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HUMAN RIGHTS FOR ALL
SAMPLE LESSON
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Trudy-Ann
Forbes at tforbes@streetlaw.org.
CHAPTER 2: Political Rights in
a Democracy
A. Is it important to participate
in government?
Participation in your society can take many
forms. We define participation as taking
part in the public life of your community
and society. Some people think it is important
to participate, while others do not.
Assume you have just arrived
in a new-formed
country. You are eager to get
started, to
get to work building a new society.
You have
heard that there are all kinds
of possibilities
to create good government. Then
you overhear
the following conversation among
a group
of your fellow new arrivals:
Citizen 1:
"Where I came from, no one cared much
about politics and government. We we always
too busy with our daily lives. So here I
probably won't want to bother with politics
either."
Citizen 2:
"That's the way it is in our country...and
I never really understood what was going
on among the leaders. They made it seem so
complicate and made it very easy for us not
to bother trying to understand."
Citizen 3:
"Well, it was different in our country:
We tried but people who had power wouldn't
let us get involved and we were threatened
if we did try. So finally we gave up trying
to participate."
Citizen 4:
"In my country we had elections and
our leaders promised us good government.
But it never turned out that way. The leaders
used government to get rich. all leaders
are corrupt.
PROBLEM ONE
Some questions on participation
1. Role-play the above conversation.
2. What are the four main views expressed
by the citizens about participation? Do you
agree? Why or why not?
3. What will the four citizens lose by not
participating? What benefits do you think
individuals will receive from participating?
4. What benefits do you think the new country
would receive form individuals participating?
5. What are the possible risks
or losses
involved if one chooses to participate?
6. Weighing benefits and risks,
do you think
it is worthwhile participating?
Government affects people's lives in lot
of ways. By participating in government people
can
have a voice in decisions made
by the government.
In every society someone is going
to make
the decisions. If people choose
not to participate,
they will not have a say in those
decisions.
These decisions can include such
things as:
1. how much people will have
to pay in taxes,
2. whether the society will get
involved
in a war,
3. who is going to own and control
the country's
natural resources.
Depending on how the government is structured,
decisions can be made at different levels,
including national, regional and local. Some
decisions, such as those about military power,
are often made nationally, while others,
such as those concerning transport and roads,
are often made regionally. Still others,
such as those about rubbish collection, are
frequently made locally.
Problem Two
How does the Government affect
your Life?
1. Tell the story of a recent
day in your
life: Where you went, what you
wore, saw,
ate, said, learned and did. List
whether
each thing that you mentioned
was affected
by government, including national,
regional
and/or local government.
2. Assume your that government is a democracy
where all citizens are given an equal opportunity
to participate without their human rights
being violated. Which of the items in your
daily life, which you listed as being affected
by government, do you think would have to
change? Explain your thinking.
How can people participate in
democratic
government?
Many people believe that the greatest opportunity
to participate in government is available
in a free and open democracy. This type of
government means that the people themselves
gain power and govern usually by the rule
of the majority. Some countries are democracies
in name only and people are not really allowed
to participate. If a democracy is created,
the people can choose to participate.
Problem Three
Ways of Participating in Democracy.
Before reading the list on the next page,
write down all the ways you think people
can use to participate in democracy.
Participation may take many forms
including:
1. reading about issues and leaders.
2. writing about issues and leaders.
3. debating issues.
4. working in the community in support of
a particular cause or in protest against
government action.
5. forming or joining political
parties or
other community or grass roots
organizations.
6. attending political or community
meetings.
7. becoming a leader of a political
party,
a labor organization or community
organization.
8. voting in elections.
9. campaigning for those standing
for office.
10. standing for office and serving
if elected.
11. paying taxes.
12. lobbying.
13. serving in the military.
14. using existing legal channels
such as
contacting government officials,
taking cases
to court, etc.
15. protesting by demonstrations,
boycotts,
strikes, etc.
Problem Four
Political Participation and Human
Rights
1. Do you believe that any or
all of the
above forms of political participation
are
human rights?
Should they all be protected
by law? Why
or why not?
2. Which forms can you now use
in your country
to participate? Which forms can
you not use?
Explain.
3. Should laws also protect the
right not
to participate? Explain.
Problem Five
The Case of the School Boycott
In one country, schools for one ethnic group
are much worse than those for all the others.
Their schools have no libraries, laboratories,
gymnasiums or playgrounds, while schools
for the other ethnic groups have all these
things. They have no school buses, so even
the youngest children usually have to walk
as much a s several kilometers. Old textbooks
are shared among children sitting on wooden
benches. Class sizes are as big as 50 pupils
and more. Teachers may teach five or six
classes in a single subject, and have time
only to read and correct one composition
a month from each student.
Because of these conditions,
students of
the less privileged ethnic group
decide to
boycott their schools. They believe
boycotts
are the only way to get what
they want. There
are some students of the same
ethnic group,
however, whose parents do not
agree with
the boycott. They demand that
their children
continue to attend school. Many
see education
as the ladder to a higher standard
of living,
and as the freedom road itself.
Therefore,
some of the students choose not
to participate
in the boycott.
1. Assume students in each group wished to
convince others to agree with them. Role-play
a discussion between the students.
2. Why did some students want
to boycott
their schools?
3. Why did some students oppose
the boycott?
Is their refusal to participate
a violation
of the rights of the students
who wish to
boycott?
4. Was the method used to convince
the students
to boycott a violation of their
human rights?
If so, are there any methods
you think would
have been better to use? Describe
them.
5. Should laws and the government protect
this small number of parents and their children
against threats and the use of force if these
children choose not to participate in the
school boycott? Why or why not? Explain your
thinking.
6. Assume students who are against
the boycott
wish to convince other students
not to boycott.
If the boycotting students do
not allow them
to speak to others, have their
human rights
been violated? If yes, how?
Human Rights Documents and Political
Participation
The UDHR as well as other international
and
regional human rights documents
state that
people have the right to political
participation.
According to Article 21 of the
UDHR: "You
have the right to take part in
your country's
political affairs either by belonging
to
the government yourself or by
choosing politicians
who have the ideas you most agree
with. Governments
should be voted for regularly,
you should
get a vote and all votes should
be equal."
The African Charter, in Article
13, states:
"Every citizen has the right
to take
part in the government of his
or her country."
Both the UDHR and the African
Charter protect
the basic right to take part
in peaceful
meetings. They specifically say
that it is
wrong to force someone to belong
to a group.
And, while the UDHR, the African
Charter
and other human rights documents
do not use
the word "democracy,"
many people
argue that the rights and freedoms
they protect
are actually what democracy is
all about.
Problem Six
Are Equal Votes Required?
Assume that in a country the
majority of
people (75 percent) are of one
ethnic group
and the minority (25 percent),
are of another.
A law is passed which states
that each person's
vote will be equally counted
in every election.
1. Do you agree with this law?
Explain.
2. Assume that most of the minority
groups
lives in certain areas. Should
they be able
to make laws for their own areas
or should
the majority make laws for all?
3. The minority proposes that the parliament
be made up of 20 people from each of the
five areas. Two of the five are areas in
which the minority group live and will control
in an election. If the proposal is passed,
will it violate anyone's human rights?
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