Workbook 18 Activity 2

 

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Activity 2: The Political Continuum-Left or Right?

Get Focused

Where do you stand on various issues?

Complete the Let's Get Political Quiz and consider your point of view for each issue.

Click on one of the links below to access the quiz.

Let's Get Political Quiz (Word)
Let's Get Political Quiz (pdf)
Let's Get Political Quiz (Google Doc)

Find out what type of person you are by reading the information on the second page.

Several of the issues in the Let's Get Political Quiz are discussed by citizens in Canada and the United States regularly. These are issues because not everyone is in agreement; in fact, this disagreement on various issues results in the formation of political parties and of changes in their views. The Liberal and Conservative parties of Canada and the Democratic and Republican parties of the United States may have differing views on these issues.

Imagine that a federal election is announced and that you have the opportunity to participate. If you were to choose a political party to support, do you have the information you need? Often, the political and economic decisions made by your government influence the choices you make.

Information on where a party stands on the issues that are important to you and your community is often the basis for making an informed decision on which party to vote for. Decisions are based on what people see as important to their quality of life.

With various economic philosophies come differing economic perspectives and potential social impacts.

You will see how these varying perspectives are reflected in the economic platforms of the political parties in United States and Canada.

platform: a statement that describes the position of a political party on a major issue

 Vocabulary

Add the definition for the term platform to your Issues for Canadians Definitions handout.

As you continue through this activity, you may add to this definition.

Save your updated handout to your Activities folder.

In this activity, you will begin to investigate the economic platforms of political parties-in particular, those of the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States and those of the Liberal and Conservative parties in Canada. These four political parties have each held power at various times in their respective nations.

Through this exploration, you will consider how government decisions impact quality of life.

You will explore these focusing questions:

• How do the platforms of political parties differ from one another?
• Which party has an economic platform that could best improve my quality of life?