Chapter 1 ELECTIONS IN A DEMOCRACY The United States is a democracy In a democracy the government is run for the people and by the people But people don’t do all the work They choose representatives to make decisions for them These people help the government do its job Government representatives take the oath of office This is a promise to do their jobs well What do representatives do 4
People elect representatives Two children look on as their mother casts her vote That means they pick them by voting In the United States we elect presidents members of Congress the Senate and the House of Representatives and governors We also elect school board members and judges 5
Who Can Vote Voting is a right and a duty of people in a democracy All U S citizens over the age of eighteen can vote THESE HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS IN UTAH ARE REGISTERING TO VOTE 6
Who Can Run for Office A person running for office is called a candidate To be elected to most offices candidates must be a certain age They must be U S citizens Running for office also takes hard work We’re going to follow Kate Brown a fictional character as she runs for the U S Senate As we’ll see Brown finds that running for office is hard but rewarding Elected officials get to help decide how to make a town a state or even the whole country a better place to live Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois talks to reporters She hopes to be elected mayor of Chicago 7
