Democracy, Citizenship, and Voting Study Guide

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Democracy, Citizenship, and VotingStudy Guide

• Name_________________________
• Period________________________
• Date_________________________

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What is a government?

• A government is a person, or group, who has the
  power to provide law, order, services, and
  security within a country.
• Government gives organization and structure to
  society.
• Anarchy is the absence of government.

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Why do we need a government?

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Four reasons we need government 1. Law and Order
2. Security 3. Public Services 4.
Maintaining Other Institutions
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Reasons we need government

• Law and Order
• Government makes laws to protect citizens
  and punishes those who break the law. This
  allows citizens to live in a safe and peaceful
  society.
• Examples Police and courts enforce the
  laws.

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Reasons we need government
2. Security Government provides for
our defense against other countries who
would attack us. Examples Army, Navy, Air
Force, Marines, and Coast Guard

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Reasons we need government
3. Public Services Government provides
services that people cant provide for
themselves. Examples Building roads,
making sure our food and water are safe, building
public schools, disaster relief.

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Reasons we need government
4. Maintaining Other Institutions Government
helps to create and protect other areas of our
society that are important to the citizens.
Examples Protecting a citizens basic freedoms
(freedom of speech and religion), providing
health care, retirement payments (social
security).

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Types of Government
Monarchy- The power to govern is in the hands of
a monarch (king, queen, emperor, sultan, czar).
The power of government is inherited (passed
down) through the members of one family.

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Monarchy

• Absolute Monarchy- The monarch has all the power
  to make laws and decisions. He/She stays in
  power because he/she has the support of other
  powerful families in the country (nobles). Very
  few absolute monarchies exist today.
• Example- Saudi Arabia

Monarch Laws
(King, Queen, Emperor, Czar, Sultan)
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Monarchy

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2. Constitutional Monarchy- The monarch is only
a figurehead. His/her position in the government
is ceremonial. He/She has no real power. The
power in government is, instead, held by a
law-making body, which is led by a Prime
Minister.   Example- Great Britain (present
day)





Monarch Constitution
Law Making Body
Laws (Congress, Assembly, Parliament)

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Types of Government
Dictatorship- The power of government is held by
one person or by a small group of people. They
usually come to power by forcefully overthrowing
the old government however, some dictators have
been elected. These dictators have the backing
of the military or police.

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Dictatorship

1. Autocracy- Dictatorship by one person. A
single individual holds all the power.  

Example- Iraq- Saddam Hussein Cuba- Fidel
Castro Germany WWII- Adolf Hitler
(Fascists)
Police
Army

 


Dictator
Laws
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Dictatorship

2. Oligarchy- Dictatorship by a small group of
people. This group holds all the power. An
Oligarchy can sometimes turn into an Autocracy.
Example- Afghanistan- Taliban
Former Soviet Union (now Russia)- Central Party
(Communists)

 
Police

Army


Group


Laws
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Types of Government
 Democracy- The power of government is shared by
all the people in a country. The power of
government is transferred through an election
process. The ancient Greeks and Romans were some
of the first people to have a democracy.

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Democracy

• Representative (Republican) Democracy- Citizens
  of a country elect other citizens to act as their
  representative in the government. The ancient
  Romans were the first to use this type of
  democracy. This government is also called a
  republic.
• Example- United States

Citizens
Election Elected Representative
Government Laws

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Democracy

• Direct Democracy- Laws and decisions in a country
  are voted on directly by people. The ancient
  Greeks were the first to use this type of
  democracy.
• Example- United States- people vote for
  propositions at election time.

Citizens Citizens
Citizens
LAWS
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Democracy
Where did Americans get the idea for having a
democracy?

1) Ancient Greeks and Romans The ancient Greeks
and Romans first used this type of government in
Europe.

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• Video Clip-Greeks Video Clip-Romans

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Democracy
2) Enlightenment Philosophers
- A philosopher is a person who seeks knowledge
and wisdom.

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- Enlightenment Period , also called the Age of
Reason, in Europe from 1660-1798.
- Many of the Founding Fathers were heavily
influenced by the Enlightenment philosophers.
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Democracy
John Locke (1632-1704), British Philosopher

• -Locke believed government is created by the
  people to serve and protect their needs.
• A government could exist only as long as the
  people agreed with it and felt it was protecting
  their basic rights.
• If the people grew unhappy with their government
  because it was not serving their needs, they had
  a right to overthrow the government and replace
  it with a new one.
• Locke also believed all people are born with
  natural rights that can never be taken away by
  the government Life, Liberty, and Property

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Democracy
Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), French
Philosopher

• -Rousseau had a vision of an ideal society where
  all the people made laws and decisions together.
  
• Citizens make a contract with each other, not
  with a government(monarch), pledging to respect
  each others rights.
• All citizens agree to give up some of their
  personal choice to help meet the needs of their
  community.
• He wrote a book titled The Social Contract.

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Democracy
Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755), French
Philosopher
- Montesquieu felt the best way to guarantee a
government does not take away the natural rights
of its citizens is to limit the power of
government by dividing it into branches. -
Government should have checks and balances.
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Democracy
3) Historical Documents Magna Carta- In 1215,
the English nobility forced King John to sign
away some of the monarchys power and give it to
them in the Magna Carta (Great Charter). This
was the first time a Kings power had been
limited by the people. The Magna Carta created
the Great Council, Parliament, which was made up
of the nobility, and was allowed to make some
laws without the monarchs approval. The laws
Parliament made only applied to the Nobility, not
the common English citizen.
Magna Carta
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Democracy
English Bill of Rights (1689)- The British
Parliament further limited the powers of the
monarchy by passing the English Bill of Rights,
which stated that the monarchy could not do
certain things without getting the approval of
Parliament, such as taxing. The English Bill of
Rights did not apply to just the nobility but to
all English citizens.
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Democracy
Mayflower Compact- The Mayflower Compact was the
first colonial agreement forming a government by
the consent of the people. The Mayflower Compact
was signed in 1620 by Pilgrims and English hoping
to establish a settlement in North America. The
agreement was completed on the ship, the
Mayflower, which was anchored off the coast of
Massachusetts. The compact gave the settlers the
power to frame and enact laws for the general
good of the community.
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Citizenship
A citizen is a legal resident of a city, state,
or country.

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Becoming a citizen of the United States
1. Born in the United States or on U.S. Territory
This includes U.S. embassies in foreign
countries, military bases, or ships that belong
to the U.S.
2. One or both of your parents are citizens
3. If your parents become citizens (naturalized)
before you turn 18 years of age
4. Naturalized Naturalization is the process you
go through to become a citizen.
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Becoming a citizen of the United States

• Naturalization Process
• Step 1- Application is sent to the INS
  (Immigration and Naturalization Service)
• Step 2- Take Examination (U.S. Government and
  History)
• - 18 yrs old
• - Legal Resident in the US for 5 years- in your
  lived in your home state for 3 months.
• - Good moral character (no crimes)
• - Show loyalty to U.S .and Constitution.
• - Ability to read and write English.
• Step 3- Final Hearing
• - INS looks over the application, and if you
  pass you are sworn in as a citizen.

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Duties of a Citizen
These are things that you are legally required to
do.

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1. Obey the law
If you dont obey the law, you can be punished by
the government.
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Duties of a Citizen
2. Pay taxes

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All citizens are required to pay taxes. Taxes
are where the government gets its money to
provide services to people and to keep the
government operating.
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Duties of a Citizen

3. Serving on juries
A person accused of a crime is entitled to a
trial by jury. If summoned to jury duty, you
must attend. If not, you are breaking the law.
The same applies if you are called to be a
witness in a trial.
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Duties of a Citizen

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4. Attending school
Under Arizona state law, all children between the
ages of 6-16 must attend school. If they do not,
either the parents, or the child, could face
consequences under the law.
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Duties of a Citizen
5. Defending the nation
If called (drafted) into military service you
have a legal obligation to attend.
Draft - When young men reach the age of 18, they
are supposed to register with the Selective
Service. The Selective Service is a huge
government database of names, and this is where
the government will pull names from if there is a
draft.
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Responsibilities of a Citizen
These are things that you should do as a citizen,
but are not legally required to do

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Responsibilities of a Citizen

• Contribute to the common good
• -Taking actions that make your community
• and country a better place to live.
• - Providing selfless service to your nation
• and community.

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Responsibilities of a Citizen
2) Holding Government Office   -In our democracy,
the power of government is with the people. We
choose others to represent us in the government.
Therefore, the government needs people to run for
elected offices.

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Responsibilities of a Citizen

• 3) To petition the government
• Citizens should try to influence elected
  officials and try to get them to take action on
  causes they believe are right.
• Citizens also have the right to ask or request
  that elected officials explain their actions and
  to make other citizens aware of what the
  government is doing.
• - Citizens have an obligation to watch what the
  government is doing to make sure it is doing what
  is right and is in the best interest of the
  people.

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- Citizens can petition the government by 1)
contacting the news media 2) protesting 3)
getting other citizens to sign a petition
No More Taxes
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Responsibilities of a Citizen
4) Voting

• - Voting is one of the most basic rights of
  citizenship. This is how the power of government
  is transferred from one leader to another and how
  we decide who will represent us in the
  government.
• 3 requirements to vote in the United States
• 18 years old
• Live in the state you are voting
• Register to vote

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Voting
Ballot- Form or document that a person uses
when casting their vote. It lists out all the
people out other items you can vote
for. Candidate- A person who runs (campaigns)
in an election for an elected position in
government. Political Party- A group of people
who have the same ideas on issues. They pick
people (candidates) from within their party to
run in elections. Party Platform- A list of all
the issues that a political party
believes. Popular Vote- A count of the actual
number of people who voted in an election. The
person who receives the greatest number of votes
wins the election Primary Election- An
election held within the political party to pick
the candidate who will run in the general
election. General Election- The main election
in which the candidates from each party run
against each other for a government office.
Electoral College- In a Presidential election,
this group of people cast the final vote to
determine who will be President. 38  
 



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Voting

• Getting Elected to Congress
• House of Representative- 435 members
• -Every 2 years, elections are held for each seat
  in the House.
• -Winners are determined by popular vote. 
• Senate- 100 members
• -Every 2 years, 1/3 of the seats in the Senate
  are up for election.
• -Winners are determined by popular vote.
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VotingElecting the President
ELECTORAL COLLEGE- Is only used to pick the
President of the United States. The Electoral
College is a group of people picked by their
state to cast the final vote for president after
the general election. Every state is worth so
many Electoral College votes. The number of
votes a state has in the Electoral College is
based on the number of representatives that state
has in the House of Representatives (based on the
population of that state) and that states two
senators. Example- Arizona- 8 Representatives
2 Senators 10 Electoral votes
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VotingElecting the President
Whichever candidate wins the popular vote in that
state gets all of that states Electoral College
votes. Winner Takes All The first candidate to
win 270 Electoral College votes out of 538 votes
is declared the winner of the election. It is
possible for a candidate to receive more of the
popular vote but lose the electoral vote and the
election. The Electoral College was originally
put into place because the Founding Fathers were
afraid that the people could make a bad choice
for President therefore, the Electoral College
could select someone else. The College meets in
December, after the election, and casts the final
vote. Today, the vote is a formality and
Electors from each state are often required by
law to vote for the candidate that won the
popular vote.
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VotingElecting the President
Alaska- 3 Hawaii- 4
Electoral College Map