--- title: Politics — a course of Mova's primary school, with trees and pragmatics description: How people decide things together: elections and voting, who can vote, parties, presidents and prime ministers, parliaments and how a law is made, kings, courts and constitutions, taxes and councils, the English-speaking democracies, the news, debates, adverts and polls. 42 lessons, 748 sentences wi --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / Politics # Politics How people decide things together: elections and voting, who can vote, parties, presidents and prime ministers, parliaments and how a law is made, kings, courts and constitutions, taxes and councils, the English-speaking democracies, the news, debates, adverts and polls. The politics course of Mova's primary school: 42 lessons, 748 sentences, each sentence with its syntax tree and pragmatics. Licence: [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) (Mova corpus 0.4). - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/1-what-politics-is-deciding-things-together/) — What politics is: deciding things together — 17 sentences · Picture lunchtime with one football and two games that both want it: the children shout, then vote, and the… - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/2-elections-and-voting-ballots-counting-and-winning/) — Elections and voting: ballots, counting and winning — 15 sentences · An election is how a whole country, town or school chooses who will be in charge: everyone allowed to vote g… - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/3-who-can-vote-and-why-children-cannot/) — Who can vote, and why children cannot — 16 sentences · Not everyone can vote: in most countries you must be 18, and usually a citizen, and your name must be on the… - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/4-parties-teams-with-ideas/) — Parties: teams with ideas — 18 sentences · A political party is like a team built around ideas: people who think alike join together, choose candidates… - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/5-president-and-prime-minister-white-house-and-downing-street/) — President and Prime Minister, White House and Downing Street — 15 sentences · The USA has a president, chosen by voters in a separate election, who is both head of the country and head o… - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/6-congress-and-parliament-how-a-law-is-made/) — Congress and Parliament: how a law is made — 18 sentences · A law starts as a bill, a plan for a law, and it must pass a series of tests before everyone has to obey it:… - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/7-the-king-the-courts-and-the-rules-above-the-rules/) — The King, the courts and the rules above the rules — 15 sentences · In the UK the King signs every law Parliament passes, and opens Parliament by reading a speech from a golden… - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/8-taxes-and-local-councils-bins-roads-and-schools/) — Taxes and local councils: bins, roads and schools — 16 sentences · Taxes are the money people and businesses must pay to the government, and they pay for the shared things eve… - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/9-around-the-english-speaking-world-canada-australia-ireland-new-zealand/) — Around the English-speaking world: Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand — 17 sentences · Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand all borrowed ideas from the British way of running a country, the… - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/10-the-news-who-makes-it-and-how/) — The news: who makes it and how — 17 sentences · The news is made by people: reporters find out what happened by going to the place and talking to people, an… - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/11-debates-and-rows-on-chat-shows/) — Debates and rows on chat shows — 20 sentences · Picture a TV debate as a game of tennis with words: two players, a referee called the moderator, and a clock. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/12-adverts-slogans-and-polls/) — Adverts, slogans and polls — 16 sentences · Before an election, candidates try to get noticed the way a new cereal does: adverts, catchy slogans, poster… - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/13-memes-clips-and-jokes-about-politicians/) — Memes, clips and jokes about politicians — 20 sentences · A meme is like a joke passed round the playground at top speed: a picture, a few words, and in an hour every… - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/14-dad-shouting-at-the-tv-big-feelings-about-politics/) — Dad shouting at the TV: big feelings about politics — 19 sentences · Politics can feel like a football match to grown-ups, because the decisions touch their jobs, their bills an… - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/15-grandma-and-uncle-on-opposite-sides-staying-friends/) — Grandma and Uncle on opposite sides: staying friends — 20 sentences · Big family dinners are where politics often explodes: everyone is at one table, everyone has views, and the… - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/16-us-elections-and-the-president-as-reported/) — US elections and the president, as reported — 21 sentences · Each state is a match worth a number of "electors", bigger states are worth more, and in almost every state… - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/17-uk-elections-and-the-prime-minister-as-reported/) — UK elections and the prime minister, as reported — 22 sentences · In the UK you do not vote for the prime minister directly. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/18-prices-money-and-jobs-why-everything-costs-more/) — Prices, money and jobs: why everything costs more — 17 sentences · Last year your sweets cost 50p; now they cost 65p. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/19-immigration-and-borders/) — Immigration and borders — 21 sentences · Think of the new kid who joins your class in the middle of the year. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/20-healthcare-who-pays-when-you-are-ill/) — Healthcare: who pays when you are ill — 24 sentences · You break your arm at football. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/21-climate-hot-summers-and-hot-arguments/) — Climate: hot summers and hot arguments — 19 sentences · Weather is what the sky does today; climate is the usual weather of a place over thirty years or more. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/22-guns-school-safety-and-arguments-about-schools/) — Guns, school safety and arguments about schools — 17 sentences · A lockdown drill is like a fire drill: everyone practises staying quiet behind a locked door so they would k… - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/23-why-wars-happen-the-un-and-nato/) — Why wars happen and why they are hard to stop; the UN and NATO — 20 sentences · A war is armed fighting between countries or large armed groups, often lasting years. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/24-russias-full-scale-invasion-of-ukraine/) — Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine — 16 sentences · On 24 February 2022 Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, sending soldiers, tanks and planes acr… - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/25-ukraine-refugees-aid-sanctions-and-childrens-lives/) — Ukraine: refugees, aid, sanctions and children's lives — 17 sentences · When war comes to your town, staying can be deadly, so millions of Ukrainians fled abroad after the full-sca… - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/26-israel-and-gaza-what-happened-as-widely-reported/) — Israel and Gaza: what happened, as widely reported — 23 sentences · Two peoples, Israeli Jews and Palestinians, see the same small land between the Jordan River and the Mediter… - [27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/27-israel-and-gaza-at-school-and-online/) — Israel and Gaza at school and online — 18 sentences · A war far away can arrive in your classroom: some classmates have family in Israel, some in Gaza, and many f… - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/28-the-wars-the-news-shows-less-sudan-and-others/) — The wars the news shows less: Sudan and others — 17 sentences · Some wars fill the news every night and others get ten seconds. - [29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/29-taiwan-china-and-the-word-tensions/) — Taiwan, China and the word «tensions» — 19 sentences · «Tensions» means a situation is tight and worried, like a rubber band pulled hard but not snapped. - [30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/30-refugees-aid-and-sanctions-how-the-world-helps-and-pushes/) — Refugees, aid and sanctions: how the world helps and pushes — 20 sentences · A refugee had to flee war or danger to their life; a migrant moves to another country, often for work or a b… - [31](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/31-propaganda-and-fake-news/) — Propaganda and fake news — 18 sentences · Propaganda is a message made to push lots of people to think or act one way: it shows only the facts that he… - [32](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/32-bots-troll-farms-and-deepfakes/) — Bots, troll farms and deepfakes in elections — 16 sentences · A bot is a computer program that posts by itself while pretending to be a person, and a troll farm is an off… - [33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/33-cherry-picked-clips-and-clickbait/) — Cherry-picked clips and clickbait headlines — 17 sentences · A short clip can be made of real words and still tell a false story, because what was cut out can flip the m… - [34](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/34-algorithms-bubbles-and-false-balance/) — Algorithms, bubbles and false balance — 17 sentences · An app's feed is chosen by an algorithm, a set of rules a computer follows: it notices what you watch and fo… - [35](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/35-how-to-check-who-how-who-else/) — How to check: who, how, who else — 16 sentences · Most claims can be checked with three questions: who says so, how do they know, and who else reports it? - [36](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/36-checking-practice-true-false-not-sure/) — Checking practice: true, false and not sure yet — 16 sentences · Every claim goes in one of three piles: TRUE (checked and shown real), FALSE (checked and shown wrong) and N… - [37](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/37-school-councils-and-class-reps/) — School councils and class reps — 15 sentences · A class rep is a pupil chosen by the class to speak for it at the school council, a small parliament of pupi… - [38](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/) — Protests, petitions and young activists — 16 sentences · There are many peaceful ways to ask for change: a protest, where people gather in public with signs, songs a… - [39](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/39-arguing-politely-and-never-calling-names/) — Arguing politely and never calling names — 16 sentences · An argument means giving reasons for your view, not a fight: you can disagree with an idea and still be frie… - [40](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/40-putting-it-together/) — Putting it together: explain each side, check the claim — 17 sentences · This last lesson puts the whole course together in three habits: know who decides, check the claim, and expl… - [41](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/41-olympiad-fair-votes-close-counts-and-who-decides/) — Olympiad: fair votes, close counts and who decides ★★★ — 17 sentences · This olympiad lesson turns the course into puzzles: count the votes, check the rule, follow the chain of who… - [42](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/42-olympiad-check-the-claim-and-spot-the-trick/) — Olympiad: check the claim and spot the trick ★★★ — 17 sentences · In this olympiad lesson every puzzle hides a trick: a number that sounds huge, a clip cut short, a crowd cro… - ← previous: [Physics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/physics/) - next →: [Reflection](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/) - ↑ back to [the school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/)