Rights & Responsibilities of Citizens

In order to be successful in this unit you should be able to:

• Explain the different ways one becomes a citizen of the United States. 

• Describe the rights and responsibilities of citizens (e.g., voting, serving as a juror, paying taxes, serving in the military, running for and holding elected office) as compared to non-citizens. 

• Distinguish among civic, political, and private life. 

• Define and provide examples of fundamental principles and values of American political and civic life (e.g., liberty, the common good, justice, equality, tolerance, law and order, due process, rights of individuals, diversity, civic unity, patriotism, constitutionalism, popular sovereignty, and representative democracy). 

• Describe how a democracy provides opportunities for citizens to participate in the political process through elections, political parties, and interest groups. 

• Evaluate information related to elections (e.g., policy positions and debates among candidates, campaign financing, campaign advertising, influence of news media and social media, and data relating to voter turnout in elections). 

• Apply knowledge of the meaning of leadership and the qualities of good leaders to evaluate political leaders at the community, the state and national levels. 

• Explain the importance of individuals working cooperatively with their elected leaders. 

• Explain the importance of public service, and identify career and other opportunities in public service at the local, state, and national levels. 

• Analyze issues involving liberty in conflict with equality or authority, individual rights in conflict with the common good, or majority rule in conflict with minority rights. 

• Examine the varied understandings of the role of elected representatives and discuss those who have demonstrated political courage or those whose actions have failed to live up to the ideals of the Constitution. 

• Examine the role of political protest in a democracy. 

• Examine the influence of public and private interest groups in a democracy, including policy research organizations (e.g. Pew Research Center, Brookings Institute, Heritage Foundation) in shaping debate about public policy.