Book excerpt: Excerpt from The American Citizen's Manual, Vol. 1: Governments (National, State, and Local), The Electorate, the Civil Service What is the relation of the citizen of the United States to the governments under which he lives? This question, which is quite distinct from questions concerning his relations to his fellow-citizens, is continually recurring as the population of the country increases, the interests of the people become more complex, and the interference of government with the rights and privileges of the citizen becomes more general. And it is a problem which, from its nature, is hardly capable of a satisfactory solution; for the conditions are in a state of perpetual change. No sooner are present wants and needs provided for, than new questions arise, demanding attention. This matter of the relation of the governed to the government, is, then, pre-eminently and continually a "question of the day." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.