4.7 Does your vote count? — Year 11 Citizenship worksheet

Getting the words right

5 min

Write a definition you could use in an exam answer. One sentence each.
democracy
dictator
a free and fair election
freedom of the press

1
Which one of the following is a feature of a dictatorship? Tick one box.
☐ Elections are held regularly ☐ Newspapers can criticise the leader
☐ One leader decides without reference to the population ☐ Citizens may join any party
[1]

Source A: Azerbaijan

20 min

Source A

Azerbaijan sits on the Caspian Sea and has even hosted the Eurovision Song Contest. Since 1993, however, the same family has run the country with an iron fist. Heydar Aliyev was widely credited with bringing stability, and from a young age children learn about him at school — some recite poems written in his honour.

When Heydar died, his son Ilham took over as president. He was already prime minister and vice chairman of the national oil company. An election was held, but observers were very critical of the campaign: there was voter intimidation, violence and bias in the media, and international journalists were kept out of the country. Opposition demonstrations were met with police violence and many arrests.

Azerbaijan has great oil wealth. It also has widespread poverty, high unemployment and a serious corruption problem.

2
Using Source A, give two reasons why Azerbaijan's election could not be described as free and fair.
[2]
3
Explain what it means to run a country "with an iron fist".
[2]
4
Azerbaijan is rich in oil, yet many of its citizens are poor. Using Source A, explain one reason why this might happen.
[4]
5
Suggest why a government might want schoolchildren to learn poems about a former leader. What does this achieve that force alone cannot?
[4]
6
Why is freedom of the press so important to citizens? Refer to Azerbaijan in your answer.
[4]

Source B: the Norway test

15 min

Source B — Norway is judged on eight points, and scores top of the list of the world's most democratic countries

Almost all adult citizens have the right to vote.
Almost all adult citizens are eligible for public office.
Political leaders have the right to compete for votes.
Elections are free and fair.
All citizens are free to form and join political parties and other organisations.
All citizens are free to express themselves on all political issues.
The media is free to express views about politics and is protected by law.
Government policies depend on votes.

Apply the eight tests to the other two countries. Use ✓ (yes), ✗ (no) or ? (you're not sure).

Test	Norway	Azerbaijan	UK
1 Right to vote	✓
2 Eligible for public office	✓
3 Leaders can compete for votes	✓
4 Free and fair elections	✓
5 Free to form parties and groups	✓
6 Free to express political views	✓
7 Free media, protected by law	✓
8 Policies depend on votes	✓

7
Choose the one test from the list that you think matters most. Explain why a country that failed only that test could not really call itself democratic.
[4]
8
A dictator "ignores the rule of law". Explain what this phrase means and give one example of what it would look like in daily life.
[4]

Reading the data

10 min

How democratic is each region of the world? Scored out of 10, 2021 figures.
Region	Score
North America	8.36
Western Europe	8.23
Latin America and Caribbean	5.83
Asia and Australasia	5.46
Central and Eastern Europe	5.36
Sub-Saharan Africa	4.12
Middle East and North Africa	3.41
World average	5.28

9
Work out the gap between the highest and lowest scoring regions.
[1]
10
Which region sits closest to the world average?
[1]
11
The UK is counted in Western Europe (8.23). Explain one reason why a regional average can be a poor guide to how democratic a single country in that region is.
[4]
12
Give two things a score out of 10 cannot tell you about what life is actually like in a country.
[2]

Extended answer

25 min

"People in power know better than the rest of us, so they should be allowed to get on and rule the country."

Evaluate this statement. Give arguments on both sides and reach a judgement of your own. Use Azerbaijan, Norway and the UK as evidence.

[12]

Arguments that support it

Arguments against it

Now write your answer. Continue on lined paper if you need more room.

Before you hand it in, check you have:

used at least two pieces of specific evidence (a country, a fact, a figure)
explained why each argument matters, not just stated it
dealt fairly with the side you disagree with
finished with a clear judgement that answers the statement directly

Take it further

homework

14
Choose three countries on three different continents. Find out how democratic each one is and write one sentence explaining your evidence for each.
15
In about 50 words, answer the title question for yourself: does your vote count?

Teacher notes

Print pages 1–4 for students. This page is for you.

Running it

Roughly 75 minutes of material. Sections 1–3 make a solid single lesson; sections 4–5 work as the follow-up.
Worksheet 4.7a (Which country?) makes a good five-minute starter or plenary — it needs no prior teaching and gets the comparison idea moving. Answers: 1 Sweden, 2 Iceland (the first country to elect a female head of state later on; women voted from 1915), 3 Switzerland, 4 Norway, 5 Somalia, 6 North Korea, 7 Sudan, 8 China. Worth flagging that items 5–8 date from around 2012, so ask students what may have changed since — that is itself a useful discussion.
Worksheet 4.7b (Help/Hinder) works best cut up as a card sort in pairs before section 3 here, as a way into the eight tests. Help: B, C, D, F, I, L. Hinder: A, E, G, H, J, K. The interesting argument is G and K — neither is about voting, but both wreck democracy in practice.

Indicative answers

Q1 — One leader decides without reference to the population.
Q2 — Any two of: voter intimidation; violence; media bias; international journalists excluded; opposition demonstrations broken up and protesters arrested; the winner already held two powerful posts.
Q3 — Ruling by force and fear, crushing opposition rather than answering it.
Q4 — Corruption: oil money reaches officials and those close to the ruling family rather than public services. No free press or fair election means no one can hold them to account for where it went.
Q5 — Cult of personality. Loyalty that feels like affection is cheaper and more durable than loyalty enforced by police, and children who grow up admiring the family are less likely to question it as adults.
Q6 — The press exposes what the government would hide, so voters can judge it. In Azerbaijan, biased media and excluded foreign journalists left citizens without the information needed to vote meaningfully.
Q7 — Accept any test, credit the reasoning. Strong answers spot that the tests depend on each other: elections mean little without test 6 or 7.
Q8 — Everyone, including the leader, is bound by the law; the rules apply equally and are not changed at will. Example: being arrested and held without charge, or a leader overriding a court decision.
Q9 — 8.36 − 3.41 = 4.95.
Q10 — Central and Eastern Europe (5.36, just 0.08 above 5.28).
Q11 — An average hides the spread; one strong or one weak country pulls the figure. Countries within a region differ enormously, and the score can move sharply in one year.
Q12 — Any two: how free you feel day to day; whether the score is rising or falling; how minorities are treated; corruption in local life; poverty and unemployment.

Q13 mark guidance

9–12 — Both sides developed with specific evidence from more than one country, plus a judgement that follows from the argument.
5–8 — Both sides present; evidence used but thinly, or judgement asserted rather than argued.
1–4 — One side only, general statements, little or no evidence.
Supporting points students may reach for: experts and stability, slow decision-making, voters lacking specialist knowledge. Against: Azerbaijan shows what unchecked power does to poverty and corruption; power without accountability tends to serve the powerful; consent is what makes law legitimate. Push the strongest students on the difference between expertise and authority — a government can take expert advice and still answer to voters.