Civic Duties and Civic

Responsibilities

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 Duties

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

Civic Responsibilities

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

Getting informed

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

Reliability?

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.

Assignment