Free teaching resources about the decline of democracy

Published 21 March 2025

Every year The Economist Intelligence Unit publishes its Democracy Index to review the state of global democracy. In this lesson students will explore the index and ask: is it always straightforward?

Skills and knowledge

Every lesson has a skill and knowledge focus. Click to see this lesson's focus and some of the questions students will answer

Listening

Step 1: I listen to others and can remember short instructions
Did you listen to and remember the instructions when organising the news stories on the scale?
Step 5: I listen to others and can ask questions if I don’t understand
Did you listen to others when discussing the challenge cards and ask questions if you didn’t understand?
Step 11: I listen critically and compare different perspectives
Did you listen to the news story examples compare the different country perspectives?
Knowledge

I know what a democratic and authoritarian regimes are and can explain examples from the news
What are democratic and authoritarian regimes? What examples of these have been in the news?