Name: ______________________________!

Mod: ________
Date: _______________________________! U3.LP1: LessonTitle

SW describe the ways citizens influence the political process in democratic governments in order to
participate in the initiative making process and influence legislative representatives.
Warm-Up

Which of these examples best reflects the principle of representative democracy?

A. citizens of a town vote on all government issues
B. the leader of a country makes all government decisions
C. a courtroom judge finds a defendant guilty of a crime
D. an elected official proposes a bill in the state legislature

Who are the actors in the concept of representative democracy?

_____________________________________________________________________________
Do you see them in your choice?

_____________________________________________________________________________

Intro to New Material

Main Idea Supporting Details

Civic Participation • _______________ means anything related to government.

• _______________ means being actively involved.
• Together, the words Civic Participation mean being _______________
involved in ______________________.

How to Participate • You can participate in your government in the following ways:
in Civics • You can __________ on representatives and issues during elections.
• You can __________ an _______________ and _______________
the public to create a law.
• You can _______________ your elected officials by
_______________ at a meeting, as well as by calling or writing them.
• You can _______________ yourself, your family, and your ________.

Voting • In the U.S. System of voting, we can vote on ______ things:

____________________________ and issues.
• When we vote on representatives, or _______________, we practice
________________________ democracy.
• When we vote on _______________, such as referendums, initiatives,
or recalls, we practice _______________ democracy.

Electing Officials • We hold __________________ in order to decide who will represent us.
• During these elections, we vote for ____________________ and
executive branch ______________________.
 Main Idea Supporting Details

Initiatives • An initiative is created when a concerned citizen, or group,

_____________________ the general public to create or change a law.
• Petitioning occurs when people give their ___________________ stating
that they would like to see the particular issue come to a vote.
• After enough signatures have been obtained, the initiative is placed on a
_______________ and people vote on it _______________ an election.

Referendums • _______________ at the local, state, or national level present a new

_______________, or a possible _______________ to an old one.
• It is placed on a ballot during an election, and people vote
_______________ on it.

Recalls • When the citizens of a city, state, or nation sign a _______________ to

remove a ___________________________ from office.
• If the petition has enough ______________________, then the
______________________ is placed on the ballot for the next election.
• Finally, voters will vote on the issue and decide the _______________ of
the representative.
Initiative v. Referendum

Guided and Independent Practice

Please be silent and listen to instructions.

Fill out the blanks as we move along.

We are going to review the civic participation process.

First, we have to educate ourselves on an issue we are interested in.
Secondly, we have to take action on the issue.
This means starting the initiative process (we wonʼt collect the thousands of signatures today!),
and then writing a letter to our representative.

Homework

Civic Participation Reading and Questions.