Election Study Guide and sample questions

Test Format

There will be two parts to the test:

·       Part A will contain written responses. You will be asked to use the information and key understandings from this unit. There is no time limit, and you will be allowed to bring an index card with notes on it to help you complete this part.

·       Part B will contain 20 multiple choice questions.  No notes will be allowed.

Key Information

Note: This section contains the important factual information you need to know. It is your responsibility to make sure that you understanding this information and be able to use your understandings to answer critical thinking questions.

Types of Government

·       Dictatorship: A country governed by a dictator or a ruler with absolute power. Citizens of dictatorships often have limited to no rights and freedoms.

·       Oligarchy: Rule by the elite. A small group of powerful people govern the country. These people might be military leaders, the rich, or the socially elites. Citizens of oligarchies often have few rights and freedoms.

·       Monarchy: A country governed by a monarch (king or queen.) The rule of the country is normally passed down through royal bloodlines. Citizens of monarchies have various degrees of rights and freedoms.

·       Democracy: A country governed by the people of that country. Citizens of democracies often enjoy many rights and freedoms. There are two main types of democracies:

o   Direct Democracy: A political system where every eligible citizen gets to vote on every issue. These citizens have a direct say on how they will be governed.

o   Representational Democracy: A political system where eligible citizens periodically elect politicians to represent them and vote on issues on their behalf. These citizens don’t have a direct say in the government, rather their say comes for picking their representatives every few years.

·       Canada is a representational democracy and a constitutional monarchy. However, all decision-making power is granted to the elected officials.

Ways to Make Group Decisions

·       Autocratic decision making is when one person makes a decision for the group.

·       Democratic decision making is when the group of people votes to make the decision. Not everyone has to be in agreement, and the option with the most votes wins.

·       Consensus Building is where everyone has to come to an agreement to make a decision.

Local Governments

·       Local governments are governments who make decisions for a town, city, or county.

·       Towns or cities elect a mayor or reeve as the leader of the city, as well as several councillors or aldermen. Together, these people are called city (or town) council.

·       City council is responsible for providing certain services to the residents of their city or town, as well as creating bylaws (laws that only affect that city/town.)

·       Some services that local governments provide are roads, public transportation, water, waste and recycling collection, sewer services, recreation opportunities, police services (if the city is big enough), fire departments, and libraries. They also work with the provincial government in order to build schools.

·       Calgary is broken up into 14 different areas, called wards. Each citizen of Calgary elects one councillor for their ward, as well as the mayor for the city.

·       Unlike with federal or provincial politics, local politicians don’t normally form political parties.

·       The power to make decisions is given to local governments from provincial governments.

Local Elections

·       In Alberta, local governments are elected every 4 years in October. All local governments in Alberta will hold their election on the same day.

·       This year’s election voting day is October 16, 2017.

·       In Calgary, voters will receive three ballots. They will cast one ballot for mayor, one for a councillor, and one for a school board trustee.

·       Calgary is broken into 14 areas, called wards. Each ward elects their own councillor. For Calgary Board of Education trustees, two wards are combined to elect one trustee. The mayor is elected by every member of the city.

Media

·       In order to receive votes, candidates need to communicate to voters that they are running for office, and what their views and priorities are.

·       The more a candidate is able to reach potential voters, the greater his or her chances of winning an election are.

·       There are three types of media relating to candidates:

o   Paid Media which refers to advertisements that the candidates buy with their campaign money. Examples include TV ads, billboards, road-side signs, post cards, etc.

o   Owned Media includes forms of communication that the candidate owns. Examples would be their website, twitter account, e-mail lists, etc.

o   Earned Media is free media coverage that a candidate earns throughout the campaign. Examples include interviews, news articles, opinion pieces, etc. The platforms and profiles we looked at on the City’s website is another example of earned media.

·       Facts are statements that are true and provable. Facts are true regardless of what people may think about them. 

·       Opinions are statements that hold an element of belief. An opinion is not always true, nor can it be proven.

·       False Information are statements which are not true. False statements can be proven false.

Choosing a Candidate

·       A candidate is someone who is running in an election. The people running for mayor are called mayoral candidates.

·       When choosing a candidate, voters need to critically consider what their positions are on various issues, and what qualities they seek in a candidate.

·       A platform is a document published by a candidate explaining what he or she hopes to accomplish if elected, and what positions he or she will take on selected issues.

·       Researching the candidates, watching debates and reading their platforms helps voters know what particular candidates stand for.

·       As elected officials represent voters (as we are a representative democracy), it is important that voters take the time to research the candidates, select which one best represents their views, and vote for that candidate on election day.

Study Questions

1.     Why should you vote in elections?

2.     What is the best way to choose a candidate to vote for?

3.     How does the local government make decisions?

4.     What are the three types of media? What is the difference between each of them?

5.     What are the three positions that Calgarians cast ballots for in local elections?

6.     What is the job of each of these three people? 

7.     What services are local governments responsible for?

8.     Why do we have a government?

9.     What type of government do we have?

10.  What is the difference between a democracy, and oligarchy, and a dictatorship?

11.  What different ways are there for groups to make decisions?

12.  What is the difference between a fact and opinion?

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Carefully read each question, and select the best response.

1.     Which statement best describes a representational democracy?A.    citizens make their own laws; rights aren’t neededB.    citizens vote on representatives to make laws on their behalf; citizens have rightsC.    citizens follow the laws created by their king or queen; citizens don’t have rightsD.    citizens vote on any new laws or changes to laws; citizens have rights

2.     In Calgary, the city is broken up into 14 areas calledA.    districtsB.    ridingsC.    wardsD.    divisions

3.     Which is an example of an opinion?A.    “Crime increased 31% from last year.”B.    “The mayor has voted on 771 issues.”C.    “We have exceeded our annual snow removal budget by $13 million.”D.    “The city doesn’t spend enough on parks and recreation.”