Civic Duties and Civic Responsibilities

Civic Duties All American citizens are responsible for fulfilling their Civic Duties These duties include: Obeying the laws Paying taxes Jury duty Defending the nation (registering for the draft) Serve as a witness

Civic Responsibilities Not as clear cut as civic duties People are not arrested or punished for failing to fulfill these obligations (you are punished if you don’t fulfill civic duties) They include: Be aware of government actions Voice your opinion (vote, protest, etc.) Working for a political campaign Volunteering at community events or in local libraries, hospitals, and schools

Getting informed How do most citizens learn about what is going on in the government? Television Internet newspapers What kind of information do these sources provide? Stance on issues? Quotes Dates of events statistics

Reliability? How reliable are these sources? Bias in the media Skewed sample Nonresponse Polling is when an organization asks a group of random people questions to determine their opinion on an issue or an candidate. It is used to determine public opinion (whether the public is for or is against something) Skewed polling is when polling is purposefully adjusted to get a certain result Not an accurate image of what people think

Reliability? Political polls are particularly unreliable because: Can poll just a select group (ex: only males, only over 50, only immigrants etc.) People may refuse to answer strangers Wording of the question Lying Canoe Hitler

Assignment Design a 7 question poll to determine your fellow classmate’s opinion on issues. You could ask them about which type of food, restaurant, music, school subject, they prefer. Were your classmates biased in their responses? Did you try to skew your poll by persuading them to answer a certain way? Is this poll an accurate representation of the entire class? What about the entire school? What about all of the county? Explain why or why not.

Assignment Conduct a survey of your fellow classmates about the constitutionality of conscription Should the draft be reinstated today? Would it ever be acceptable for the draft to be reinstated? In a BCR explain whether you believe your classmates responses to the questions were biased. Why or why not? Explain your own opinions on the questions. Use details and examples to support your answer.