Ways one can influence the government are:
- Through lobbying. This can be through advocacy activities that intend to attract the government’s attention and influence its decisions and activities.
- Through active participation to serve as a jury. One can influence the government by being on a jury in a court of law.
- Through letter writing to local newspaper’s editor. Writing letters to newspaper editors to be published conveys the message to the government thus impacting and influencing its decision and processes.
- Participating in protests and public rallies (Ginsberg et al., 9).
In essence, voting is regarded as the building block for citizenship which entails being informed and active participation in a political community (Ginsberg et al., 9). This is because voting is the strategy whereby Americans choose their leaders by electing them. Voting gives people the to express their will and gives them a sense of belonging to the country which makes them feel involved in the affairs of the country.
Question 2
The constitution created three institutions of government which are: The Legislature, which is in charge of making laws. It is made up of 2 houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate; the Executive which enforces laws; the Judiciary which interprets laws (Ginsberg et al., 28). Article 1 of the United States Constitution grants Congress powers and limitations. It also subdivides Congress into two sections which are the House of Representatives and the Senate. Article 2 constitutes the Executive branch and grants it its powers to take authority over daily administrations (Ginsberg et al., 31). Article 3 establishes the Judiciary branch and mandates it to interpret laws. The judiciary branch of government is not subjected to an election. This is because it is granted exceptional judicial independence by the constitution, and autonomy (Ginsberg et al., 32).