Do you know the name of your mayor?

How about your state governor?

Its ok if you don’t know. In fact I don’t know either.

Let me introduce you to John Locke John Locke is the guy who had helped shape our government. He helped redefine it. He thought that the government should protect the natural rights of citizens, which Locke believed to include Life, Liberty, and property.

Locke also believed that if the government didn’t help protect these rights that the people would have the right to overthrow that government.

This idea deeply influenced Thomas Jefferson as he made the Declaration Of Independence

But Locke wasn’t the only influential person

Barron De Montesquieu has also helped influence the government.

He had published the book called “The spirit of laws” which was his most influential book. One of the founding fathers, James Madison, was especially influenced by Montesquieu's theory of separation of powers.

Montesquieu argued that the division of powers into different actors who would check each other was the best way to secure liberty and to prevent the government from becoming corrupt.

Ok, now that we know about some important figures, lets talk about core democratic values.

Core Democratic Values are the fundamental beliefs and constitutional principals of our society.

Mention the Declaration of Independence to someone and they will probably think of these seven words: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Life Everyone has the right to live Life Everyone has the right to live. We have the right to live without fear of injury or getting killed by others.

Liberty Liberty can be defined as our right to think, act, or behave without government interference. Personal, Political, and Economic freedoms are found here.

Pursuit of Happiness In our country everyone has the right to pursue happiness in their own way, as long as they don’t violate others rights.

Those three CDV’s are probably the most important to remember.

Now, it is time to talk about our civic rights, duties, and responsibilities.

It is important to note the difference between our ordinary rights and our fundamental rights.

Ordinary rights can be protected, but these rights will not be protected by court action.

Fundamental rights, may or may not be protected.

But rights also imply duties.

Civic duties include, for example, obeying the laws of the country, paying taxes, or serving on a jury as a court witness.

While civic duties must be fulfilled, civic responsibilities can be fulfilled by choice.

These responsibilities include but are not limited to giving a fair days work for a fair days pay, to act with integrity and guiding the next generation, or by participating in community affairs.

Now that we about our civic rights, duties, and responsibilities, lets discuss about our three branches of government.

The Legislative Branch is made up of two houses of congress- the senate and the house of representatives.

The senate and house of representatives are responsible for passing bills and making laws, which after go to the president.

The Executive branch is run by the president.

The executive branch is responsible for making laws official.

The Judicial branch oversees the court system of the U.S.

Through court cases the Judicial branch explains the meaning of the Constitution and laws passed by Congress.

With the three branches of government, we are not controlled by one whole government, we are controlled by three separate parties.

Now, onto political interest groups.

Some of you may ask what a political interest group is…

I don’t know directly what a political interest group is, but I can give examples.

Some examples include AARP, the Electronic Policy Network, The Human Rights Campaign, etc.

These groups help in different ways.

Some help retired people, veterans, and animals.

Some help protect the rights of immigrants, the rights of different races, and the rights of different cultures and beliefs.

While others help around the community by doing a variety of different activities like food drives, participating in charity work, helping small businesses, etc.

Political interest groups are important in our society.

Without political interest groups there would probably be no charities or help centers.

We need to pay attention to small things and help in our community.

You may be asking what this is all about…

You may be asking yourself what this all has to do with you…

Well this has a lot to do with you.

This has to do with Active Citizenship.

And Active Citizenship starts with you.