Civic Engagement and Government Fundamentals

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms related to political engagement, citizenship, government functions, and media analysis from the reading.

Political engagement

Citizen actions that are intended to solve public problems through political means.

Buycotting

Buying goods produced by companies whose policies you agree with.

Government

An institution that creates and implements the policy and laws that guide the conduct of a nation and its citizens.

Citizens

Members of a political community—town, city, state, or country—who, through birth or naturalization, enjoy the rights, privileges, and responsibilities attached to membership in a given nation.

Naturalization

The process of becoming a citizen by means other than birth, as in the case of immigrants.

Pentagon Papers

Documents published by The New York Times demonstrating that successive presidents had systematically lied to the public and to Congress between 1945 and 1967.

Tier One—Gut Check

An evaluation method of using common sense to ask if information is consistent with what one already knows, whether a claim is outlandish or implausible, and watching for red flags like exclamation marks, misspelled words, and all-capital headlines.