WebQuest
Voter Participation
Introduction
Bad officials are the ones elected by good citizens who do not vote
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/georgejean159027.html
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/georgejean159027.html
"Bad officials are the ones elected by good citizens who do not vote." George Jean Nathan
Democracy is a greek word (demokratia) which means, "rule by the people." It is a state of being, almost intangible. We would never question a person's right to fight for their survival...those were the times back then. Democracy was a reaction of the majority being unjustly ruled by the few. Subsequently, British transplants in North America, and eventually their children, our nation's Founders, would cite democracy as a way to escape oppression, to argue against taxation without representation. Would they have known democracy to be an alternative option to being a subject of the King and of the church, had it not been defined and practiced successfully hundreds of years earlier?
President Lincoln clarified the 'thing' called democracy, as "...government of the people, by the people, for the people." Democracy, he reminded us, was synonymous with the United States itself. As worried as he was that a divided country could not stand, he was equally concerned that Americans had forgotten that the survival of the nation depended upon the activity of its people, to maintain the integrity of the union. We are forced to re-visit Lincoln again and again, when we go to war abroad to fight against our enemies, for our allies and our interests, and when we fight ourselves at home for civil rights, for ourselves.
So why is it important to vote? The American way of life, now, as then, depends upon the most basic principle of democracy. Being 'of the people' means choosing representatives; being 'by the people' means doing the choosing; being 'for the people' means that the process is for ourselves. We have to want democracy for their to be democracy. The original signers of our Declaration of Independence had their example to follow. We, in turn, have ours. Why is it that every nation in the world has not yet adopted democracy? Why is being democratic 'right' and being undemocratic 'wrong'?
Your goal in this WebQuest is to understand the importance of voting, especially the importance of exercising your rights as an American citizen. You will better understand how your participation (or lack thereof) in the democratic experiment called America, through elections, affects all aspects of your life, from what you say and how you say it, to where and how you live, to the school you attend and the job you want.
Democracy is a greek word (demokratia) which means, "rule by the people." It is a state of being, almost intangible. We would never question a person's right to fight for their survival...those were the times back then. Democracy was a reaction of the majority being unjustly ruled by the few. Subsequently, British transplants in North America, and eventually their children, our nation's Founders, would cite democracy as a way to escape oppression, to argue against taxation without representation. Would they have known democracy to be an alternative option to being a subject of the King and of the church, had it not been defined and practiced successfully hundreds of years earlier?
President Lincoln clarified the 'thing' called democracy, as "...government of the people, by the people, for the people." Democracy, he reminded us, was synonymous with the United States itself. As worried as he was that a divided country could not stand, he was equally concerned that Americans had forgotten that the survival of the nation depended upon the activity of its people, to maintain the integrity of the union. We are forced to re-visit Lincoln again and again, when we go to war abroad to fight against our enemies, for our allies and our interests, and when we fight ourselves at home for civil rights, for ourselves.
So why is it important to vote? The American way of life, now, as then, depends upon the most basic principle of democracy. Being 'of the people' means choosing representatives; being 'by the people' means doing the choosing; being 'for the people' means that the process is for ourselves. We have to want democracy for their to be democracy. The original signers of our Declaration of Independence had their example to follow. We, in turn, have ours. Why is it that every nation in the world has not yet adopted democracy? Why is being democratic 'right' and being undemocratic 'wrong'?
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