Key Stage 4 citizenship · Governance and the wider world

GCSE citizenship: the UN, Commonwealth and wider world

This topic covers the international organisations the United Kingdom belongs to and what they can and cannot do. Teenagers study the United Nations, with its General Assembly, Security Council and agencies, and the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 56 countries, alongside groups such as NATO. Throughout they ask a hard citizenship question: how much real power does international governance have, and who decides?

The UN, Commonwealth and wider world, explained

The United Nations was founded in 1945, after the Second World War, to keep international peace and security, encourage friendly relations between countries and promote human rights and cooperation. It now has 193 member states. Its main bodies include the General Assembly, where every member has one vote; the Security Council; the Secretariat, led by the Secretary-General; and the International Court of Justice. Resolutions of the General Assembly are recommendations, not laws, but they carry moral weight and show where world opinion lies.

The Security Council has 15 members. Five are permanent: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Ten others are elected for two-year terms. The Security Council is the only UN body whose decisions are binding on all members, and it can impose sanctions, set up peacekeeping missions or authorise the use of force. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favour and no veto from a permanent member. That veto is why the Council can find it hard to act when a permanent member’s interests are involved, and how it should be reformed is a regular topic for debate. The UN also runs agencies and programmes that rarely make headlines, from the World Health Organization and the children’s fund to the refugee agency and the World Food Programme. It depends on member states for money and for peacekeepers.

The Commonwealth is a different kind of organisation. It is a voluntary association of 56 independent countries, most of them once part of the British Empire, although a few, such as Rwanda and Mozambique, were never British colonies. Members are equal; the UK is one of 56, and most members are republics. King Charles III is Head of the Commonwealth, a role that is not hereditary, and a secretariat runs its work. Members commit to shared values set out in the Commonwealth Charter, including democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The Commonwealth cannot make binding laws, but it can discuss problems, send observers to elections and suspend a member that breaks its values. Many schools also discuss its roots in the British Empire and why some people feel uneasy about that history.

The wider world includes many more bodies and actors. The UK is a member of NATO, a defence alliance founded in 1949, and of groups such as the G7 and G20, which bring major economies together, and the World Trade Organization, which sets trade rules. It also deals with other countries directly through diplomacy and aid. Charities and campaign groups, known as non-governmental organisations, and large companies also influence global decisions on issues like climate change, migration and health. The curriculum names the Commonwealth and the United Nations; beyond those, schools choose which other bodies to study in depth, for example NATO or the World Trade Organization.

Pupils build on what they learned at Key Stage 3 about democracy, government and the rights and responsibilities of citizens, and apply it internationally. The central skill is evaluation. They weigh the strengths of organisations that can bind members, such as the Security Council, against those that rely on persuasion and shared values, such as the Commonwealth, and consider what makes any of them effective. The answer usually depends on whether member states are willing to cooperate.

Words your child will hear

Member state: A country that belongs to an international organisation such as the UN.
Veto: The power of one of the five permanent Security Council members to block a resolution on its own.
Resolution: A formal decision or statement voted on by a body such as the General Assembly or Security Council.
Peacekeeping: Sending international troops and officials, provided by member states, to help keep order after or during a conflict.
Sanctions: Penalties, such as trade restrictions or frozen assets, used to put pressure on a government.
Charter: The founding document of an organisation, setting out its aims and rules.
Non-governmental organisation (NGO): An independent organisation, often a charity, that works on global issues without being part of any government.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 4 says:

Pupils should be taught about local, regional and international governance and the United Kingdom’s relations with the rest of Europe, the Commonwealth, the United Nations and the wider world
Teaching should build on the key stage 3 programme of study to deepen pupils’ understanding of democracy, government and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: comparing two organisations

A member country’s government is accused of serious human rights abuses. Compare what the United Nations and the Commonwealth can do about it.

Say what each organisation is. The UN has 193 members and a Charter that gives some bodies real legal powers. The Commonwealth has 56 members who have chosen to share values, with no power to make binding laws.
List the UN’s options. The General Assembly can condemn the abuses, but its resolutions are not binding. A UN human rights body can investigate and publish findings. The Security Council can impose sanctions or authorise further action, but only with nine votes and no permanent member’s veto.
List the Commonwealth’s options. Leaders can raise the issue, issue public statements, send envoys or observers, and, if the country seriously breaks its core values, suspend it. Fiji, for example, was suspended after military coups. Suspension is a political and reputational penalty, not a legal one.
Evaluate. The UN has the only tools that can bind all states, but they are blocked when a permanent member objects. The Commonwealth acts more freely among members that value belonging, but it relies on persuasion and the country’s wish to stay in good standing.

The UN can apply the strongest measures, yet its Security Council can be paralysed by a veto, and its other bodies can mainly condemn and investigate. The Commonwealth can only persuade, observe and suspend, but its members share values and may take that pressure seriously. Neither can force a country to change without the cooperation of its members, so effectiveness depends on political will as much as on powers.

Common mistakes and how to help

Thinking the UN is a world government that can pass laws and arrest people

News stories say “the UN has ordered” or “the UN has ruled”, and the building looks like a parliament.

What helps: Separate the bodies. The General Assembly recommends, the Security Council can bind, and the UN has no police force or army of its own. Peacekeepers are supplied by member states.

Believing the Commonwealth is the British Empire under another name, run by Britain

Most members were once British territories, so the link to the empire is obvious, but the relationship has changed.

What helps: Look at how it works today: 56 equal, independent members, mostly republics, with its own secretariat. It is also fair to discuss why some people are uneasy about the colonial legacy.

Thinking the veto lets one country stop everything the UN does

The veto is often in the headlines, so it seems to apply everywhere.

What helps: The veto exists only in the Security Council. The General Assembly decides by votes of all members, and the agencies, which handle health, food, refugees and children, work largely independently.

Judging an organisation as either useless or all-powerful because of one event

A single failure or success tends to dominate the news, and day-to-day work is invisible.

What helps: Make a balance sheet: list what the organisation has achieved, where it has failed and what limited it. Pupils who see both columns write stronger evaluations.

How to help at home

Map the Commonwealth. Find the 56 members on a map or globe and note how widely spread they are across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, the Pacific, the Americas and Europe. Ask which surprise your teenager and why.
Spot international bodies in the news. Over a week, note every mention of the UN, NATO, the G7 or a similar group. For each one, ask what the body can really do in that situation and what it relies on others to do.
Run a family Security Council. Give one or two family members a veto and everyone else an ordinary vote, then try to agree a household decision such as a day out. It shows quickly how a veto changes the bargaining.
Talk to people with international links. Relatives or friends who have lived or worked abroad, or come from a Commonwealth country, can offer first-hand views that a textbook cannot.
Link global goals to everyday choices. The UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, adopted in 2015 with a 2030 target, cover hunger, education, clean water and climate. Pick one and discuss what governments, charities and individuals can each do about it.