Lesson 07 — How Decisions Get Made: Comparing Countries

Learners compare **how decisions are made in more than one country**. They meet three real ways — talking together until people agree (consensus), direct votes, and choosing representatives — with examples from different countries, and record how two places are alike and different.

D09 P4: Contextual & Ecological Awareness D09.S3 45 minutes Draft

Objectives

D09.S3.05.01 Explain what government is and what it does, and compare how decisions are made in more than one country.

Essential question

How do different countries make decisions?

voterepresentativeconsensusassemblyreferendumcompare

Materials

Standard materials

Three-ways comparison chart · 1 A chart with three columns — talking together to agree (consensus), direct votes, choosing representatives — each with a country example and a 'who decides?' line
Decision-making example cards · 1 set per group Short descriptions of how a decision gets made in different places, to sort into the three ways and compare
Compare page · 1 per learner A page to record how decisions are made in two places and one way they are alike and one way they differ

Low-tech / no-cost

A spoken comparison Describe each of the three ways aloud with a country example, and have learners repeat back who decides in each
Three corners Mark three corners as the three ways; for each example, learners walk to the corner that matches and say who decides

Enriched / lab & device

A short film or reading on a real assembly · 1 A brief account of a real decision-making body (a kgotla, a referendum, a parliament) to watch or read together
A class comparison wall · 1 A shared display where learners post their compare pages and read each other's country pairs

Works in different contexts

large-group Fill the three-way chart together, then have groups sort example cards and report one comparison in a sentence
multi-age Younger learners match an example to a way; older learners name who decides and one strength or limit of the way
self-directed A learner reads the chart, sorts the cards alone, and completes the compare page for two ways
level-grouped Learners ready to extend weigh a strength and a limit of each way and say which gives more people a voice and why
outdoor-only Use the three corners outdoors; name examples and move to the matching corner, then say who decides and how

A three-column comparison chart. The first column, labeled "talking together (consensus)," shows a circle of people with a speech bubble and a note "everyone talks until they agree." The second, labeled "direct votes," shows a hand dropping a ballot into a box with a note "citizens vote on laws." The third, labeled "choosing representatives," shows people raising hands toward one elected figure with a note "citizens choose who decides." Each column asks "who decides?" Labels, icons, and shapes carry the meaning, not color alone.

Lesson 7 — How Decisions Get Made: Comparing Countries

Summary

Learners compare how decisions are made in more than one country. They meet three real ways — talking together until people agree (consensus), direct votes, and choosing representatives — each with examples from different countries, and record how two places are alike and different. The point is global comparison, not ranking one way as “the best.”

Objectives

Compare how decisions are made in more than one country. (D09.S3.05.01)

Connection

Every family and class has a way to decide: one person decides, or everyone talks it out, or people raise hands. Whole countries have ways too, and they are not all the same. In one place, people gather and talk until they agree; in another, citizens vote directly on a law; in another, they choose representatives to decide for them. Seeing the different ways — and who gets a voice in each — is how we understand our own.

Materials

Three-ways comparison chart
Decision-making example cards
Compare page

Preparation

Print or draw the three-ways comparison chart (consensus / direct votes / representatives, with country examples).
Copy example cards for each group and a compare page for each learner.
Prepare one short spoken description per way if going low-tech.

Facilitator note

This lesson is written to the learner (“you”). The skill to land is comparing how decisions are made in more than one country, with three real, observable ways: consensus (talking until people agree — for example, the kgotla, a community assembly in Botswana where people gather and speak until a decision is reached); direct votes (for example, Switzerland, where citizens vote on many laws several times a year in referendums); and choosing representatives (as in many countries, including India, Japan, Brazil, and others, where adults vote for representatives who then decide in a parliament or congress). Present these descriptively and non-hierarchically — no single model is “the” right one (the unit’s commitment). Distinguish evidence from values: how decisions are made in each place is observable fact; whether everyone should have a voice is a value this curriculum holds. Hold questions open. See docs/facilitation.md.

Procedure

Gather (5 min). Last time you learned what government is. Now: how do the decisions actually get made? Try to recall one thing government does. (Pause.) Today you compare the ways different countries decide.
Meet three ways (15 min). Look at the chart. Talking together (consensus): people gather and discuss until they agree — for example, a kgotla in Botswana, a village assembly where anyone may speak. Direct votes: citizens vote on laws themselves — for example, Switzerland, where people vote on many questions several times a year. Choosing representatives: citizens vote for people who then decide for them — as in India, Japan, Brazil, and many other countries, whose parliaments or congresses pass laws. For each, ask the same question: who decides? who has a voice?
Sort and compare (15 min). Take your example cards. Each describes a decision being made somewhere. Sort each into one of the three ways. Then compare two of them: who decides in each? Who gets a voice? What is one way they are alike, and one way they differ?
Weigh, but don’t rank (10 min). Each way has strengths and limits. Consensus lets everyone speak but can be slow; direct votes give people a direct say but not everyone always knows the details; representatives can work quickly but must be trusted to listen. Notice: there is no single “best” way — but the question who has a voice? is always worth asking.
Record (5 min). On your compare page, write two ways, one example of each, and one likeness and one difference.

Differentiation

Support: Provide the chart with a sentence starter (“In ___, decisions are made by ___; in ___, they are made by ___.”).
Extension: Name a strength and a limit of each way, and argue which gives more people a voice and why.

Assessment

Formative (observation): Can the learner name two ways decisions are made in different countries and say who decides in each?
Peer check: Partners check each other’s compare page: “Did you name who decides in each place, not only the country name?”

Home connection

Ask someone at home how decisions are made in your household or community — one person, a talk, or a vote? — and compare it with one of the ways you learned today.

Resources

For global, non-hierarchical comparison of how societies make decisions, the framing in this lesson is a value of the curriculum (compare, don’t rank), grounded in widely documented examples; see the next grade’s D09.S3.06.01 for democracy and its alternatives.
Social awareness framing: CASEL: https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/