During this lesson, you have learned about the struggles of other nations as they seek to create democratic institutions. You have also considered how best to evaluate the success or failure of a democracy, using five categories of analysis: the nation's electoral process, how it enshrines and protects rights and civil liberties, how democratically its government functions, how fully its citizens participate, and, lastly, its political culture. Rating a nation as free, somewhat free, or not free in each category will help you create a profile of that nation, which you can use to decide if the nation truly is democratic.
To demonstrate your understanding of the concepts and procedures in this lesson, choose a nation from Asia, Africa, or Latin America that was not covered in this lesson, and use the Democracy Index to evaluate that country's status as a democracy. You'll need to do some independent research, examining the democratic features of the nation and learning what you can about its history. Then you'll use that information to create a brochure, a blog post with links, or a multimedia presentation or video. Your final product should essentially represent the progress of democracy in the country you selected.
Regardless of the form it takes, your final product should include the following:
| A brief historical sketch of the nation--approximately two or three paragraphs. |
| Basic statistics about the nation as it exist today, such as population, GDP, or other relevant information. |
| An analysis of the nation using the Democracy Index, with explanations of the nation's performance in each category. |
| A determination of the nation's status: full democracy, flawed democracy, authoritarian regime, or hybrid. |
| Your personal reflection on the likely success of democracy in the nation, in near future. |
Consider using the following sources to find information the nation you decide to research:
CIA World Factbook --includes a detailed profile of every nation in the world
EIU Democracy Index --provides an overview and ranking of the nations of the world
Click the Activity button below to access a worksheet that will guide your research and the crafting of your final product.
| Criterion | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| Historical Background | The presentation gives a complete and thorough review of the history of the nation with detailed information about point and time of origin and major milestones, and the presentation provides clear statistics. | The presentation gives a limited review of the history of the nation with limited information about point and time of origin and a few milestones, and the presentation only gives a few statistics. | The presentation does not give a solid review of the history of the nation, or it presents only a couple of limited details. Statistics are not given. |
| Analysis | The presentation analyzes the nation based on the five-step process and gives copious reasons and support. | The presentation has a limited analysis of the nation based on the five-step process and gives few reasons and support. | The presentation has little to no analysis of the nation based on the five-step process and gives no reasons and support. |
| Determination | The presentation presents a well-reasoned determination of level of democracy based on analysis and supports views with evidence. | The presentation presents a basic determination of level of democracy based on analysis and supports views with little to no evidence. | The presentation does not present a clear determination of level of democracy based on analysis and supports views with no evidence. |
| Reflection | The presentation contains a strong and supported reflection of validity with solid support and examples. | The presentation contains a weak and unsupported reflection of validity with few supports and examples. | The presentation contains no real reflection of validity with no supports or examples. |
| Sources and Citations | The presentation contains accurate and proper citations and record of sources, using an accepted citation format, such as MLA or APA. | The presentation contains some citations and sources, but they are lacking information or are unclear. | The presentation contains no citations or sources. |
