The second edition of Democracy for All: Learner’s Manual is aimed at young people, adults, students and teachers. The book explains how the international community understands democracy, and explores what democracy means to each of us. Democracy for All also explains how government works in a democracy, how the abuse of power is checked, how human rights support democracy, how democratic elections take place, and how citizens can participate in democracy.

The objectives of the book are:

• To improve students’ understanding of the fundamental principles and values underlying democracy in society;
• To promote awareness of the current issues and controversies relating to democracy;
• To show students that their participation can make a difference to how democracy functions in their country;
• To foster justice, tolerance and fairness;
• To develop students’ willingness and ability to resolve disputes and differences without resorting to violence;
• To improve basic skills, including critical thinking and reasoning, communication, observation and problem-solving.

Democracy for All uses a variety of student-centered activities, including case studies, role-plays, simulations, small-group discussions, opinion polls and debates. The companion volume, entitled Democracy for All: Educator’s Manual, explains how the lessons in the Learner’s Manual can be conducted and provides solutions to the problems.

What is democracy

• Defining democracy
  • Exercise 1: Who will govern the shipwrecked children?
  • Exercise 2: Drawing a Democracy Tree: what does democracy mean to you?
• Democracy and power
  • Exercise 3: Who has power?
• Types of democracy
  • Exercise 4: Helping to choose the best type of democracy
• The difference between democracy and dictatorship
  • Exercise 5: What kind of government is it?
• Types of representative democracy
  • Exercise 6: Parliamentary versus presidential democracy
• Fundamental principles of democracy
  • Exercise 7: On the road to democracy
• Signposts to democracy
  • Exercise 8: Is Democratia on the road to democracy?
• Expectations of democracy
  • Exercise 9: A conversation about democracy
• You and democracy
  • Exercise 10: Do you think democratically?

How government works in a democracy

• A constitution and a bill of rights 
  • Exercise 1: Which constitutional provisions support or prevent democracy?
• Drafting a constitution 
  • Exercise 2: A debate on allowing 16-year-olds to vote
• Changing the constitution
  • Exercise 3: Debating corporal punishment in schools 
• Structure of government
  • Exercise 4: Dividing powers among national, provincial and local governments
  • Exercise 5: What is the role of a chief in a rural area in a democracy?
• Branches of government: the legislature
  • Exercise 6: A mock parliamentary debate on the death penalty 
  • Exercise 7: Should ‘vote-trading’ be allowed in parliament? 
• Branches of government: the executive 
  • Exercise 8: Police action and the rule of law
• Branches of government: the judiciary 
  • Exercise 9: Dismissal of judges
• Role of government in the economy
  • Exercise 10: Should the mines be nationalised? 
• Role of local government in democracy 
  • Exercise 11: What is the role of local government in service delivery? 

Checking the abuse of power

• What is abuse of power? 
  • Exercise 1: Identifying abuse of power 
• Accountability and transparency 
  • Exercise 2: The Hope High School Case 
  • Exercise 3: Should the government limit accountability?
  • Exercise 4: The weapon of mass destruction TV debate 
  • Exercise 5: Did the state of emergency limit accountability? 
• Domestic methods of checking the abuse of power 
  • Exercise 6: Is the head of state above the law?
  • Exercise 7: The Drankengate case 
  • Exercise 8: The Independent Broadcaster bans footage of violent protests
  • Exercise 9 Were the procedures fair?
  • Exercise 10: Which Chapter 9 institution can assist?
  • Exercise 11: Public Protector or commission: Which should be used?
• International methods of checking the abuse of power 
  • Exercise 12: Should the international community intervene? 
  • Exercise 13: How can the abuse of power be checked? 
  • Exercise 14: Should information about a drug investigation be disclosed? 

Human rights and democracy

• What are human rights? 
  • Exercise 1: Defining human rights
• Different types of human rights
• Which rights should be in a bill of rights? 
  • Exercise 2: Choose your rights 
  • Exercise 3: Should social and economic rights be included in a Bill of Rights? 
  • Exercise 4: Should a bill of rights operate vertically or horizontally? 
  • Exercise 5: Should these actions be allowed? 
• How human rights make democracy succeed
  • Exercise 6: Which rights help democracy to succeed? 
  • Exercise 7: Should the expression be allowed? 
  • Exercise 8: Was freedom of association violated? 
  • Exercise 9: Should private security and the police have been called by the university to prevent demonstrations by students demanding free university education? 
  • Exercise 10: Political tolerance – Should the march be allowed? 
  • Exercise 11: Drawing an equality wheel
  • Exercise 12: Was the discrimination reasonable or fair?
  • Exercise 13: Does the university’s policy bring about equality?
• Conflicting human rights in a democracy 
  • Exercise 14: Conflicting rights 
  • Exercise 15: Making choices at the chief’s council meeting
• Is it ever justified to suspend human rights in a democracy?
  • Exercise 16: Was the suspension of human rights justified?

Elections

• Elections and voting
  • Exercise 1: Sharing your voting experience
• Who can vote? 
  • Exercise 2: Who should be allowed to vote?
• Political parties in elections
  • Exercise 3: Proportional representation or individual representation: Which is better?
  • Exercise 4: A speech by the People’s Party
• Multi-party democracy
  • Exercise 5: Some questions on multi-party democracy
• Candidates in an election
  • Exercise 6: Describing your perfect political candidate
  • Exercise 7: The case of the screening law
• Free and fair elections
  • Exercise 8: Should political parties be required to disclose who funds them?
  • Exercise 9: Were the elections free and fair?
• Frequency of elections
  • Exercise 10: How often should elections be held?
• Voting procedures
  • Exercise 11: At the voting station
  • Exercise 12: What should international monitors do?
• Political tolerance and elections
  • Exercise 13: How politically tolerant are you?
  • Exercise 14: A political party is denied a hall for a meeting
  • Exercise 15: What are the benefits of a multi-cultural society?
• After the election: Accepting defeat
  • Exercise 16: The President declares the election invalid

Citizen participation

• What is citizen participation?
  • Exercise 1: The search for the perfect citizen
• Becoming informed
  • Exercise 2: How to become informed
  • Exercise 3: Separating fact from opinion
  • Exercise 4: Discussing the Marikana massacre
  • Exercise 5: The case of the anti-Pinko party
• Participation in civil society
  • Exercise 6: The case of the inadequate school facilities
• Participation in party politics
• How citizens can change public policy
  • Exercise 7: Lobbying the Commissioner of Correctional Services
  • Exercise 8: Commission on violent DVDs
• Protests and demonstrations
  • Exercise 9: The flag-burning case
  • Exercise 10: Parents shut down public schools because of teacher shortages
• Responsibilities towards other citizens
  • Exercise 11: Citizen action against pollution

• Law clinics
• Law teachers and students
• Community law centres
• Government departments
• Police and Correctional Services officers
• Security officers
• Trade unions
• NGOs