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9th grade · Social Studies · Unit 2 of 11

Forms of Government

Democracy, monarchy and more

What your child practices

Democracies, monarchies, oligarchies and authoritarian states, federal, confederal and unitary systems, and the roots of American ideas about limited government.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: GOV.11(A); GOV.11(B) · comparing the US constitutional republic with other forms of government, and presidential and parliamentary systems

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. In a republic like the US, citizens elect representatives. Consent of the governed means power comes from the people.
  2. In an oligarchy a few rule and ordinary people have little say; in a monarchy a king or queen rules.
  3. Unitary: power in the national government. Confederation: weak center, strong members. Federal: shared. Montesquieu proposed separate branches.

Example: What does a confederation, like the US under the Articles, have? The member states kept most power. The central government was weak. Answer: a weak central government and strong member states

Forms of Government in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 2 of 11 in 9th grade Social Studies, after Foundations of Democracy and before Taking Part.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    The First Amendment's establishment clause guards against…

    • a government-run official religion
    • free speech
    • a free press

  2. Question 2

    The idea of separating government powers into branches came largely from…

    • Montesquieu
    • Machiavelli
    • Confucius

  3. Question 3

    Which document first limited the English king's power, in 1215?

    • the Mayflower Compact
    • the Federalist Papers
    • the Magna Carta

  4. Question 4

    The name of the US Senate comes from…

    • the Mongol Empire
    • the Roman Republic
    • ancient Egypt

  5. Question 5

    Limited government means…

    • government's powers are restricted by law
    • the government can do anything
    • there is no government

  6. Question 6

    The Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace set up…

    • rule by the army
    • a single hereditary king
    • a council of leaders from several nations

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