Civics Chapters 5 and 11 Study Guide I. Chapter 5 Section 1: The Duties and Responsibilities of Citizenship A.

Citizens make up a community, neighborhood, town or country; they make these things successful. i. As citizens, we have responsibilities, which are things we SHOULD do. If we do not complete these responsibilities, it diminishes the quality of life and the function of our government. ii. As citizens, we also have duties, which are things we are REQUIRED to do. If we fail to do these things, we will be subject to fine, legal penalty, or arrest. B. We have five duties as citizens. i. The first duty is to obey the law. If we do not, we will go to jail. ii. The next is we must pay progressive and regressive taxes. 1. An income tax is a fee deducted from all of your annual income or paycheck. 2. A sales tax is a fee paid on a purchased or consumer good. iii. The third civic duty is that we must defend our nation. When we register to vote, we also register for the draft. iv. The fourth duty is that we must serve in court. If you get a court order to serve and you refuse they will arrest you. v. The last duty is that we must go to school. You must attend school until you are sixteen. When you are sixteen, it is legal for you to drop out of school. C. We have five main responsibilities as citizens. i. We must be informed. This requires watching the news, paying attention to our government practices and understanding how the government works. ii. We must vote. Without being informed, you are abusing the ultimate sacrifice made by so many for you to have that right. iii. We must respect the rights of others. Love your neighbor as yourself, is one of the greatest commandments. iv. We must be tolerant. This means respecting the views of others even if you disagree. v. We must serve the community; the son of man did not come to be served but SERVE. Serve something greater than yourself.

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Chapter 11 Section I- Public Opinion A. The public opinion includes the ideas and attitudes people hold about elected officials, candidates, governments and political issues. i. The presidents decisions are shaped on public opinion. It is simple, if your popularity is high, you get more support. ii. Polling can be misleading. It can suggest uniformity that does not exist. In reality, many Americans agree of very few issues. B. Factors that affect public polling are age, gender, income, race, religion, occupation, or economic situation. i. Mass media news information sources can emphasize certain aspects of an event to influence public opinion or to downplay an event. ii. The way they cover and portray issues affect public opinions. C. Political leaders, through their speeches and interviews, hope to influence people to support their point of view. i. Interest groups are people who share a similar point of view on a particular issue and can work together. They also persuade public and elected officials to support their cause. D. There are three components of public opinion. i. Direction whether it is positive or negative. ii. The intensity over the issue (if the person is passionate about issues and will stick up for them). iii. The candidates stability or how firmly they hold to something. But political candidates change constantly. E. The most accurate way to form a public opinion and poll is to select 1500 Americans of all races, genders, ages, incomes, and viewpoints. i. They can also phrase the question differently to make the person give a specific answer. ii. Critics say polls distort elections, because it ignores issues and just focuses on the candidates. iii. Our democracy is affected, but not affected by the polls. F. Many voters choose a candidate for office that supports their issues. Although some people vote for candidates for other reasons. i. Every elected official uses public opinion polls to monitor the publics opinion. ii. Pollsters are people who conduct polls. They usually work for politicians. Chapter 11 Section II- The Mass Media A. The mass media plays an important role in influencing politics and government. Mass media is the link between people and the elected officials. i. Examples of print media are newspapers, magazines and books. ii. Examples of the electronic media are radios, televisions or the internet. iii. In the United States, privately owned managers decide what to run based on the ratings.

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Television has become the number one medium for politics at every level. Ninety-eight percent of Americans own a television. B. Seventy percent of people read newspapers for in depth coverage. i. The internet is a quick source of information more than the television. C. Problems that receive the most attention, money, time and effort are public agenda problems that affect government leaders. i. The media defines what problems should be addressed. ii. Candidates running for office can now do so with little or no experience only if they receive the right coverage. D. The relationship between the reporters and the politicians are very complicated, but they need each other. i. They leak political decisions to get a feel of constituents before revealing whether a decision has been made on public policy. ii. Politicians can make opposing candidates look bad. iii. Journalist can benefit from inside story. They compete with other journalists to break the story first. E. Watchdogs release political corruption and scandal. The focus used to be on deeds in office, but now it is on personal life and scandals. i. Private life is no longer possible is you are an elected official. F. National security is used for nations protection. The government can limit media reports on classified information. G. The 1st Ammendment protects the American People from censored material being released by the press. i. A libel story puts a question on ones reputation. ii. In 1964, the Supreme Court stated that one must prove malice of what they are reporting about them. iii. Public officials rarely win libel suits. Chapter 11 Section III- Interest Groups A. Interest groups are very biased. They only represent one side of a particular viewpoint. They are the exact opposite of impartial. They do not consider all viewpoints on a subject. i. Citizens join or support interest groups, also called special-interest groups, because they believe by pooling their resources (time, money, and skills) that they can increase their chances of influencing decision makers. ii. The First Amendment protects your right to belong to interest groups by guaranteeing the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government. B. The largest and most powerful interest groups are economic interest groups. i. U.S. Chamber of Commerce which has 20,000 members. This group promotes free enterprise. ii. Business Organizations, such as the Tobacco Institute, are interested in shaping the governments policy on economic issues.

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Labor Unions represent the interest of employees and their benefits. (AFLAmerican Federation of Labor.) iv. Professional organizations such as the American Medical Association are made up of specific professions. Interest groups promote their particular ethnic group, age group, or gender. Some examples are the NAACP which is made up of African Americans and the AARP which is made up of retired people. i. The Wildlife Federation is concerned about the environment. ii. Public Interest Groups work for all of society. iii. Common cause is a group who works to expose corruption and favors in government. The primary purpose of an interest group is to influence public policy which is the course of action the government takes in response to a problem. i. They focus action on lawmakers, courts, and elections. ii. Many interest groups, including most labor unions and a large number of corporations and trade associations, have formed political action committees (PACs.) iii. When a law, in the opinion of an interest group, is not being properly enforced, the group may sue the party who is breaking the law. Lobbyists are representatives of interest groups who contact law makers or other government officials to directly affect or influence their policy making. They function at all levels of government. Lobbyists are either volunteered or paid. They know how the system works and who to talk to (they talk very persuasively). i. Information is the most important resource for lobbyists. They are able to supply lawmakers with information that helps their case. ii. Lobbyists prepare their own drafts of bills or testify in legislative hearings on bills. iii. The job of lobbyists does not end once a law is enacted. Their interest groups are also concerned with making sure the laws are carried out, enforced, and upheld in court. Propaganda is advertising that promotes one idea or denounces another. i. Endorsements are when you get famous people such as movie stars, rock stars or sports figures to support them. ii. Stacked Cards is when you only present one side of the issue and distort facts. iii. Name calling is an attempt to turn people against an opponent or idea by using an unpleasant label or description for that person or idea. iv. Glittering generality is a statement that sounds good but is essentially meaningless. (Ex. A return to family values.) v. Symbols is when they have a symbol present when the public is around. vi. Plain folks make people think that the candidate is just like them with the same desires and concerns.

The bandwagon is convincing people that everyone else agrees with an interest groups point of view or that everyone is going to vote for a certain candidate. G. Lobbyists, in the past, would buy votes with free meals and trips because there was no limit on how much they could spend. They had the advantage over low income groups. i. Then there was a regulation of lobbying at the federal level in 1946. 1. This law required lobbyist to register themselves and their interest groups to repost all money spent. This was ineffective. 2. The law requires a waiting period before former government officials can become lobbyist. Members of congress cannot be lobbyists.

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