Study question response
Below are two responses from students from this weeks study question. I need a 75 or more word response to each of these.
1. Four core principles of the American Revolution would be having a limited government, protection of unalienable rights, the Social Compact (or contract), and the right to liberty and freedom. The type of government we actually have is a representative democracy. This means that citizens vote for the representatives and those representatives create a legislative that make the decisions. Our role as citizens is to vote for the leaders that will represent the majority to the best of their ability. We are also responsible for contacting our representatives to make it known when that representation is not meeting the needs or desires of the populace. Some people believe that there is no real voice in the people, that the elite govern without truly including the citizens in the decision making. This is the reason so many people don’t bother voting. I applaud those who hit the pavement and work to get petitions signed and inform others. They are the amazing citizens that, though at time may be annoying, are really practicing their rights as informed citizens. I don’t think I can say that not participating makes someone a bad citizen because there are times when I can’t totally blame people for being discouraged from it. I believe you’re a bad citizen if you choose to stay ignorant of current issues and choose to do nothing. But, if you are educating yourself to the best of your ability and still decide to back off, then you are practicing your right as a citizen. I did not vote for the last presidential election. I could not see voting for either of the choices we were given, it was like we were deliberately given the two worst candidates and forced to pick the lesser of the two evils. So I didn’t participate. In that case I didn’t feel like a bad citizen because in my eyes it was lose-lose. I still feel that way but will definitely be participating going forward. Without citizen participation it cannot be a democracy, be it pure or representative, because we either have to vote on the laws ourselves or vote for who will represent us.
2. Good evening everyone.
I am not a fan of anything political, so please excuse my ignorance when it comes to this course.
Four core principles of the American Revolution were:
- Social Compact-governments are instituted by the people and get their “powers” from the consent of the governed people.
- Equality- ALL people are created equal.
- Unalienable Rights- everyone is naturally endowed by their Creator with certain rights. These rights are the right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
- Rule of Law- this mandates that the law governs everyone.
I think that we still to this day struggle with these principles. Equality is the biggest struggle we face.
A republic is different from a democracy in that people elect other people to be their representatives to govern according to the rule of law and a democracy is one in which the people govern themselves.
After reading the chapters this week, I feel that we have a government that is a mixture of a direct and representative democracy, because even though the majority of our decisions are made by our representatives, we as a people still directly vote on some issues (on our ballets).
I do not personally get wrapped up in politics and maybe that makes me a bad citizen in some people’s eyes, but I do not feel it is necessary to let it consume me. I vote, not always; but I also do not complain about the outcome of elections if I did not vote.