How do elections work in different countries?
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain different types of elections that exist across the world.
Key learning points
- There are two main voting systems: First Past The Post and Proportional Representation, although other variations exist.
- Different countries use different election systems.
- Some countries use mixed systems, combining various election types.
- The US electoral college is used for presidential elections in the USA.
Keywords
First Past The Post (FPTP) - the voting system used in the UK to elect members of some local councils and Members of Parliament, whereby the candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins
Proportional Representation - an electoral system where political parties get a number of seats in Parliament that matches the percentage of votes they receive in an election
Election - the voting process to elect a person for a public position
Common misconception
Elections are the same across the world.
Elections run differently and follow different systems in indvidual countries.
Teacher tip
Countries evolve and change over time. Always check up to date information before delivering case studies of specific countries and their electoral systems.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match each country to their type of political system.
Q2.Which of these roles does the UK Prime Minister fulfil?
Q3.The Prime Minister select members of their , who are then referred to as Ministers.
Q4.Which of these statements about the UK Prime Minister is accurate?
Q5.Match each branch to the relevant real-world institutions in the UK and US.
Q6.Which of these statements in true?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.In the UK, Members of Parliament (MPs) are elected using the system.
Q2.Match the voting system with its description.
Q3.What is one benefit of a mixed member electoral system?
Q4.Which of these countries uses the Proportional Representation system?
Q5.How are the number of Electoral College electors for each US state determined?
Q6.Which of these statements about the election of a US President is accurate?
To help you plan your 11 citizenship lesson on: How do elections work in different countries?, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 citizenship lesson on: How do elections work in different countries?, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 citizenship lessons from the How do others govern? unit, dive into the full secondary citizenship curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.