SED2601 Saleemah Cader
Assignment 3 Stud No: 60623314
Question 1
1.1 Discuss what is meant by the following:
a) Modern democracy (4)
1. Government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested
in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free
electoral system.
2. A state having such a form of government.
3. The most common form of democracy today is a representative democracy, where the
people elect representatives to deliberate and decide on legislation, such as in
parliamentary or presidential democracy.
4. A Modern democracy is a system of government with four key elements:
i) A system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections;
ii) Active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life;
iii) Protection of the human rights of all citizens; and
iv) A rule of law in.
b) Citizenship education (4)
1. Citizenship education can be defined as educating children, from early childhood, to
become clear-thinking and enlightened citizens who participate in decisions concerning
society.
2. 'Society' is here understood in the special sense of a nation with a circumscribed
territory which is recognized as a state.
3. Citizenship education gives people the knowledge and skills to understand, challenge and
engage with democratic society including politics, the media, civil society, the economy
and the law.
4. The most effective form of learning in citizenship education is:
• active: emphasises learning by doing.
• interactive: uses discussion and debate.
• relevant: focuses on real-life issues facing young people and society.
• critical: encourages young people to think for themselves.
1.2 What is meant by ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ notions (ideas) of the citizen education curriculum? (4)
• A soft notion of community participation entails that learners rely on the school curriculum
to learn about citizenship education.
• By extension it is a more ‘passive’ way to learn about the topic. So citizenship it ‘taught’.
• A hard notion of community participation refers to learning by doing and creating
opportunities to learn about citizenship in school but also outside of the school walls.
• Citizenship is ‘caught’ not ‘taught
, 1.3 What does it mean to use a cosmopolitan approach to citizenship education? (4)
• Cosmopolitan citizenship education is a transformational approach to education that
empowers students to become global citizens through active involvement in the local,
national and global communities while seeking to build a better world.
• Cosmopolitanism, in political theory, the belief that all people are entitled to equal respect
and consideration, no matter what their citizenship status or other affiliations happen to be.
Cosmopolitanism.
1.4 Explain the main aspects of citizenship education in the United Kingdom. (4)
• Citizenship education at secondary school level across the UK is taught in different ways:
• As a statutory subject in England and Northern Ireland
• As a non-statutory subject in Wales
• As a cross-curricular theme in Scotland.
• The educational approach is didactic and subject-based in England whereas whole-school
strategies and experiential learning have prevailed elsewhere.
• Citizenship education in Northern Ireland has stemmed from the need to establish a stable
basis for peace.
• England, Wales and Scotland have considered it as a possible solution to the low
participation of young people in politics, but Wales and Scotland have also used CE to
further their identities
Question 2
2.1 Discuss what is meant by democracy in ancient (Greek) times. (4)
• Democracy is derived from the Greek word demokratia, meaning “rule by the people.”
• It’s made up of the two roots demos, meaning “the people,” and kratos, meaning “power.”
• One belief that was foundational to Greek democracy is the term isonomia, meaning
“equality before the law.”
• When we talk about Greek democracy, we really mean Athenian democracy.
• This is not because Athens was the only Greek city-state that ever had a democratic form of
government, but because Athens was the most prominent and powerful, and an abundance
of sources about Athens still exist today.
• There simply is not enough available information to talk about Greek democracy as anything
outside of Athenian democracy.