Application: Motivations to Serve

Plato believed that, in order for government to be truly democratic, every citizen must at some point play a part in governance.

In Ancient Greece, this meant that every citizen held political office for a period of time. Imagine what American government would be like if every American citizen were required to play a part in their democracy. American citizens have the opportunity to participate in their government and democracy in a wide range of roles.

These roles include contributor to a political campaign, member of an interest group or political party, elected official, and/or political advisor.

The role that you choose to play is influenced by many things, including, for example, any moral and religious convictions, whether or not your family is or was politically active, or if a concern impacts your community or you personally.

What would motivate you to serve?

To prepare for this assignment:

Review the article, "Rational Action and Political Activity." Pay particular attention to the analysis of citizen participation for some ways in which citizens may serve government.

Review the media piece, Virtual Community.

Explore the buildings within the virtual community. The buildings with dots above them contain content you can view. That content will be a video or text about one of five-character roles.

After reviewing all the content, select a role from the virtual community. You will use the same role for the remainder of the course.

The assignment (2 pages):

Explain the role from the virtual community and why you selected it.

Explain how the role you selected fits within the landscape of American government and public policy.

Justify your response with references to the Literature.

Support your Application Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are asked to provide a reference list for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course.