Answer: Ok so here this is a more longer version of my answer.
Explanation:The Founders believed that the main purpose of government was to protect people's basic rights. Almost all citizens have the right to participate in governing our nation. They may choose among many different ways of doing this.
Ways citizens can participate:
•looking for information in newspapers, magazines, and reference materials and judging its accuracy
•voting in local, state, and national elections
participating in a political discussion
•trying to persuade someone to vote a certain way
•signing a petition
•wearing a button or putting a sticker on the car
•writing letters to elected representatives
•contributing money to a party or candidate
•attending meetings to gain information, discuss issues, or lend support
•campaigning for a candidate
•lobbying for laws that are of special interest
•demonstrating through marches, boycotts, sit-ins, or other forms of protest
•serving as a juror
•running for office
•holding public office
•serving the country through military or other service
•disobeying laws and taking the consequences to demonstrate that a law or policy is unjust
Should citizens participate?
Many citizens do not participate in our government. 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 important.
An alien is a person who is not a citizen. Many aliens can become citizens by following certain rules and procedures.
Many citizens do not participate in our government. 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.
An example may help. Imagine that you have hired a company to repair your bicycle. Before you hired them, you would want to be sure they could repair bicycles. Then you would want to make sure that they did what you had hired them to do. Suppose the company did a good job. Then you would not worry about checking on them if your sister's bicycle needed repairs a few weeks later.
The same is true with the government. We should be sure the people we "hire" (elect) can do the job we are hiring them for. Once they get the job, we should keep an eye on them to make sure they are doing that job. If they do a good job, we may not watch them as closely. If they do a bad job, we may watch them very closely and may even decide to replace them.
Participation in government is in our own self-interest. The amount of time we spend participating will probably depend on how well we think 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 action.
