Virginia SOL USII.7.c
The Standard
describing the differences between a communist nation and a democratic nation including, but not limited to self-governance and economic philosophy
Virginia Standards of Learning for History and Social Science
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students compare who chooses leaders, how citizens take part in government, and who controls businesses and resources. They distinguish one-party communist systems from democratic systems with competitive elections and mostly market or mixed economies.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given two fictional countries, students can identify which is communist and which is democratic. They support each choice with evidence about elections, citizen participation, property, prices, and production.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat democracy and capitalism as identical, even though one describes government and the other describes an economy. They may also think any government program is communism or that communist countries have no personal property.
How to Assess It
- Give students two fictional country profiles. Ask them to label each system and cite one political detail and one economic detail as evidence.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Sort cards showing elections, one-party rule, private businesses, and state production into democratic, communist, or shared feature columns.
Write a response to this prompt: Who should decide what factories produce, government planners, business owners, or consumers, and why?
Play a clue game where teams identify a fictional country’s system from details about voting, parties, property, prices, and jobs.
Compare how a bakery might set prices and choose products in a planned economy and a market economy.
Free download
Printable USII.7.c Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to USII.7.c, 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
- 3.9.a
explaining the purpose of governments and understanding that other countries have governments similar to and different from that of the United States;
- WG.12.c
comparing and contrasting the level of economic development to the standard of living, quality of life, form of government, personal freedom, and economic oppor...
- S.WG.e
comparing and contrasting historical, cultural, economic, and political perspectives;
- CE.12.b
describing the critical components of the United States economy, such as limited government, private property, markets, consumer sovereignty, and competition;
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