Indiana Social Studies WH.6.10
The Standard
Describe and analyze the global expansion of democracy and globalization in the late 20th century.
2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify places where democratic government expanded in the late 1900s. They explain how growing trade and communication connected countries, and why those connections did not always lead to democracy.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain what changed in Poland's 1989 elections and South Africa's 1994 elections. They can use China's growing exports to show that trade can expand without competitive national elections.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may assume that more global trade always brings democracy, or that trade alone caused political change. They may also confuse the end of apartheid laws with South Africa's first national election open to all adults in 1994.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Sort Poland's 1989 elections, South Africa's 1994 elections, and China's 1990s export growth into political change or economic integration. Explain why China's example challenges the claim that trade always leads to democracy.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a world map and cards for Poland's 1989 elections, South Africa's 1994 elections, and Chinese exports; place the cards and draw an export arrow.
Ask: Did growing international trade guarantee free elections? Compare China and Poland using one fact about each.
Play a card match: pair Poland, South Africa, and China with 1989 elections, 1994 elections, or rising exports; explain each match.
Check labels on two classroom items, map their countries of origin, and connect those trade routes to the growth of world trade since the 1990s.
Free download
Printable WH.6.10 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to WH.6.10, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetKeep exploring
Related Standards
- USH.7.2
Describe developing trends in science, media, and technology (especially social media, the Internet, and computing), and explain how they impact the lives of Am...
- GHW.4.1
Analyze maps and assess ways that colonialism and imperialism have persisted and continue to evolve in the contemporary world.
- USH.7.8
Evaluate and compare various social and political movements from 1980 to the present.
- 6.C.6
Discuss the impact of major forms of government in Europe and the Americas on civil and human rights.
Turn this exact standard into a lesson
Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.
Also for this standard:Make a WorksheetMake a QuizMake a Sub Lesson