1. Unit 4: Politics, Elections, and Citizenship Alyssa Adamkowski, Rayan Jabr, and Scott McKeon

2. Citizenship Status Full Citizenship: by birth or naturalization process Immigrant: a person trying to obtain citizenship through naturalization Alien: a person in a country to work or visit for a short period of time Illegal Alien: a person in a country without permission Refugee: a person in a country because they are leaving another country because of war, natural disaster, or political persecution

3. Naturalization Process (USCIS) 1.File a Declaration of Intention and begin the 5 year wait process (only 3 if the immigrant is marrying an American citizen) 2.File an Application of Naturalization 3.Interview with an USCIS official and pass a citizenship test 4.Sworn in a court with the oath of loyalty to the USA

4. Rights, Duties, and Responsibilities Right: Guaranteed by the Constitution ▫Voting, practicing religion of choice, hold elected office, having a fair trial, and Bill of Rights Duty: Required by Law ▫Obeying laws, register for Selective Service, serving in court as s witness or juror, attend school until the age of 16, paying taxes, and others Responsibility: Things You Should do but aren’t Required by Law ▫Voting, participating in government, respecting rights of others, being informed and others Non-Citizens: everything above except; they can’t vote in political elections, can’t run for government office, can’t hold certain government jobs

5. Theories of Integration Melting Pot Theory: the blending of races, peoples, and cultures Tossed Salad: group of people together that still holds onto their own diverse culture beliefs while being one nation

6. How a Candidate Runs for Office 1.File a form to run for a position 2.Primary Election will be held within a political party to narrow down to the best candidate to represent the party; primary may be opened or closed 3.Candidates from each party (and independent candidates) will take part in the General Election All elections EXCEPT the presidential election the winner is determined by majority of the popular vote

7. Questions Voters Should Ask Themselves Does the candidate share my views? Is the candidate reliable? Is the candidate experienced? Will the candidate be effective? Does the candidate have a chance to win?

8. Electoral College The Presidential Election is held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November and the winner is the candidate that receives the majority of the electoral college votes  Candidate needs 270 out of 538 electoral votes to win the election  It is a winner take all system for electoral votes in each state Candidates will spend more time campaigning in the states will more electoral votes  If no candidate receives the majority of electoral votes the House of Representatives will select the president

9. Criticisms of the Electoral College 1.The more populated states have more influence 2.A candidate can win popular vote, but lose the general election o The last time was 2000, when George Bush defeated Al Gore by carrying the bigger electoral states 3.Some people suggest that the electoral votes be split up by the percent of popular vote for each state

10. How Voters Can Influence Legislation  Initiative: proposed law started by grass root movement and then voted on by the constituents  Referendum: proposed law by the legislature and then voted on by the constituents Constituents: people represented by the legislature

11. Political Parties A political party is a group of people with similar political views and interests and try to influence the outcome of an election o Selecting/ supporting a candidate o Keep the public informed o Act as watchdogs o Give citizens a voice o Get citizens involved Purpose of Political Parties:

12. Political Spectrum Radical: Want widespread and rapid change in political, social, and economic systems and may resort to violence to achieve goals Liberal: Calls for gradual change in political systems and want government involvement in making this happen Moderate: (middle of the road) share viewpoints of both liberals and conservatives and want a slower approach to change Conservative: Favor keeping things the way they are and are very cautious about change; they believe less government is better Reactionary: Want things to go back to the way they were and will use extreme methods like repressive government power to achieve goals

13. Types of Party Systems One Party System: (China) there is no confusion over who is in charge but other viewpoint are ignored Two Party System: (U.S.A.) provides stability and continuity but sometimes minority viewpoints are ignored Multi Party System: (Israel, Japan, Italy) provides a broad range of choices but its hard for one party to get control so they form unstable coalitions

14. Different Types of Interest Group Support

15. Particular Economic Interest o American Medical Association (AMA) o American Bar Association (ABA)

16. Particular Ethnic, Age, or Gender Group o National Association Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) o National Organization of Women (NOW)

17. Specific Cause o People Ethnical Treatment of Animals (PETA) o National Rifle Association (NRA)

18. Public Interest o American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

19. Different Types of Propaganda Techniques

20. Glittering Generality Use attractive but vague words that make speeches and other forms of communication sound good but say nothing -Miss America Answers-

21. Plain Folks Makes the voters feel that the leaders are “just like them” and do the same things the voters do

22. Bandwagon Make it appear that many people have already supported a candidate and that these people are having fun and gaining a significant advantage

23. Card Stacking Candidate lists accomplishments and statistics that compare him/her favorably to their opponent

24. Name Calling Information is deliberately presented about the opponent that is discrediting in nature

25. Transfer/ Symbol Candidate is shown with symbols (flag, eagle, Statue of Liberty) that makes the candidate seem patriotic