Attention should be called to the inducement which in some schools is given to broad civic training by awarding to pupils a rank which is based upon proficiency in all their activities, scholarship, athletics, debating, good influence upon others, qualities of leadership, and so on. Student self-government may also be used in schools to afford training in the fundamentals of good citizenship. CHAPTER VI POPULAR CONTROL OF GOVERNMENT _The purpose of this chapter is to explain how the people, both directly and indirectly, control all branches of government in the United States._ PUBLIC OPINION AND REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT [Sidenote: The ultimate sovereignty of the people.] =How the People Rule.=—In free governments the will of the people prevails in the decision of all important matters. This does not mean, of course, that the people decide every question directly, but merely that when a substantial majority of them have reached a decision upon any point their will prevails through one channel or another. The wishes of the American people have at times been thwarted by their government; but in the long run, when the people have made up their minds, their will has brushed aside every obstacle and has become the supreme law of the land. This popular control of American government is exerted in four ways, namely, by the pressure of public opinion upon all officials, by the periodic election of representatives, by direct law-making through the initiative and referendum, and by the action of the people in amending their state constitutions. The pressure of public opinion is continuous, and it is exerted in various ways. The government cannot proceed very far in defiance of it. The election of representatives, on the other hand, takes place at stated intervals, and in the period between elections the people do not have direct control over those whom they elect. But where provision for the initiative and referendum exists, the people may frame and enact laws without the intervention of their representatives and thus may exercise direct control. Finally, the ultimate agency of popular sovereignty is the power of the people to amend their constitutions. So far as the state constitutions are concerned they accept or reject proposed changes by their own votes; in the case of the national constitution they act through their representatives in Congress and in the state legislatures. By these four methods of control we maintain what is known as the sovereignty of the people. [Sidenote: What is public opinion?]