4.11 Your Responsibilities & Obligations

While the state constitution guarantees you certain rights, certain responsibilities and obligations accompany your citizenship. You will recall we explored this notion of civic responsibility in Chapter 2. In this section, we will revisit those ideas as well as identifying the obligations that citizens must obey.

Let’s go back to Khan Academy content and explore our civic responsibilities and obligations in more detail.

Civic Responsibilities

These are activities that citizens “should do” to be good and productive members of society. Examples of responsibilities include voting (and being an informed voter), voicing concerns (e.g., emailing a city department about a broken streetlight), volunteering, and respecting the rights and beliefs of others.

YouTube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tms0TgD_97g

Duration: 2:32

Obligations of Citizenship

These are actions that citizens are required to fulfill. If citizens do not fulfill these actions, they will face punishment by law or legal repercussions. Examples of obligations include obeying the law, serving on juries for citizens over 18, paying taxes, attending school for young citizens, and defending the Constitution and the country when called upon.

YouTube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjPE5JTGjXE

Duration: 4:11