Exercise 7.2. – My feelings about dictatorship

Living Democracy » Textbooks » Exercise 7.2. – My feelings about dictatorship
Educational objectives The students can define and judge elements of democracy and dictatorship.
The students can make a deliberate choice of values and argue for them.
Resources Poster and markers or blackboard and chalk.

Procedure

  1. The students are asked to define the characteristic traits of dictatorship.
    The list might contain points such as the following:

    – anti-Semitism – the role of women as reproducers
    – ethnic cleansing – repression of sexual minorities
    – torture – submission to authority
    – conditioning – pressure from peers to conform
    – the cult of power, individuals or the military – the demand to be led
    – view of criticism as destructive – rejection of minorities
  2. Referring to the list, the students try to answer the question, “To what extent does this situation affect me?”
  3. The students are asked to place these items on a scale, starting with the trait they feel strengest about.

Extension and variation

The features of dictatorship can be related to examples from news reports, films or textbooks. The same exercise could be done on democracy.

Exercise 7.1. - The wall of silence
Exercise 7.3. - Questionnaire on attitudes to change
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