Forms of Government and Human Rights

Learning Intentions

Students learn about:

• The role of the rule of law in maintaining democratic systems.-

• How human rights are protected by democratic governments compared to other systems of government.

Success Criteria

Students can:

• Explain how the rule of law acts to support democracy and human rights.

• Compare and contrast how human rights are recognised and protected by different forms of government using contemporary examples.

• Discuss how human rights are best protected by democratic systems of government.

Part I – Types of Government Structure

Class Discussion: Exploring different government structures (forms of governance)

Teacher to display Rule of Law Education Centre resource The Five Main Forms of Governance on the screen and select students to read out the descriptions of each government structure.

Teacher then leads a discussion that helps students to compare types with others that appear on the screen. Questions to explore key differences may include:

• Identification of differences in the forms of governance such as:

  • Who holds the power?

  • Who makes the laws?

  • Is there freedom of speech? and

  • Are the people able to hold those in power responsible for their decisions? (You may wish to explore the concept of accountability more with our Governance Structures resource from our Informed civics program)

• List some human rights that can be impacted by the form of governance such as:

  • freedom of speech,

  • freedom to vote,

  • right to fair trial,

  • freedom to choose who to marry, and

  • freedom to work

• Based on the information you have, which system of government do you believe would be the best at protecting human rights? Why?•

• Students asked to classify what type of governance Australia has. Encourage students to justify their choice through the use of “what makes you say that” style questioning.

Part II – Student Activity - Source-Analysis

Background information

A ceremony and military parade were held on 3rd September 2025 in Beijing, China, to mark 80 years since Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II. Following the military parade, a group photo was taken of the attendees that included Vladimir Putin (Russia), Xi Jinping (China), Kim Jong-Un (North Korea) and Daniel Andrews (former Victorian Premier).

Following the release of the photo, there was significant media attention as to whether the presence of Daniel Andrews was appropriate, standing alongside world leaders considered to be dictators and autocrats.

But who was in the photo and what do we know about the forms of government they represent? Do they come from countries that protect human rights or ignore them?

Source analysis instructions

1. Group Photo:

Share the link below with students so they all have access to the group photo taken following the military parade in Beijing. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/sep/04/who-else-dan-andrews-group-photo-xi-putin-kim-china-military-parade2.

Activity 1 - Human Rights Indexes Research

Split the class into groups of 3. Ensure each group has access to a Governance Card Template (see Appendix A to this document for the template for printing or sharing online)

.Using the Who is in Daniel Andrew's Group Photo? part of the article, students are to research the countries represented and the governance type in that country. Teachers can either allocate the countries to groups or students can choose, as long as all countries are researched for comparison.

The countries to be researched are: China, Russia, North Korea, Indonesia, Turkey, Iran, Nicaragua, Kazakhstan, Romania and Brazil.

Once each group has a country, they will be given time to research and fill in the blanks of the card by visiting various democracy / rule of law indexes. The recommended sources are:

• World Justice Project Rule of Law Index

• Freedom House Freedom Map

• Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index

• World Bank GDP per capita

While students research, they should also consider how the type of governance impacts on the protection of Human Rights. They can use the following questions to guide them:

• What are some of the factors that have led to these countries ranking so poorly in these indexes?

• Is the right to vote in a democracy the most important way that human rights are protected?

• What if the government can send you to jail without a proper and fair trial, what if you cannot speak openly and make criticism of the government and there is no free press?

• What if those in power control the judges and the decisions they make?

Activity 2 - The Rule of Law Inverse Pyramid

Once they have completed the research task above, this activity then encourages students to considers the different conditions that lead to anarchy and tyranny in a country. Many of these conditions are the opposite of those articulated in the Rule of Law Wheel.

Instructions:

Teacher to introduce students to the idea that there are many elements that are needed to work together to protect the rule of law and democratic systems, and therefore human rights. Teacher should then introduce the Inverse Rule of Law Pyramid and ask students to consider

the information within:

Then using the Pyramid, teacher encourages students to identify 3 examples from their country case study of where the inverse pyramid conditions have been met and how this has led to a violation of human rights.

Culminating Activity – Group Presentations

Students have the option to present their findings for their case study in a variety of mediums including digital video, news article, news broadcast, digital infographic, physical poster, PowerPoint, and more as per appropriate to the class.

After each group has presented, give students the opportunity to answer 2 reflection questions.

Reflection Activity:

1. Read the following quote from UNESCO.

“Democracy is as much a process as a goal, and only with the full participation of and support by the international community, national governing bodies, civil society and individuals, can the ideal of democracy be made into a reality to be enjoyed by everyone, everywhere.

The values of freedom, respect for human rights and the principle of holding periodic and genuine elections by universal suffrage are essential elements of democracy. In turn, democracy provides the natural environment for the protection and effective realization of human rights.” https://www.unesco.org/en/days/democracy2.

2.Answer the following questions:

• How does the type of government influence the protection of human rights

• Justify whether a functioning democracy can exist without the rule of law