I believe that we as citizens of a local, state, and national have a requirement to hold our governments accountable at every level.  Personally, I believe this is easier said than done.  Up until this year, I had no real interest in the runnings of the government.  I just left everything political up to my parents, and I would just sit back and lets things run their course.  But now I have a genuine interest in learning the workings of the government.  Despite this, I am still learning about the inner workings.  However, I think that people have the right and the public duty to demonstrate and challenge the government when appropriate.  The voice of the people need to be heard and every person should involve themselves in some way with the government.  Most people are happy with just voting and leaving things alone until it becomes time to vote again.  In some situations, however, it can be difficult to hold the government accountable because those in power are blind to the wants of the people.  Some of the people that hold power in the government are either oblivious to the needs and wants of the people, or they just don’t care.  In either case, the people have a civic duty to bring it to light.  Like I said before, I’m not very knowledgeable about the government or how people actually go around having their voices heard.  The only thing I can really base anything off of is the movements and protests I see on television.  Those, from what I have seen, have never been very successful in getting their point across.  In one way, I guess, they are successful in the aspect that they bring national attention to their cause.  But when it comes to getting real change from the government, I think they have failed.  If they truly wanted to get their point across, I’m sure that they could find a more appropriate way to do it.  What comes to mind is the Ferguson riots.  The case was already brought to the view of the public through countless news organizations. But they didn’t receive any real acknowledgement from the government towards their plight.