Teaching Threats to Democracy
This collection brings together threats to democracy lesson plans and teaching resources for secondary classrooms. Educators will find lessons, current-events resources, webinars and discussion materials that help students explore how democratic institutions work, what can put them under strain and how people participate in civic life.
The resources cover topics including misinformation and disinformation, political violence, authoritarianism, voting rights, gerrymandering, book banning and civil discourse. Students can examine historical and current examples, evaluate sources and consider how democratic institutions respond to disagreement, conflict and change. The collection currently includes dedicated sections on these topics as well as resources connecting historical memory with democracy.
What You’ll Find in This Collection
- Lessons on political violence and democratic norms that help students examine challenges facing democratic institutions.
- Resources on misinformation, disinformation and media literacy that support source evaluation and critical thinking.
- Materials exploring authoritarianism, voting rights, gerrymandering and voter suppression.
- Lessons and discussions about book banning and civil discourse.
- Historical and current-events resources that help students make connections between the past and present.
Helping Students Understand Democracy in Practice
These resources can support civics, government, social studies and media literacy instruction. Teachers might use one lesson to add context to a current event or combine several resources into a longer unit on democratic institutions, civic participation and the challenges democracies can face.
Students can also use the materials to practice skills that extend beyond a single topic. They can compare sources, distinguish evidence from opinion, examine competing claims and discuss difficult civic questions with evidence and respect.
For additional background on democratic institutions and civic participation, educators can pair these resources with Share My Lesson’s Foundations of Democracy and Government collection. Teachers looking for more focused materials on elections and access to the ballot can also explore Voting Rights in the United States.
The collection works equally well as a source for individual lessons or as a starting point for a broader unit on how democracy functions, how it changes and how students can evaluate the information and institutions that shape civic life.
