About SIM – Country People and Society is an Assignment where you unpack the ter
About
SIM – Country People and Society is an Assignment where you unpack the terms people and society and compare the peoples and societies of three countries.
Estimated Time
An estimated 90 minutes is needed to complete this activity.
What is people and society?
People are society encompasses the broad concepts of national identity, demography, and societal characteristics.
According to the CIA World Factbook, people and society “includes entries dealing with national identity (including ethnicities, languages, and religions), demography (a variety of population statistics) and societal characteristics (health and education indicators).”
Population
Nationality
Ethnic group
Languages
Religions
Demographic profile
Age structure
Dependency ratios
Median age
Population growth rate
Birth rate
Death rate
Net migration rate
Population distribution
Urbanization
Major urban areas – population
Sex ratio
Maternal mortality rate
Infant mortality rate
Life expectancy at birth
Total fertility rate
Contraceptive prevalence rate
Drinking water source
Current Health Expenditure
Physicians density
Hospital bed density
Sanitation facility access
HIV/AIDS – adult prevalence rate
HIV/AIDS – people living with HIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDS – deaths
Major infectious diseases
Obesity – adult prevalence rate
Education expenditures
Literacy
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24
Why is people and society important in Comparative Politics?
People and society are important to comparative politics for at least two reasons.
First, the people and society are intertwined with government because national identity, demography, and societal characteristics can shape, and be shaped by, government behaviors and policies. For example, in countries with a homogenous (same) ethnicity, language, and religion between people, we tend to observe stable governments and actions over time. In countries with heterogenous (different) ethnicities, languages, and religions between people, governments may not be as stable, or policy conflicts are more common given the uniqueness between different communities that comprise the country.
Second, people and society are the fabric of a country. While complex, and to some degree difficult to compare, it is important to consider how ethnicities, languages, and religions, or population statistics, or health and economic indicators vary between countries, and how these rooted features interact with government, political geography, and the economy.
Instructions
Step 1: Select two countries, which are different from the prior “Government”, “Political Geography”, and “Economy” assignments, to learn about their “people and society”
Go to One Page Summaries — The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency (cia.gov)Links to an external site.
Select two new and different countries that you want to learn more about
Step 2: Review the One Page Summary for the United StatesLinks to an external site.
Step 3: Explain each of the following comparisons in 3 or more sentences
Compare people and society of country 1 to the United States
Compare people and society of country 2 to the United States
Compare people and society of country 1 to country 2
Step 4: Make a list of the four different countries you have compared so far
At this point, your list should have 8 countries total: 2 from Government, 2 from Political Geography, 2 from Economy, and 2 from this People and Society assignment