World Geography
Government Role Play:
Governing the People of “Sage”
Part I. The Kingdom of Sage
Focus on Monarchy:A monarchy is a type of government which is controlled by a royal family. The leader of a monarchy is determined by familial lineage. This means that the person who is in charge of the royal family is also in charge of the government, usually the oldest male or female. The person who is in charge of making and enforcing the laws is sometimes referred to as a king or a queen. Power is passed down through each generation. For example, when the king/queen dies, their oldest son/daughter becomes the new leader. In a pure monarchy, the king or queen holds all of the decision making power. The people have very little say in government. Qatar and Saudi Arabia are both controlled by monarchies. England has a monarchy too, but it is only symbolic. The royal family in England has no power to make laws.
The Kingdom of Sage has been ruled for centuries by members of one royal family. The country is filled with an abundance of precious natural resources like gold and silver, but these minerals must be mined under very dangerous conditions. The current King and Queen own several grandiose palaces, and they are accustomed to a life of great luxury. In order to satisfy their very expensive tastes, many, many citizens of the country must work long, hard hours each day with very little pay. The majority of the population must rise at the crack of dawn and work late into the evening with little time to rest their weary bones. Education and opportunities for a better life are available to only a small group of selected citizens.
Lately, there has been talk of unrest in the land. The neighboring Kingdoms of Turquoise and Ruby are threatening to invade, and the King and Queen fear for their power and their safety. There are few people they can trust to advise and protect them.
Directions: Answer the following questions using your knowledge of government systems and your role play experience. Questions 2 – 6 must be answered in complete sentences.
1. What type of government does the Kingdom of Sage have? ______
2. How do you know? What specific evidence supports your answer? ______
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3. Were the resources distributed evenly by the leaders? In not, explain. ______
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4. Was this a fair way to govern a country? Why or why not? ______
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5. Did the citizens have a lot of power under this government system? Explain. ______
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6. If people are unhappy under this government system, what can they do about it? ______
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Part II. The People’s Republic of Sage
Focus on Dictatorship:A dictatorship is a government in which one person is in charge of making the rules. That one person has absolute power in determining what the laws will be, how they will be enforced and what the consequences are for breaking those laws. The leaders of dictatorships are not elected. They come to power by force (i.e. violently overthrowing the previous government). The people living under dictatorships have very little power. All of the power rests in the hands of the leader (sometimes referred to as a dictator). In a dictatorship, the leader does not have to obey the laws. There are many different types of dictatorships. Military dictatorships are governments run by the leader of the military. Communist dictatorships are governments run by the head of the communist party. North Korea is an example of a military-communist dictatorship.
After years of rule by a selfish king and queen, the people of the beautiful Kingdom of Sage were growing increasingly frustrated. One day, a young charismatic student gathered the people and said, “Listen, comrades, life is unfair under these leaders. They work us almost to death so that they can live a life of luxury. But what is in it for us? We live in a land of abundant resources but we don’t benefit from this wealth. We do all the work but we get nothing for it. It isn’t right. We need a system where wealth is more evenly distributed and all our needs are met. Help me to overthrow these leaders and I will establish a government under which we will live and work in harmony for the good of the whole community. Trust me.”
The people rose up and toppled the monarchy. Private property and resources were taken from the rich and the new leader decided how best to redistribute them among the people.
Directions: Answer the following questions using your knowledge of government systems and your role play experience. Questions 2 – 5 must be answered in complete sentences.
1. What type of government/economic system does the People’s Republic of Sage have? ______
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2. How do you know? What specific evidence supports your answer? ______
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3. This system is based on the theory that the government will divide a country’s resources evenly among its citizens. Did that happen in our classroom? Why or why not? ______
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4. Do you think it would ever be possible for a government to divide all of a country’s resources evenly? Explain. ______
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7. Was this a fair way to govern a country? Why or why not? ______
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8. Did the citizens have a lot of power under this government system? Explain. ______
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Caution: you are entering the land of Sage – danger ahead
Part III. The Land of Sage
Focus on Anarchy:Anarchy is a system of government in which there is no government. Confused? Keep reading. Anarchy is the belief that government is an unnecessary and evil part of society. Anarchists believe that government is merely a tool used by the wealthy, powerful people to keep the rest of the citizens living in poverty. Anarchists believe that all governments should be abolished and replaced with voluntary cooperation amongst civilians. In other words, everyone in a country would work together to accomplish the things that governments typically do; only no one person (or group of people) would be in charge. Countries do not exist in a state of anarchy for very long periods of time. A country may be described as being in a “state of anarchy” during times of war or if its government collapses. Some argue that Afghanistan is currently in a state of anarchy because of the on-going war there.
The fighting escalated and the communist dictator lost power and fled the country. The beautiful land of Sage was soon torn apart by bitter fighting. With no government in place to protect the country from outside threats, the Kingdom of Ruby invaded from the north, and the Kingdom of Turquoise claimed land and resources in the south.
The former kingdom of Sage was reduced to half its former size. There were no police officers to keep order and there were no longer any laws to enforce. To add to the misery, the elderly and weak had nobody to help them. The kingdom of Sage had fallen into a state of “anarchy.”
1. What is anarchy? ______
You must include the goal of anarchy in your response
2. What do anarchists believe will happen when government has been abolished? ______
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3. Explain what happened when anarchy took place in our classroom. Did the students act cooperatively to distribute the beads? Support your statements with specific incidents that happened during our simulation.
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4. Do you think anarchy could ever work? Explain why or why not.
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The United States of Sage – A Democracy
Focus on Democracy:A democracy is a type of government in which the people make and enforce the laws. Under direct democracy, the citizens propose and vote on various laws directly. In a representative (or indirect) democracy, the people elect leaders who make and enforce the laws on their behalf. If people are unhappy with the laws being made by the government, then they will elect new leaders to run the country. Democracies are examples of limited governments because all people, even the government leaders, must obey the laws. In most democracies, the people have a lot of freedom and power. The United States is an example of a democracy.
1. What is a democracy? ______
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2. What type of democracy did we experience during today’s simulation – direct democracy or representative democracy. Provide evidence from today’s simulation to support your answer. ______
You must define direct democracy or representative democracy in your response.
3. What methods did our class president use to get elected? ______
Think about specific things the president did during his/her campaign speech that persuaded the voters
4. Did the president come through on his/her campaign promises? Explain. ______
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5. Do you think the president we elected in class today would be “reelected” if we held another election? Why or why not?
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