Welcome to BASIC CITIZENSHIP TRAINING!

Each branch of the US military has their own “basic” training. I am a veteran of the US Navy and we called our sixteen-week course “boot camp”. Since I started teaching political science in a university setting, I have referred to the introductory course in the field of political science as “Citizenship boot camp” and this eTextbook is an outgrowth of that idea.

BASIC CITIZENSHIP TRAINING will be your guide to the next semester of instruction in US Federal Government and Politics. Perhaps the introductory course at your university is called something different, but most higher education intro courses cover the same basic information as relates to American politics and government. This eTextbook differs from other eBooks you may have experience with in it’s interactive nature; there will be moments while reading the content of this book that you will be instructed to click on a link and read an article or view a video. As 21st century learners, you’re used to multiple means of seeking and obtaining information. There is no substitute for reading words on the printed page, so you’ll get plenty of that with this book, but the chapters are a bit shorter than a standard, hardcopy textbook (or their PDF progeny commonly referred to as eBooks). The chapters in BASIC CITIZENSHIP TRAINING are shorter to provide you the time necessary to explore the links and stories - sometimes in video format - that offer opportunities to learn and understand outside of a classroom setting.

One thing that I particularly like about teaching the intro course is that most of the students are NOT political science majors. It is relatively easy to engage an undergraduate in course material when they have already indicated an interest in the subject or topic. In the State of Texas, where I am currently teaching, every student is required to take at least six (6) credits [that is, two undergraduate classes] in government: one course in American government and another in state government. Oftentimes, students view the course as something they need to get out of the way; something they have little to no interest in since their chosen profession will take them far away from the social sciences - including and ESPECIALLY politics. If you’ve been a young adult over the last several years, you could be forgiven if you viewed politics as a “low” business full of individuals with questionable character and integrity and as a subject or topic that is best left alone.

However, whether you want it to or not, political decisions have affected your life and will continue to affect it well into the future. The course and this textbook are created with the intention of helping make politics and government REAL to you. Very often people view elected officials in their state capitol, city hall, or Washington D.C. as distant elites that they have little, if anything, in common with. Government is viewed as an alien interloper; an entity that is forever seeking out ways to insert itself into your life. As citizens and stakeholders, our expectations for American government are low and if we can, we will avoid it.

The problem is that you cannot avoid it. Political decisions affect your life daily and will continue to do so whether or not you recognize them. It is my goal in the university classroom and, by extension this textbook, to guide you to an understanding of how American politics impacts your life and how you can stake your own claim on democracy to bring about change in your community. As a taxpayer - and you ARE a taxpayer irrespective of your age or profession - it makes sense for you to know about decisions being made in your name that your tax dollars pay for.

As the ancient, Greek statesman Pericles said many years ago, “Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you.”