Worked examples
Two examples
Example 1
The members of a union local meet in a hall and vote, every one of them, on whether to accept a new contract.Direct or representative democracy?
- Ask: who makes the decision?
- The members themselves vote on the contract. Nobody decides for them.
- When the people decide a question themselves, that is direct democracy.
- If the members had elected an executive board and the board had decided, that would be representative democracy: the members choose the people who decide.
Answer: Direct democracy
Example 2
Voters elect a parliament. The party with the most seats then chooses the head of the government, the prime minister.Presidential or parliamentary democracy?
- Ask: how is the head of the government chosen?
- Here the voters do not choose the prime minister on a separate ballot. Parliament does.
- When the legislature chooses the head of government, that is a parliamentary democracy. The prime minister stays in office only as long as he or she keeps the support of a majority in parliament.
- In a presidential democracy, the voters elect the president separately from the legislature, for a fixed term.
Answer: Parliamentary democracy
Where this is taught: Civics, Chapter 1: Two kinds of representative democracy · Civics Diagnostic, Part 1
In your Kaplan book: Unit 3, Chapter 3, Lesson 1: Historic Basis for U.S. System · Map of the Terrain, topic 11: What government is for, and the kinds there are
The drill
Ten questions
How many:
Tap your answer to each one. A few questions ask you to choose words from a drop-down instead, the way the GED test does. Then press Check my answers at the bottom.Circle your answer to each one; where there are brackets, circle the choice that fits. The answer key, with the reasoning, is on the last page.