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Grade 4 Social Studies · World 4: A New Government · Level 33
A Republic
Explain how representative democracy works.
Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.
What children learn in Level 33
- Imagine if every American had to vote on every law. There are millions of people and thousands of laws. No one would have time for anything else.
- So the founders built a republic, also called a representative democracy. Citizens elect people to make decisions for them. Those people are their representatives.
- In a direct democracy, people vote on each law themselves. Some New England towns still do it for local matters. It only works in small places.
- Georgia's voters elect two senators and fourteen members of the House. They also elect the governor and the General Assembly.
- Representatives work for the people. If voters don't like what they do, they can elect someone else. That's how consent of the governed works every day.
Georgia Standards of Excellence in Social Studies:
- SS4CG1.d — Representative democracy/republic