What Are Some Of The Ways Citizens Can Participate In Community Service
From We the People: The Citizen & the Constitution, second edition (1998)
Eye Schoolhouse Grades
Educatee Book
Purpose of Lesson
In this lesson you volition learn almost ane of the nearly important rights of citizenship. This is the right to participate in governing our nation. The lesson will hash out the dissimilar ways you may participate. It will also suggest those things you should think about in deciding whether or not you should participate.
When you lot finish the lesson, you should know the divergence between a denizen and a not-citizen. You should also exist able to support your views on whether and to what extent a citizen should participate in regime.
Terms to Know
- denizen
- alien
Who is a citizen?
Anyone who is born in the U.s.a. or whose parents are U.South. citizens is a citizen of the U.s.. An alien is a person who is not a citizen. Many aliens can become citizens past post-obit certain rules and procedures.
The government protects many rights for anyone who lives in the United States. Only citizens have one right aliens exercise not have. That is the right to vote and be elected to public office. Many people say that citizens also have important responsibilities to their country that aliens do non. We volition examine what those responsibilities might exist in this lesson.
Problem solving
Examining participation
The Founders believed that the main purpose of government was to protect people'due south basic rights. Almost all citizens take the right to participate in governing our nation. They may choose among many different ways of doing this. Some ways to participate are listed below.
Your grade should be divided into small-scale groups. Each group should read the list of ways citizens can participate. Then each group should answer the following questions and share its responses with the class.
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of each form of participation that is listed?
- Are all these forms of participation every bit important in protecting our basic rights? Why or why not? Which seem the almost important?
Means citizens can participate
- looking for information in newspapers, magazines, and reference materials and judging its accuracy
- voting in local, land, and national elections
- participating in a political discussion
- trying to persuade someone to vote a sure way
- signing a petition
- wearing a button or putting a sticker on the car
- writing letters to elected representatives
- contributing money to a political party or candidate
- attending meetings to gain information, hash out bug, or lend back up
- campaigning for a candidate
- lobbying for laws that are of special interest
- demonstrating through marches, boycotts, sit-ins, or other forms of protest
- serving equally a juror
- running for part
- belongings public part
- serving the country through military machine or other service
- disobeying laws and taking the consequences to demonstrate that a law or policy is unjust
Should citizens participate?
Many citizens practise not participate in our authorities. They don't vote or participate in most of the other ways you have just discussed. However, some people believe that citizens have a responsibility to participate.
Deciding whether to participate and how much time to spend participating is of import. To make good decisions, you must think about several things. Some of these are:
- the purpose of our government
- how important your rights are to you
- how satisfied yous are with the style the government is working
An example may help. Imagine that you accept hired a company to repair your bicycle. Before you lot hired them, you would want to be sure they could repair bicycles. Then yous would desire to make sure that they did what you had hired them to do. Suppose the company did a good job. And then yous would non worry near checking on them if your sis'south bicycle needed repairs a few weeks later.
Suppose the company did a bad chore on your wheel. Then y'all might want to supplant them or watch them fifty-fifty more closely when your sister'southward bicycle needed work.
The same is truthful with the government. We should exist certain the people we "rent" (elect) tin can exercise the job we are hiring them for. Once they become the job, we should keep an eye on them to brand sure they are doing that job. If they do a good task, nosotros may non lookout them as closely. If they do a bad job, we may watch them very closely and may fifty-fifty decide to supervene upon them.
Participation in government is in our ain self-interest. The amount of fourth dimension we spend participating will probably depend on how well we recall our elected officials are doing. If everything is going well, we will spend less time than if we are concerned that someone is violating our rights. If we are pleased with the government, we may vote and do little else. If we are dissatisfied, however, we will probably take other types of activity.
Reviewing and Using the Lesson
- How is denizen participation related to the purposes of our government? Explicate why participating in regime is in our own cocky- interest.
- List three means of participating in government. For each, tell why it would be an effective way of protecting your basic rights.
- Suppose you exercise not choose to vote or participate in any mode in government. Should you even so be required to obey its laws? Why or why not?
- If you do not call up the government is protecting your basic rights, should you still be required to obey its laws? Explicate your answer.
- Does a good citizen have a responsibility to work to ameliorate his or her guild? Why or why not?
- Should a proficient citizen exist concerned with improving the lives of those less fortunate? Why or why not?
All rights reserved. The development of this text was originally funded and cosponsored by the Committee on the Bicentennial of the U.s. Constitution. The U.South. Department of Pedagogy disclaims the responsibility for any opinion or conclusions contained herein. The federal government reserves a nonexclusive license to use and reproduce for governmental purposes, without payment, this textile where the government deems it in its interest to practice and so.
We the People: The Denizen & the Constitution may be purchased from the Center at a nominal cost through our Online Shop.
Source: https://civiced.org/lessons/how-can-citizens-participate
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