Democratic Struggles

At a glance

• Student introduction
• Focus question 1: What is democracy and what was Australia like before we had it?
• Focus question 2: How did democracy develop in Britain?
• Focus question 3: What influence did the Chartists have on the goldfields and did the struggle at Eureka contribute to the establishment of democracy in Australia?
• Focus question 4: To what extent and when were the Chartists' six points achieved in Australia?
• Focus question 5: Why didn't all adults get the vote at Federation and how did those excluded work to achieve it?

Focus question 1: What is democracy and what was Australia like before we had it?

Content	Activities (Assessment activities are in bold italics.)	Preparation
Introduction to key elements of democracy	Comprehension: eligibility to vote Analysis: aspects of democracy Exploration exercises: secret ballot and unequally sized electorates

Teaching and learning activities

Focus question 2: How did democracy develop in Britain?

Content	Activities (Assessment activities are in bold italics.)	Preparation
The Chartists and their struggle for democracy	Notation: the Chartists' six points Comprehension: primary sources Oral work and comprehension: Chartist speeches Options: letter completion; preamble construction; speech preparation; poster design Comprehension: primary sources Research and summary	Provide access to the interactive on the Parliament at Work CD ROM
Strategies of the Chartists	Analysis and discussion: the comparative effectiveness of various methods of political agitation	Provide access to Stories of Democracy CD ROM for downloading material
A current reform movement Achievement of Chartist goals	Research activity Analysis: Chartist achievements	Provide access to newspapers or set as a homework task

Teaching and learning activities

Focus question 3: What influence did the Chartists have on the goldfields and did the struggle at Eureka contribute to the establishment of democracy in Australia?

Content	Activities (Assessment activities are in bold italics.)	Preparation
Fictional Eureka stories	Reading and comprehension
Timeline of events at Ballarat	Analysis: impact of Chartism at Eureka
The impact of Eureka	Discussion Interactive: The mining game Review and summary: create the front page of a contemporary newspaper Research: one of the main characters involved in Eureka	Provide access to Stories of Democracy CD ROM for interactive Provide poster paper Provide access to Stories of Democracy CD ROM for research

Teaching and learning activities

Focus question 4: To what extent and when were the Chartists' six points achieved in Australia?

Content	Activities (Assessment activities are in bold italics.)	Preparation
	Research: achievement of the Chartists' goals in Britain, the colonies and the nation	Provide access to Parliament at Work CD ROM Parliament@Work website

Teaching and learning activities

Focus question 5: Why didn't all adults get the vote at Federation and how did those excluded work to achieve it?

Content	Activities (Assessment activities are in bold italics.)	Preparation
Why women didn't have the vote	Summary and analysis of primary sources for female suffrage: arguments for and against
Methods used by women to gain the vote	Summary and analysis of primary sources: methods used by the suffragists Dialogue preparation: Suffragist League meeting
Why some Aboriginal people lost the vote following Federation; Aboriginal people's struggles for full citizenship status	Comprehension and analysis of primary sources: reasons some Aboriginal people lost the vote following Federation
The 1967 Referendum	Comprehension and analysis: campaign strategies of the 1967 Referendum
A timeline of Aboriginal people's achievement of the right to vote	Comprehension and discussion: citizens' rights; the development of Aboriginal franchise and its impact on other rights; commonalities and differences among the goals and methods of these democratic struggles Creation of a charter which has contemporary and future relevance

Teaching and learning activities