Project Parameters and Directions

Directions:

You have already examined your assumptions about voting and citizenship. Now you are going to find out if your assumptions are correct. You will search for the answers to these questions on the local as well as national levels.

Whether you choose to create a website, history fair, teach a series of lessons in a local elementary school, or other local education activity, be sure to document all stages of your project through photos, videos, capturing screenshots, etc.

Some interesting questions you might tackle

• Does voting by itself constitute responsible citizenship?
• Does a particular group winning the right to vote lead to higher levels of participation in public life for that group?
• Is voting a right or responsibility, or both?
•  Can it ever be virtuous not to vote?
• Voting is a direct way to have an effect, no matter how slight, on the outcome of elections. Many have put energy into winning the right to vote, while many have put energy into preventing others from voting! Since we do not have infinite time and energy, all this activity comes at a cost. Specifically, it comes at the cost of all the other things we could have done with that time and energy. Does a preoccupation with voting cause us to focus less on other, perhaps more effective ways to participate in public life? Explain why or why not.
• How does your study of the story of the Nineteenth Amendment affect your understanding of the difficulties inherent in sustaining a political movement with a singular purpose over a long period of time? How do we keep striving for the principles outlined in the Constitution and Declaration? How do you maintain the faith in the system so that people have hope for correcting the constitutional system and do not lose faith and abandon the system?