4. What is Democracy???
• Democracy is generally defined as a form of
government in which all adult citizens have an
equal say in the decisions that affect their
lives.
18
Many of the democratic traditions that Canadians enjoy today
are the result of England's battles with government.
6. Gaddafi Ruled Libya like an
“Absolute Monarch”
• A King, Queen or Emperor with unlimited
power.
Some of the things Gaddafi did while in Power:
•Gadaffi limited the average wage of Libians to $200 a month
•He burnt down the land registry building
•He confiscated commercial and private property and gave it to his family
•He made a sudden and un notified change in Libian currency
•He supported terrorist organizations with millions of tax dollars
•He ordered the massacre of over 1200 political prisoners in
•Over 500 children got HIV due to poor sterilization equipment in the hospital
•Used libian women as personal body guards
7. Who would be the closest thing to a
Monarch in Canada?
• Stephen Harper
Who would be the closest thing to a
Monarch in the US?
•Barrack Obama
8. Why do we no longer refer to our
countries leaders as Monarchs
• A monarchy is a form of government in which
the head of state is usually held until death or
resignation and is often hereditary
9. What is Parliament?
• Parliament is a group of individuals elected to
represent those who elected them.
• They act as advisors to the Monarch/Prime
Minister/President
• They have the power to pass, amend, and
repeal laws.
• They also have the power to raise or lower
taxes and adopt a budget
10. When Monarchs listen to Parliament
and rule according to laws, what do we
call this???
A Constitutional Monarchy
A monarchy in which the monarch rules according
to the constitution and laws of the nation
(Constitution: A body of fundamental principles or
established precedents according to which a state or
other organization is acknowledged to be governed)
11. Queen Elizabeth upheld a Constitutional Monarchy
She recognized the
importance of democratic
traditions and working with
Parliament as England had
had a parliament since about
AD550.
AD stands for “anno domini" which means "in the year of our Lord.“
12. When Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, her
successor James I chose to rule as an Absolute
Monarch.
13. What are Civil Rights???
• The rights of a citizen!
freedom of protection from
thought discrimination
•Speech •Disability •Age
•Religion •Gender •Sexual
•the press •Race •Orientation
•movement •Ethnicity
16. James had no respect for Civil Rights,
he introduced what he called “the
Divine Right of Kings”
•In this case, the word “divine” means “coming from
God”. James believed his powers as ruler came
directly from God, and that he was God’s
representative on earth. Since his powers came from
God, his decisions could not be questioned by
ordinary people.
17. “The Divine Right of Kings” did not go over
well because in 1215 the “Magna Carta”
was signed by the King of England and
people had become accustomed to for
nearly 400 years.
18. Magna Carta
• The Great Charter which guaranteed the English people
certain civil rights.
• It recognized individual freedoms and required the Monarch
to consult an elect parliament and to rule lawfully.
Charter: a paper defining a rights and privileges
19. The Magna Carta Charter Stated
• The King could not introduce new taxes
without parliaments consent
• Any person accused of a crime was guaranteed
the right to a trial by a jury of his peers
• The King could not keep his soldiers in
peoples’ homes & could not use army to
maintain order during peacetime
20. Do we have something similar to the
Magna Carta in Canada?
The Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms
