DISCOVERING DEMOCRACY UNIT

QUEENSLAND AND VICTORIAN SOSE OUTCOMES

LINKS TO CURRENT TOPICS/PROGRAMS AND ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

1. How can Australian citizens influence government action?

How can people influence others?

Development and environment

Citizen action

Citizen action – Franklin and beyond

Your view

2. How do governments and political parties respond to new issues?

Definitions

Influencing and making policy

Parties and the Franklin

The State Labor government and the Franklin

The State Liberal government and the Franklin

National Liberal and Labor governments

Governments’ actions, party beliefs and people represented

Popular opinion and government action

CD ROM activity

3. How can Australian citizens influence the media and how does the media influence governments and political parties?

Recent issues in the media

The Tasmanian Wilderness Society and media

Media coverage of the blockade

True and fair?

Effect of media campaign

Tasmanians’ opinion of the dam

4. How are disputes between state and federal governments resolved?

Anti the anti-dammers

Interview with pro-dammers

The Constitution and state and federal governments

The High Court

Understanding arguments for and against the High Court decision

Students are asked to think of tactics they use to get things done at home, school… The background to the Tasmanian Dam dispute is then presented by providing students with a number of sources to analyse and activities to complete. While completing these tasks, students are identifying examples of citizen action. The unit then introduces different political party beliefs about issues, and how the case study illustrates the diversity of beliefs both within the parties and the different levels of government. The role of the media is also examined.

The activity on The Tasmanian Wilderness Society and the Media allows students to use the video, the CD ROM segments and the written sources for their investigations.

TCC6.3

Students collaboratively identify the values underlying contributions by diverse individuals and groups in Australian or Asian environments.

TCC6.4

Students produce a corroborated argument concerning causes of a change or continuity in environments, media or gender roles.

TCC6.5

Students develop criteria-based judgments about th ethical behaviour of people in the past.

TCC BY6.4

Students evaluate the effectiveness of progressive actions from the past to recommend particular actions for the future.

PS6.5

Students make clear links between their values of peace and sustainability and their preferred vision of a place.

PSBY6.2

Students use models of delivery appropriate for informing and persuading different audiences, to promote ecologically and economically sustainable futures.

PS BY6.4

Students use maps and graphs that interpret data to suggest links between geographic features of places and changes occurring within these places.

CI6.4

Students describe specific instances of cultural change resulting from government legislation or policies that have impacted on other cultural groups.

TCC5.2

Students represent situations both before and after a period of rapid change.

TCC5.3

Students collaborate to locate and systematically record information about the contributions of people in diverse past settings.

PS5.1

Students synthesise information from the perspectives of different groups to identify which patterns constitute a region.

PS5.2

Students design strategies for evaluating environmental impacts of a proposed project, highlighting relationships between living and non-living systems.

PS5.4

Students use maps, diagrams and statistics to justify placing value on environments in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

Economy and society

5.1 Identify key features of Australia’s political system at local, state and federal levels

• Identify and trace the history of the key values of representative democracy, including participation, representation, rights and responsibilities.
• Describe key political structures including the constitution, the federal system, the electoral and parliamentary systems
• Describe the role of key individuals and groups within the legislative and executive branches including the head of state, the prime minister, premiers, the ministry, backbenchers and political parties
• Explain the ways in which individuals and community groups can participate in political processes

Business and conservation

Business ethics.

Profit/ enterprise.

Levels of governments.

Resources

• Discovering Democracy Secondary Video
• Parliament at Work CD ROM. Representation in Commonwealth parliament – links to Franklin Dam issue. Interactive simulated parliamentary hearing – land use debate.
• Stories of Democracy CD ROM – photographs and text on the Franklin Dam story. No game.
• Sections 51 and 52 of the Australian Constitution can be downloaded from the Stories of Democracy CD ROM.