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US government and civics
Course: US government and civics > Unit 4
Lesson 1: What does it mean to be a citizen?What is citizenship?
Citizenship has two main parts: legal status and active practice. Legal citizenship means being a member of a state, with rights and responsibilities. Active citizenship means being informed and involved in your community. Good citizens are empowered, community-minded, inclusive, and informed. They play a key role in democracy. Created by Kimberly Kutz.
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I am just curious, Is this the only thing here? There is only one part of this. Citizenship. Will they add other things? And when will you add more? I am a rising 8th grader, and I will be taking civics, so I want to be prepared.(17 votes)
Hi Harry, I have no idea what your school will cover but assuming you are also American my 8th grade social studies class did spend a lot of time on the Constitution and the 3 branches of government.
If that is what you mean by "civics", then this course probably isn't what you are looking for. This course is more about how to be a politically active and informed citizen.
If you are looking to learn about government structure, Khan academy's (AP) US Government and Civics are the classes you should be looking at.(6 votes)
at0:26she says a citizen is entitled to things granted in the constitution. Aren't they a right not a privilege?(9 votes)
Hi, I was wondering if I would be getting graded for reading....(2 votes)
Hi Pandapop30.Do you mean in khan academy? Yeah maybe you will be graded.(2 votes)
Is the "Empowered to make a difference" quote an American thing or is this just common sense(2 votes)- Is it important to be a helpful and willing citizen? :)(1 vote)
0:26Video transcript
- [Instructor] There are a few definitions of the term citizenship. In this video, we're
going to talk about two of those definitions. One is the legal definition, the status of having citizenship. A person has citizenship
as a member of a state, which gives them rights,
responsibilities, and privileges. A citizen of the United States is entitled to the protections granted
in the Constitution and Bill of Rights like freedom of speech. There are two paths to citizenship. People are either born
citizens because their parents were citizens or because
they were born on US soil or they can become naturalized citizens. We'll talk more in other
videos about the process to become a citizen but for now just know that naturalization is the legal process by which a foreign citizen or national can become a US citizen. The other definition of
citizenship I wanna talk about here is not just the legal
status of having citizenship but the practice of active citizenship. You practice good citizenship
by being an informed and active member of
a political community. So what does it mean to be a good citizen? There are a few aspects
of good citizenship. First, a good citizen is empowered. That means that they exercise their rights and believe that they can
make a difference by doing so. They don't say, "Nah, I'm
not gonna do anything. "It wouldn't make a difference anyway." A good citizen is also community-minded. They feel a sense of responsibility
for their communities and they wanna help them be
the best that they can be. They're also inclusive. And by that I mean that
they wanna do what's best for everyone in their
community, not just what would be most beneficial to themselves. They include multiple
viewpoints and stand up for the rights of others. And lastly, a good citizen is informed. They know how the government
works, they're up to date on the problems that
the government is facing and the decisions that it's making. Good citizens are invaluable to democracy because democracy works best
when citizens are knowledgeable and active in political debate.