Finishing the Minimal duties required for a citizen is another example of being a good citizen. Minimal duties include voting, civic participation, Military participation, obeying laws, jury duty, and paying taxes.
Voting is a privilege of citizenship, but it is not required. This is opposite in nations like belgium where citizens continue to vote. Historically, voting rates in presidential elections by citizens are around 50% levels, voting in 2008 the level rose to over 60%. Legal immigrants are sometimes motivated to become citizens for a chance to exercise voting power.
Civic participation is not required in the United States. There is no requirement to attend town meetings, read newspapers stay informed about issues, belong to a political party, or write letters. Citizens can stay home and do nothing if they choose. One source said that a benefit of naturalization is allowing immigrants to "participate fully in the civic live of the country." However, the general pattern is for most Americans to avoid politics. There is a disagreement about whether popular lack of involvement in politics is helpful or harmful. Vanderbilt professor Dana D.Nelson suggests that most Americans merely vote for president every four ears and that's all they do, and she sees this pattern as undemocratic. In her book bad for Democracy, Nelson argues that declining citizen participation in politics is unhealthy for long term prospects for democracy. Generally, civic participation is almost nonexistent for a wide swath of the American public. One 2009 study found that seven in ten citizens showed "declining civic involvement" nationally, and that citizens of illinois were "disappointed, frustrated and disillusioned b recent political scandals and the pressures of the recession." However, writers such as Robert D.Kaplan in the atlantic see benefits to non-involvement. He wrote the very indifference of most people allows for a clam and healthy political climate.
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