Voting Around the World is a series of articles from Elections Canada to help students understand Canada’s elections and democracy in a global context. Each article examines an aspect of elections and democracy and provides a variety of examples from within Canada and abroad.
On this page, you’ll find ideas for using this series to spark discussion in the classroom, as well as discussion prompts specific to each article.
Classroom ideas for any article
- Ask students how Canada’s elections and democracy are similar to, or different from, others. They can share their thinking using a graphic organizer like a Venn diagram.
- After the students read one of the articles, have them talk with a partner to make personal connections. For example, they may have experiences of voting or group decision making in Canada or in other countries.
- Choose one article that has strong connections to current events. Ask students to make notes in the text of anything interesting or important and to write at least one question that they have after reading the article. Get the students to launch their own inquiries using their observations and questions.
If your students have questions about how Canada’s electoral system compares with that of the United States, you could use the lesson: Comparing Electoral Systems: Canada and the United States.
Articles
Below are suggested discussion prompts for specific articles.
Democracy
This article is about different types of democracies and other systems of government. Students will explore examples of democratic principles in Canada and around the world.
Read the article: [View online] [Printable PDF]
Discussion prompts:
- Before having your students read the article, ask them to share what they already know about democracy. As a class, make a list of the characteristics of democracies and other systems. After the students read the article, have them add new information to the list.
- Representative, direct, participatory—how does Canada’s system include each of these kinds of democracy?
- Describe the relationship between the different types of democracies and other systems. Represent the relationship visually—using a family tree, a Euler diagram, a continuum or some other diagram of your choice.
Learn more about Canada’s Elections.
Voting Methods
This article is about different voting methods in Canada and around the world. Students will learn that no matter how people vote, what matters most is that the method is secure, accessible and respects the voter’s choice.
Read the article: [View online] [Printable PDF]
Discussion prompts:
- What are some ways that you’ve voted before? For example, you might have voted in a classroom, in a group, in your family or in a community setting.
- What methods other than voting have you used to make a group decision?
- Did it feel more or less fair than voting? Why or why not?
- In some places, political parties and candidates use symbols to identify themselves. What symbols would you propose for some parties or candidates in Canada?
- Contact a local Indigenous governing body and ask how voting happens today in the community or organization. How is it different from and similar to the ways that decisions were made in the past?
- Voting methods around the world need to balance security and accessibility while respecting the voter’s choice.
- Explain how two different voting methods from this article meet these criteria.
- Make recommendations on ways to improve voting methods in Canada’s federal elections. Consider sharing them with your member of Parliament.
- Extend your learning: Research voting methods in another country or place of your choice and assess how well the method meets the three criteria.
Learn more about Canada’s Election Process.
Electoral Systems
This article is about different electoral systems around the world, such as plurality, majority and proportional representation systems. Students learn about the main features of first-past-the-post and other electoral systems, like runoff, party-list and mixed-member systems.
Read the article: [View online] [Printable PDF]
Discussion prompts:
- Compare and contrast Canada’s electoral system with another system described in the article. Use a graphic organizer like a Venn diagram to show your thinking.
- Get students to look up what kind of electoral system is used in a local election in their community, or a faraway one. This could be for a student council, an organization’s board, a band office or another country.
- Ask students to take a position on their preferred electoral system and gather evidence from the article to support their position. To share their findings, students could hold a U-shaped discussion, or they could write a paragraph or create a poster, video or infographic.
- Have students examine the effects of different electoral systems on representation in a legislature.
- For example, you could have the students analyze the results of the last federal election by candidate and by political party: How would the representation in the House of Commons change under a different system? In what ways would it remain the same? What other information do you need? What assumptions are you making to predict the results under a different system?