Name
Class
Date
What Is Economics?
Different Economic Systems Project
Welcome to Your Project!
In this project, you will write 2½- to 3- page essay exploring four basic economic systems—
traditional, market, command, and mixed—paying particular attention to the roles of property
rights, competition, and profit in each system. A nation’s economy and its form of government
usually go hand in hand. Generally, democratic governments have relied on market economies,
while kingdoms and dictatorships have relied on controlled command economies. In the modern
world, economies have a great deal to do with competition, profits, and product innovation.
Objective
In this project, you will learn to do the following:
• Explain the roles of property rights, competition, and profit
in a market economy
Assignment Overview
In this activity, you will choose one of the following, either working alone or with a group:
Choice 1: Four Economic Systems
Write a comparison-and-contrast essay examining the roles of property rights, competition, and
profit in each of the four types of economic systems (traditional, market, command, and mixed).
Choice 2: Failure of Command Economies
Write a research report—using the Soviet Union or Communist China as an example—describing
why attempts to implement command economies ultimately failed in that country.
Choice 3: Vladimir Lenin in 1918
Write a persuasive essay to the Russian legislature in 1918 arguing for a particular economic
system—command, market, or mixed.
Grading/Pacing
Your essay or report comprises 100 percent of your grade for this project.
Before beginning, check with your teacher on your project choice and whether you will work alone
or with a group.
The project takes approximately 10 hours to complete.
Rubric
Use the corresponding rubric to evaluate your work:
•
Comparison-and-Contrast Essay Rubric (Choice 1)
•
Research Report Rubric (Choice 2)
•
Persuasive Writing Rubric (Choice 3)
Copyright © 2013 by Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Different Economic Systems Project
Page 1 of 6
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Choice 1: Four Economic Systems
For this choice, you will write a 2½- to 3-page, single-spaced comparison-and-contrast essay,
using 12-point font, examining the roles of property rights, competition, and profit in each of the
four types of economic systems (traditional, market, command, and mixed). Follow these steps:
Activity Details
Part
Assignment
Part 1
Step 1: Look on the Internet, within course lessons, or in a textbook to
review the four different economic systems: traditional, market,
command, and mixed and draft an outline of research topics.
Planning
Step 2: Determine if you are working alone or as part of a group. If you
are working in a group:
Part 2
Researching
•
Work with your teacher to form your group
•
Meet with your group and assign research topics to each member
Step 3: Conduct research and copy down the appropriate reference
information, compiling a list of resources as you go.
To conduct your research, use the following:
•
The Internet: Think about which keywords are likely to
get you the results you are seeking.
•
School or local library
•
Textbooks or other nonfiction books that may be
available in your classroom
Trim down your research. Review the research you have gathered and
discard any information that is not relevant to your topic.
Part 3
Step 4: Create an informal outline.
Writing
Step 5: Write your rough draft. If you are working in a group, divide the
task of writing the paper up into assigned sections.
Part 4
Step 6: After completing your draft, make revisions as necessary.
Revising and
Publishing
Step 7: Evaluate your work using the Comparison-and-Contrast Essay
rubric. If possible, have one or two classmates review your rough draft
and make suggestions about how to improve it.
Step 8: Write your final draft, taking your own revisions and those
of others who reviewed your paper, into consideration.
Step 9: Proofread your final draft.
Step 10: Submit your comparison-and-contrast essay to your teacher
for a grade. Include a list of resources.
Copyright © 2013 by Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Different Economic Systems Project
Page 2 of 6
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Class
Date
Choice 2 Failure of Command Economies
For this choice, you will write a 2½- to 3-page, single-spaced research report, using 12-point
font—choosing either the Soviet Union or Communist China as an example—that describes why
attempts to implement command economies in that country ultimately failed. Follow these steps:
Activity Details
Part
Assignment
Part 1
Step 1: Review content and make decisions, as follows:
Planning
Look on the Internet, within course lessons, or in a textbook to review the
basic elements of the centrally controlled command economies that were
hallmarks of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until 1991 and of
China from 1949 until the 1980s. Focus on the advantages and
disadvantages of those two centrally controlled economies.
Decide which country—the Soviet Union or China—you want to use as
your example of a failed command economy.
Determine if you are working alone or as part of a group. If you are
working in a group:
Part 2
Researching
•
Work with your teacher to form your group
•
Meet with your group and assign research topics
to each group member
Step 2: Conduct detailed research and copy down the appropriate
reference information, compiling a list of resources as you go. As you
conduct your research, use the following sources:
•
The Internet: Think about which keywords are
likely to get you the results you are seeking
•
School or local library
•
Textbooks or other nonfiction books that may
be available in your classroom
Step 3: You will discover a lot of research options about how the Soviet
Union and China ran their command economies. Trim down and
organize all the information in a logical way.
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Different Economic Systems Project
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Part 3
Step 4: Create an outline to organize your research material.
Writing
Step 5: Write your rough draft. If you are working in a group, divide the
task of writing the paper into assigned sections. Keep the following in
mind:
Part 4
Revising and
Publishing
•
Provide details and explanations about how the
nation’s centrally planned economy worked.
•
Cite examples.
•
Explain the pros and cons of the various elements of
the country’s economic system. What didn’t work at
all? What worked at times?
•
Focus on the roles of property rights, competition, and
profit. Your report should explain how these elements
worked in a command economy and how that
contrasts with a market economy.
Step 6: After you have completed your rough draft, reread your draft,
making corrections and revisions as needed.
Step 7: Evaluate your work using the Research Report rubric. If possible,
have one or two classmates review your draft and make suggestions on
how you might improve it.
Step 8: Write your final draft, taking your own revisions and those of
others who reviewed your paper, into consideration.
Step 9: Proofread your final draft.
Step 10: Submit your research report to your teacher for a grade. Include
a list of resources.
Copyright © 2013 by Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Different Economic Systems Project
Page 4 of 6
Name
Class
Date
Choice 3: Vladimir Lenin in 1918
For this choice, you will write a 2½- to 3-page, single-spaced persuasive paper, using 12-point
font, that makes a strong argument for using a particular economic system in Russia in 1918.
Imagine you are Vladimir Lenin (the man credited with founding the Soviet Union). It’s 1918, and
you and your Bolshevik supporters have just won the Russian Revolution. Now you must decide
what type of economy you want the new Russia to have—command, market, or mixed. You are
writing to the Russian legislature to convince them of your choice of economic system. Follow
these steps:
Activity Details
Part
Assignment
Part 1
Step 1: Review content and make decisions, as follows:
Planning
•
Look on the Internet, within course lessons, or in a
textbook to review the background and basic events of
the Russian Revolution and the rise of Vladimir Lenin
as one of the leaders of the Bolsheviks. Russia had
been ruled by the czars (kings) for hundreds of years.
•
Think about your approach to the task at hand.
Imagine you are Vladimir Lenin in 1918. The czars are
gone and it’s up to you to establish a new kind of
government and an effective economic system.
Step 2: Determine if you are working alone or as part of a group.
If you are working in a group:
Part 2
Researching
•
Work with your teacher to form your group
•
Meet with your group and assign research topics to
each group member.
Step 3: Conduct detailed research and copy down the appropriate
reference information, compiling a list of resources as you go. It will be
important to focus part of your research on conditions that existed in
Russia in 1918 for the multitude of average Russians. Focus on the roles
of property rights, competition, and profits. As you conduct your
research, use the following sources:
•
The Internet: Think about which keywords are likely to
get you the results you are seeking
•
School or local library
•
Textbooks or other nonfiction books that may be
available in your classroom
Copyright © 2013 by Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Different Economic Systems Project
Page 5 of 6
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Part 3
Step 4: Create an outline.
Writing
Step 5: Write your rough draft. If you are working in a group, divide the
task of writing the paper up into assigned sections. As you write, keep
the following in mind:
Part 4
Revising and
Publishing
•
Write in the first person (I, we).
•
Keep your message to Russia’s legislature firm, clear,
and persuasive in promising a better life for the
average Russian.
•
Explain how the new Russian economy will work.
Compare and contrast the benefits of the economic
system you chose over the other systems. Cite
examples.
•
Explain how the new economic system will benefit
Russians who are ready, able, and willing to work.
•
Focus on the roles of property rights, competition, and
profit. Explain how these elements work in the
economic system you chose and how that contrasts
with another system.
Step 6: After you have completed your rough draft, make corrections and
revisions as necessary.
Step 7: Evaluate your work using the Persuasive Writing rubric. If
possible, have one or two classmates review your initial draft and make
suggestions on how you might improve it.
Step 8: Write your final draft, taking your own revisions and those of
others who reviewed your paper into consideration.
Step 9: Proofread your final draft.
Step 10: Submit your persuasive paper to your teacher for a grade.
Include a list of resources.
Congratulations! You have completed your project.
Copyright © 2013 by Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Different Economic Systems Project
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