CHAPTER 1 Having a Voice America is the oldest democracy in history And perhaps the most important privilege in a democracy is the right to vote for the leaders of your government Voting lets your voice be heard and it is through the vote that ordinary citizens control the way the country runs Think about it if you don’t like the way your representatives are doing their job you can vote them out of office All elected politicians presidents senators governors mayors and beyond have their jobs because voters put them there Too many citizens think their one vote won’t make much of a difference But many elections have been decided by very small margins Sometimes even a presidential election will come 4 21st century skills library
The right to vote is the main idea of democracy 5
George W Bush won the 2000 election by a very small number of votes down to the wire This happened in 2000 George W Bush won the presidential election that year over his opponent Al Gore by just over 500 votes in Florida If those votes had gone to Gore then he would’ve won the state of Florida had more electoral votes from all 50 states combined and become the president instead As a right and a privilege voting should never be taken for granted There are still countries around the world where people don’t have that power To those people the United States seems 6 21st century skills library
like a dream Thousands in American history have suffered and died to give us this right so all people of voting age should exercise that right So what’s the story behind this wonderful institution called voting Let’s check it out 21st Century Content Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives are all elected by the people of their state They meet with ordinary ordinary citizens and listen to their concerns Then they meet with experts on various subjects such as agriculture science education education and foreign affairs and try to determine how best to solve their state’s problems In this way people like you have a voice in the running of their country demonstrating the true spirit of democracy 7 A CITIZEN’S GUIDE
