Politicians: standards of behaviour

Politicians regularly feature on front pages around the world. However, with increasing numbers of headlines about “criminality”, “corruption” and “cluelessness”, it seems standards are slipping. So what should people expect of politicians? And what counts as acceptable or unacceptable behaviour in politics?

Published 11 September 2023

This lesson is more than a year old. Please check the facts before teaching to ensure they are up-to-date and still correct.

Created with support from expert journalists at The Economist, this 6-hour Special Edition helps 10 to 16-year-olds set their own expectations for politicians by evaluating examples of politicians' behaviour in the news.

In Lessons 1 to 4, students build their knowledge to make informed opinions about politicians' standards; and the final two lessons support learners to plan, create and share Standpoints – their final say – presented in either audio, video or written format.

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