendums, they can be held by, A, only countries which are direct democracies, B, only countries which are not direct democracies, or C, any country which wants to hold a public vote on a particular political issue.

Which of these answers is correct? Take a few seconds to think.

Okay, so referendums can be held by any country which wants to hold a public vote on a particular political issue.

And as Alex is reminding us that many countries which are not direct democracies use elements of the direct democracy style like referendums. Well done if you've got that one.

So we're on to task A.

So all you're going to do for this one is to complete paragraph with the missing words.

And I have very helpfully included a word bank to support you with this.

So in there, we have the words Greece, Switzerland, direct, smaller, referendum, informed, and assembly.

I'll read the paragraph to you and I'll leave some spaces where these words will be inserted.

Mm, democracy is where citizens decide on policies directly, for example, through holding a, mm, on each issue.

Direct democracy started in Ancient, mm.

In Athens, the male citizens would come together in a big, mm, to vote on laws and decisions.

Today, mm, is example of a country which uses this type of democratic system.

It works well in this, mm, population and requires its citizens to be politically, mm.

Pause the video to give yourself the time to do that, and then we'll come back and we'll check the answers together.

Okay, let's go through these answers then of completing this paragraph.

Here we go.

Yours should look like this.

Direct democracy is where citizens decide on policies directly, for example, through holding a referendum on each issue.

Direct democracy started in Ancient Greece.

In Athens, the male citizens would come together in a big assembly to vote on laws and decisions.

Today, Switzerland is an example of a country which uses this type of democratic system.

It works well in this smaller population and requires its citizens to be politically informed.

Well done if you've got all of those gaps filled correctly.

It's time for our second learning cycle.

What is representative democracy? Sofia is saying, "If a direct democracy is when citizens make decisions directly, then a representative democracy is when a representative makes decisions on their behalf." And Alex gives us some more information.

"Yes, this is true.

However, it's not that citizens don't get a choice at all.

In a representative democracy.

citizens get to elect leaders who they believe best represents their needs." Let's look a bit further into this.

So in a representative democracy, citizens will choose the leaders, and then those elected leaders will make the decisions on the behalf of citizens.

However, the crucial thing here is that the elected representatives should always have the citizens' needs and interests in mind.

So here, we have the citizens, and here, we have the representatives, and the citizens choose the representatives that they believe will represent them fairly.

Then, when there are choices to be made, it's the representatives who will then make those final decisions.

They have to do that with the needs and the interests of the citizens in mind.

So they will cast their votes and they will make their decisions based on what they feel that their citizens need.

Lucas here is telling us about some of the origins of representative democracy, And he says one of the earliest forms of representative democracy was in Ancient Rome.

Assemblies were made up of elected officials who created laws and governed the Ancient Roman empire.

And there on the right, you've got a map of the Roman Empire at its height.

Now this idea used by the Roman Empire at the time, it influenced many of the modern governments that we see today.

However, it would've been very different in those times.

So in those times, in the Ancient Roman times, only Roman citizens could vote, and the rich had a lot more voting power than the poor.

So it wasn't an equal one vote for each person, for example.

And as it was in Ancient Greece, women, non-Roman citizens, and those who were enslaved did not have any voting rights.

Quick check for understanding then.

Can you choose the correct options to complete each sentence? I'll read this paragraph to you.

Ancients or Modern Roman assemblies have influenced many modern governments, although they were very similar or different to representative democracy today.

Only Roman citizens could vote, and the poor or rich had more voting power than the poor or rich.

As in Ancient Greece, women, non-Roman citizens, and those who were enslaved did or did not have voting rights.

Take a few seconds to think about it, and then we'll check the answers together.

Okay, let's check these answers then.

Ancient Roman assemblies have influenced many modern governments, although they were very different to representative democracy today, Only Roman citizens could vote and the rich had more voting power than the poor.

As an Ancient Greece, women, non-Roman citizens, and those who were enslaved did not have voting rights.

Well done if you've got those ones.

The United Kingdom is a representative democracy, and this has developed over centuries to how it is today.

So until 1215, England was ruled by a monarchy which basically had complete power over the UK, how it was run, the laws that were made.

But in 1215, there was something called Magna Carta, and that was introduced to try and limit the power of the king at the time, and to try and protect the rights of barons and free men.

And there on the right, we have a picture of Magna Carta, and it has its sealed there as well.

Now, Magna Carta was one of the first steps towards giving people a say in how the country was run, and introduced this new idea about how leaders actually should be accountable to the people of the country.

And this was a very, very early step towards representative democracy.

So over the years, it then developed even further.

And in 1689, the monarchs at the time signed an agreement called Bill of Rights, which gave most power to Parliament, and that officially made England one of the first representative democracies.

And there you have an image at the side of the Bill of Rights being approved by the monarchs at the time.

Today, then, citizens of the UK will vote in elections for leaders on a local, a regional, and a national level, and they will pick leaders.

So the citizens pick those leaders based on who they think will really represent their needs, their interests, when they're making the decisions on their behalf.

Now these elected leaders all work in different geographical areas, they'll have different priorities, and they work with lots of different people.

So for example, the priorities of a local counsellor working in a city council will be different to the priorities of an MP in Parliament because they work in different areas, and often, with different people.

However, they do have a common goal, and that is to represent the interests of the people that they're serving within the UK.

For instance, the ways that MPs work, and the ways that they can represent UK citizens are by raising the concerns of citizens in Parliament.

So they can highlight issues and they can question ministers, and to make sure that they're doing the right thing.

They can debate and vote on laws in Parliament, again, based on the best interests of their constituents.

And they can scrutinise the government to make sure that the government is working effectively for the citizens that they represent.

Representative democracy can work really well because it still means that everyone is represented even in larger populations.

When it comes to really technical or complicated issues, it means that with a representative democracy, the citizens don't have to find out everything about it and almost become like mini experts in some of the complicated issues, because they're going to have representatives to make those decisions for them, and those representatives will be the people who have the knowledge, the skills, and the understanding to be able to make those decisions.

Having a representative democracy means that not every single person has to vote.

So it can often speed up the decision-making process.

And it can also mean opinions that maybe not a lot of people hold.

They can often be heard because the representative can bring those minority opinions to light and can discuss those things in Parliament rather than sometimes those voices not being heard because not many people have got that opinion to start with.

So although citizens don't vote directly for decisions, that doesn't mean they don't have a say because they can still have their say by voting in elections for the person they think best represents their interests.

So choosing their representative.

They can get involved by signing petitions, joining protests or demonstrations to show their feelings about things of public concern.

They can contact their representatives to have that relationship, to talk about their views on the matters that are important to them or matters that are important to the community.

And they can vote as well in referendums if they come about, and they can take part in things like public consultations, and attend meetings as well.

So there's plenty of ways that citizens can get involved even if they're not making those final decisions directly.

Now, Andeep doesn't quite understand representative democracy.

So what might you say to him to help clear up his misunderstanding? So he says, "Representative democracy means that citizens do not get a say in how the country is run because all the decisions are made by the representatives." What can you say to help clear up his misunderstanding? I'll give you a few seconds to think about it.

Okay, let's help Andeep understand this then.

So you could say, "You're almost right.

In a representative democracy, citizens elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf, but they can also influence policies through voting in elections, contacting their representatives, and sometimes even through referendums. Representatives are expected to act in the best interest of the people who elected them." Well done if you got that to help Andeep understand it further.

We're on to task B.

So you are going to choose two of these scenarios, and decide whether you think either direct democracy or representative democracy would be more effective.

Now there's no right or wrong answers to this.

This is about your opinion and using your knowledge of direct and representative democracy.

You are going to explain your reasoning in a few sentences for each scenario, and you're gonna think about things like public involvement, whether there's a certain expertise required, and maybe the size of the population and the people who would be making the decisions.

So scenario number one then, your school is considering changing the school uniform.

Scenario two, small town is planning a new indoor and outdoor leisure space, and the construction company wants input from the local area on the design and the features they should include.

And three, the government wants to introduce a new law about online privacy and data protection.

So that's your information going online.

So choose two of these and decide whether you think direct democracy or representative democracy would be more effective.

Pause the video to give yourself the time to do this, and then we'll come back and look at some possible answers.

Okay, let's go through these then.

So if you choose scenario one then, your school is considering changing the school uniform, your answer might be something like this.

Now, remember, you only needed to choose direct or representative.

So here's my two options, one for each of those.

Direct democracy.

So as the change directly affects pupils, they should have a say.

It doesn't require expert knowledge, just opinions on comfort, practicality, and school identity.

In addition to this, a school is small enough to manage a fair vote, and representatives could still help by maybe narrowing down some options first.

You might have picked that representative democracy might work better.

While pupil's opinions matter, school leaders and representatives consider practical factors like cost, inclusivity, and dress code policies.

They could gather feedback from pupils, parents, and staff before making a well-informed decision that balances needs.

Let's move on to the second scenario.

So your answer might have been something like this for when a small town is planning a new indoor and outdoor leisure space.

Direct democracy.

Since the leisure space is for the community, residents should have a direct say in what is included.

Town-wide vote allows everyone to share their preferences, ensuring the space meets the needs of different age groups and interests.

It has a smaller population than a big city.

So organising a vote is practical.

You might have picked a representative democracy.

Designing a leisure space involves budget planning, safety regulations, and long-term maintenance, which all require expertise.

Elected representatives can gather public input, consult experts, and make an informed decision that balances community needs with practical needs and limitations.

Onto the third.

So your answer for number three, the government wants to introduce a new law about online privacy and data protection.

You might have picked direct democracy.

Online privacy affects everyone, so allowing citizens to vote directly ensures the law reflects public concerns.

A national referendum would give people the chance to decide on issues like the security and privacy of their information online.

You might have picked representative democracy for this one.

Data protection laws are very complex and most citizens will not understand the details of it.

Asking millions of people about something a lot might not actually understand doesn't make sense.

Therefore, elected representatives should consult experts and the public, and then they can make an informed decision.

Really well done if you thought very clearly about the differences between direct and representative democracy, and which one would fit each scenario there.

Well done.

Let's summarise our lesson then which has been called "What are direct and representative democracies?" Direct democracy is where citizens decide on a policy directly, for example, through a referendum on each issue.

Switzerland is an example of a country that uses this type of democratic system.

It's usually found in smaller politically informed populations.

Representative democracy is where citizens choose others to represent them to make important decisions on their behalf.

The UK is an example of a representative democracy.

This system is usually found in larger populations and diverse countries.

Whilst some countries may not be a fully direct democracy, they may still use elements of the direct democracy system by holding referendums on issues which have got great public interest, for example, independence referendums. Really, really well done on this lesson today.

There's been a lot of complex information that you have taken in.

Very well done.

Hope to see you again soon.