Unit 6 · How Countries Are Governed

Think about a crosswalk near your school. Cars must stop when people walk across. That is not just a good idea. It is a rule for everyone. A rule that everyone in a place must follow is called a law.

Someone has to write laws and make sure people follow them. That job belongs to the government. A government is the group of people who lead a town, a state or a country. Your town, Illinois and the United States each have a government.

Laws help people live together. They tell drivers how fast to go. They say you cannot take what belongs to someone else. Without laws, people might argue over every little thing. Laws give everyone the same rules to follow.

A fire starts in a kitchen on a cold night. Someone calls 911. In a few minutes, a red truck arrives. Firefighters put out the fire. The family is safe. The firefighters work for the city government.

Keeping people safe is one of a government’s biggest jobs. Police officers help people and make sure laws are followed. Firefighters stop fires. Many governments also have an army to protect the whole country.

Sometimes people disagree about what happened. Did someone break a law? A court decides. A court is a place where a judge listens to both sides. Courts help settle problems fairly, without fighting.

Look at the road outside your school. Who paid to build it? Who fixes the potholes? Most roads are built by a government. So are most public schools, parks and libraries. These are called public services.

Public services cost a lot of money. Governments get that money from taxes. A tax is money people and businesses pay to the government. When you buy a toy in Illinois, a little extra is added to the price. That extra is a sales tax.

People often disagree about taxes. Some people want lower taxes so families keep more of their money. Others want more services, like new parks, and are willing to pay more. Each place decides this in its own way.

Long ago, France had a king named Louis XIV. He ruled for 72 years, from 1643 to 1715. He built a huge palace at Versailles. He made many big choices for the whole country by himself.

A country ruled by a king or queen is a monarchy. The ruler is called a monarch. Usually, the job passes from parent to child. A prince or princess may become the next ruler when the old one dies.

Supporters of monarchy said a king gave a country order. Everyone knew who was in charge. Critics said one person should not have so much power. What if the king was unfair? The people could not choose a new one.

Remember Maya’s mom? She stood in line and filled out a ballot. A ballot is the paper or screen where you mark your choice. Millions of other people did the same that day. Together, they picked their leaders.

A government where the people hold the power is a democracy. The word comes from two Greek words. Demos means the people. Kratos means power or rule. So democracy means rule by the people.

In a democracy, people vote to make choices. The choice with the most votes usually wins. Leaders who do a poor job can be voted out. Critics note that voting can be slow. People also argue a lot before they decide.

Imagine a country where the leader’s picture hangs in every classroom. Newspapers may only say good things about him. People who complain can be arrested. There is an election, but only one name is on the ballot.

This kind of government is a dictatorship. One person or a small group holds all the power. The leader is called a dictator. There are no fair elections, so people cannot vote the leader out.

Dictators often say they keep the country strong and safe. But people in dictatorships often lose rights, like the right to speak freely. Many people who lived under dictators later worked hard to bring in fair votes.

About 2,500 years ago, the city of Athens in Greece tried a new idea. Around 508 BCE, a leader named Cleisthenes helped give power to the citizens. Citizens met on a hill called the Pnyx. They listened to speeches and raised their hands to vote.

This was direct democracy. Citizens voted on laws themselves, not through leaders. Athens is often called one of the first democracies in the world. People today still study its ideas.

But not everyone in Athens could vote. Only free men born to Athenian families were citizens with a vote. Women could not vote. Enslaved people and people from other places could not vote either. So many people had no say.

Athens was one city. The United States has over 300 million people. They cannot all meet on one hill! So Americans do something different. They choose people to make laws for them.

A person chosen to speak and vote for others is a representative. Choosing them is called an election. Illinois voters elect people to the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C. Those lawmakers vote on laws for the whole country.

This is called representative democracy. Most democracies today work this way. Supporters say it lets busy people have a say. Critics say representatives do not always do what voters want. Voters can choose someone new next time.

In 2023, King Charles III was crowned in London. There were golden coaches and a crown. But King Charles does not make the laws of the United Kingdom. A group of elected lawmakers called Parliament does that.

The UK is a constitutional monarchy. It still has a monarch. But a set of rules limits the monarch’s power. A written or unwritten plan for how a government works is called a constitution.

Japan and Spain are also constitutional monarchies. Japan has an emperor, Naruhito. Spain has a king, Felipe VI. In each country, people vote for the leaders who run the government. The monarch stands for the nation’s history and unity.

In 1776, American leaders signed the Declaration of Independence. They broke away from the British king. They did not want a new king. Instead, they built a republic, a country with no monarch.

In a republic, the head of the country is chosen, not born into the job. In the United States, voters choose a president every four years. France, Mexico and India are republics too. Each one has a president.

Republics work in different ways. In the U.S. and Mexico, the president leads the government. In India, a prime minister leads it, and the president has a smaller role. But in all of them, no family owns the top job.

A woman writes a letter to her town newspaper. She says the town should build a new park. The mayor does not agree. But the woman is not punished. In the United States, she has freedom of speech.

A right is something every person should be free to have or do. Freedom of speech is the right to say and write your ideas. It includes ideas that leaders do not like. It does not allow lies that hurt someone or threats.

Freedom of religion is the right to follow any faith, or none. A family can go to a church, a mosque, a temple or a synagogue. The U.S. government may not choose one religion for everyone. Both rights are in the First Amendment.

A man is accused of taking a bike. Did he really do it? He cannot just be sent to jail. First, he gets a trial. A trial is a meeting in a court where people decide if someone broke a law.

In a fair trial, the accused person can have a lawyer to help. The person is treated as innocent until proven guilty. Both sides tell their story. Witnesses say what they saw. Then a judge or a jury decides.

A jury is a group of ordinary citizens, often twelve, who listen and decide. The U.S. Sixth Amendment promises a speedy and public trial by a fair jury. Many other countries also promise fair trials, in their own ways.

In 1920, many American women voted for president for the first time. The Nineteenth Amendment had just said women could not be denied the vote. Women had worked for this right for more than 70 years.

Voting is one of the most important rights in a democracy. The group of people who can vote is called the electorate. Over time, many countries made their electorate bigger. People who were left out worked hard to be included.

Today, most countries let citizens vote at age 18. The U.S. lowered its voting age from 21 to 18 in 1971. A few countries, like Austria, let people vote at 16. Countries still differ in who can vote.

A driver comes to a red light late at night. No other cars are around. Should she stop? Yes. The law says so. Following laws even when no one is watching helps everyone trust each other.

A responsibility is something you are expected to do. Rights and responsibilities go together. You have the right to be safe. You also have the responsibility not to put others in danger.

What if a law seems unfair? In a democracy, people can work to change it. They can write letters, speak at meetings and vote. Some people choose civil disobedience, which means breaking an unfair law peacefully and accepting the punishment.

One day a letter comes to Maya’s house. It is for her dad. It says he has been called for jury duty. He must go to the county courthouse. He may help decide a real case.

Remember the right to a fair trial? It needs a jury of ordinary people. That only works if citizens show up. So serving on a jury is a responsibility. Adult citizens can be called to serve.

Jurors must listen carefully to both sides. They must decide only on the facts shown in court. They must keep an open mind. Some people find it a hassle. Many others say it helped them understand how courts work.

The new playground at the park did not appear by magic. Tax money paid for the swings and slides. When adults pay taxes, they help pay for things everyone shares. Paying taxes is a responsibility.

Voting is both a right and a responsibility. When people vote, they help choose leaders and decide questions. When few people vote, a small group makes choices for everyone. Being an informed voter means learning about the choices first.

Countries handle this in different ways. In the U.S., voting is a choice. In Australia, voting is required by law. Adults who skip it may pay a small fine. People disagree about which way is better.

World War II ended in 1945. Millions of people had died. Many had been treated horribly. Leaders from many countries said, "Never again." They wanted a list of rights for every person on Earth.

Eleanor Roosevelt led the group that wrote it. She had been First Lady of the United States. People from China, Lebanon, France, Chile and other places helped. On December 10, 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It lists 30 articles of human rights. These are rights every person has just by being human. They include the right to life, to fair trials and to free speech. The declaration is a promise, not a law every country must obey.

In the United States, many rights are written in the Bill of Rights. These are the first ten amendments to the Constitution, added in 1791. Courts use them to decide if a law is fair.

Other countries do it differently. The United Kingdom has no single written constitution. Its rights come from many laws and old court rulings. Germany’s Basic Law of 1949 begins by saying human dignity must be protected.

India’s constitution lists Fundamental Rights, like equality before the law. Some countries write rights down but do not protect them in real life. So people ask two questions. Are rights written down? Are they really kept?

Remember Lucia and Theo? Lucia wanted the right to sit anywhere. Theo worried the room would be too noisy. They both had good reasons. Neither one was a bad person for thinking differently.

When people have rights like free speech, they will disagree. That is normal. Respectful disagreement means sharing your view while treating the other person kindly. You listen, you ask questions and you attack ideas, not people.

Sometimes people find a compromise. Each side gives up a little to reach a deal. Ms. Reyes’s class might agree: sit anywhere on Fridays, if the room stays quiet enough to learn.

In 1930, Mohandas Gandhi began a long walk to the sea in India. Britain ruled India then and taxed salt. Gandhi walked about 240 miles. At the sea, he made his own salt. Thousands joined him. This was the Salt March.

Gandhi believed in nonviolent protest, which means standing up for change without hurting anyone. His work helped India win independence in 1947. Leaders in other countries studied his ideas.

Martin Luther King Jr. was one of them. He led the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and 1956. In 1963, he spoke at the March on Washington. He worked peacefully to end segregation, the unfair separation of Black and white Americans.

For many years, South Africa had a system called apartheid. The word means apartness. Laws kept people apart by race. Black South Africans could not vote in national elections. They were forced into separate schools and neighborhoods.

Nelson Mandela fought against apartheid. He was sent to prison and stayed there for 27 years. People around the world called for his release. He was freed in 1990. He then worked with leaders who had once been his enemies.

In 1994, South Africans of all races voted together for the first time. Mandela was elected president. He chose reconciliation, bringing people back together, instead of revenge. He wanted one South Africa for everyone.