Instructions: 

1. Watch and listen to the 60-Second Civics video below. If you'd like, you can also read along using the script that appears below the quiz. Or you can turn on the video's subtitles and read while watching the video.
2. Take the Daily Civics Quiz. If you get the question wrong, watch the video again or read the script and try again.

Episode Description:
The American system of government is built on popular sovereignty. However, there have been times in our nation's history when the government did not pursue the common good. Part of being an active citizen is knowing when and how to challenge the system. Here are some principles that can help you.

Challenging the System: Active Citizenship, Part 5

Welcome to 60-Second Civics from the Center for Civic Education. I’m Mark Gage.

The underlying principle of the American system of government is popular sovereignty; that is, that the people rule the country and decide what is best for the common good.

However, there have been times in our nation's history when the government did not pursue the common good or protect the rights of all the people, such as during the eras of slavery and racial segregation.

So, part of being an active citizen is knowing when and how to challenge the system.

Doing so is a delicate task, but here are some principles that can help you.

First, commit to nonviolent social change.

Violent action violates the core American value of civil discourse. 

It is the rejection of the consensus-building that is required in a democratic system.

Americans have a long history of achieving change through nonviolent action.

Examples include Henry David Thoreau's refusal to pay a poll tax in protest of slavery which resulted in his serving time in jail, and Martin Luther King Jr.'s imprisonment for protesting segregation.

Second, decide whether to work within the system or outside of it.

The American system is designed to accommodate change.

You can work within the system by running for office and making laws directly, serving in the legal system as an attorney or a judge, or supporting the efforts of political candidates whose ideas resonate with your own.

Or you can work outside the system by forming your own group to advocate for social change or joining the work of others.

Working within the system takes much longer, but can be more effective. 

However, as in the case of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, working outside the system can also be successful and can result in the movement’s goals being institutionalized through legislation.

Most importantly, if something bothers you about the system, you can work to change it. 

This episode was made possible by the support of T-Mobile.

60-Second Civics, where civic education only takes a minute.