Good citizenship

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A good citizen is an individual who strives towards the goal to honor and submit to their government and takes the initiative to improve their country.

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There are many opinions as to what constitutes a good citizen. Aristotle makes a distinction between the good citizen and the good man, writing, "...there cannot be a single absolute excellence of the good citizen. But the good man is so called in virtue of a single absolute excellence. It is thus clear that it is possible to be a good citizen without possessing the excellence which is the quality of a good man." Specifically, in his view, the good citizen is measured in relation to ruling and being ruled, the good man only in ruling. Some of the ambiguity is likely due to more than one Greek word being translated "good." [1]

Theodore Roosevelt said, "The first requisite of a good citizen in this Republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his own weight; that he shall not be a mere passenger, but shall do his share in the work that each generation of us finds ready to hand; and, furthermore, that in doing his work he shall show, not only the capacity for sturdy self-help, but also self-respecting regard for the rights of others." [2]

High school seniors define good citizens primarily in political terms. [3] Some students define good citizenship in terms of standing up for what one believes in. Joel Westheimer identifies the personally responsible citizen (who acts responsibly in his community, e.g. by donating blood), the participatory citizen (who is an active member of community organizations and/or improvement efforts) and the justice-oriented citizen (who critically assesses social, political, and economic structures to see beyond surface causes) as three different types of "good citizen." [4]

Education

Education is sometimes viewed as a prerequisite to good citizenship, in that it helps citizens make good decisions and deal with demagogues who would delude them. Roger Soder writes that in a democracy, where the demands of good citizenship are placed upon all, "only the common schools can provide to all the education that all need." [5]

Science literacy is also frequently touted as a key to good citizenship. [6] Good citizenship is sometimes viewed as requiring both intellectual skills (such as critical thinking) and participatory skills (such as deliberating civilly, monitoring the government, building coalitions, managing conflict peacefully and fairly, and petitioning, speaking or testifying before public bodies). [7]

Women and children

Henry David Thoreau wrote that woman who serve the state making "no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense...are commonly esteemed good citizens." [8]

Orit Ichilov notes that children "tend to perceive the government in the image of an ideal father that is benevolent and protective. At this stage, the good citizen is characterized as one who, through his behavior, proves himself one worthy of the love and protection of the government rather than one possessing certain political obligations and rights." Through their early school years, children usually continue to think in apolitical terms of their citizenship, expressing loyalty by their attachment to its beauty, wildlife, and good people. By age twelve or thirteen, they begin referring more to political qualities, such as the nature and values of the regime.

Incentives

Sometimes incentives prevail over desires to be a good citizen. For example, many people will avoid coming forth as witnesses in court cases because they do not want to deal with the inconvenience and red tape. [9]

Many organizations attempt to promote "good citizenship." For example, the Boy Scouts of America published Scouting for Boys: A Handbook for Instruction in Good Citizenship , and the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship is given to those who are deemed to have made outstanding contributions to the well being of their communities without expectation of remuneration or reward. Another non-profit organization, Good Citizen, has a mission to teach Americans how to be effective citizens and focuses on 100 citizen actions.

See also

Related Research Articles

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Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government. By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hence, civil disobedience is sometimes equated with peaceful protests or nonviolent resistance.

A sophist was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics and mathematics. They taught arete, "virtue" or "excellence", predominantly to young statesmen and nobility.

Participatory democracy, participant democracy or participative democracy is a form of government in which citizens participate individually and directly in political decisions and policies that affect their lives, rather than through elected representatives. Elements of direct and representative democracy are combined in this model.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citizen journalism</span> Journalism genre

Citizen journalism, also known as collaborative media, participatory journalism, democratic journalism, guerrilla journalism or street journalism, is based upon public citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news and information." Similarly, Courtney C. Radsch defines citizen journalism "as an alternative and activist form of news gathering and reporting that functions outside mainstream media institutions, often as a response to shortcomings in the professional journalistic field, that uses similar journalistic practices but is driven by different objectives and ideals and relies on alternative sources of legitimacy than traditional or mainstream journalism". Jay Rosen offers a simpler definition: "When the people formerly known as the audience employ the press tools they have in their possession to inform one another." The underlying principle of citizen journalism is that ordinary people, not professional journalists, can be the main creators and distributors of news. Citizen journalism should not be confused with community journalism or civic journalism, both of which are practiced by professional journalists; collaborative journalism, which is the practice of professional and non-professional journalists working together; and social journalism, which denotes a digital publication with a hybrid of professional and non-professional journalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free migration</span> View that people may live in any country

Free migration or open immigration is the position that people should be able to migrate to whatever country they choose with few restrictions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public participation (decision making)</span> Extent to which societies encourage the people to share in organizational decision-making

Citizen participation or public participation in social science refers to different mechanisms for the public to express opinions—and ideally exert influence—regarding political, economic, management or other social decisions. Participatory decision-making can take place along any realm of human social activity, including economic, political, management, cultural or familial.

Alternative media are media sources that differ from established or dominant types of media in terms of their content, production, or distribution. Sometimes the term independent media is used as a synonym, indicating independence from large media corporations, but generally independent media is used to describe a different meaning around freedom of the press and independence from government control. Alternative media does not refer to a specific format and may be inclusive of print, audio, film/video, online/digital and street art, among others. Some examples include the counter-culture zines of the 1960s, ethnic and indigenous media such as the First People's television network in Canada, and more recently online open publishing journalism sites such as Indymedia.

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Politeia is an ancient Greek word used in Greek political thought, especially that of Plato and Aristotle. Derived from the word polis ("city-state"), it has a range of meanings from "the rights of citizens" to a "form of government".

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Social responsibility is an ethical framework in which a person works and cooperates with other people and organizations for the benefit of the community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Participatory budgeting</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citizen media</span> Journalistic content produced by private citizens who are not professional journalists

Citizen media is content produced by private citizens who are not professional journalists. Citizen journalism, participatory media and democratic media are related principles.

Public participation, also known as citizen participation or patient and public involvement, is the inclusion of the public in the activities of any organization or project. Public participation is similar to but more inclusive than stakeholder engagement.

Active citizenship involves citizens having control over their daily lives as users of public services, allowing them to influence decisions, voice concerns, and engage with service provision. This includes both choice and voice, enabling citizens to impact service provision by participating in local policies, interacting with institutions, and expressing preferences. It encompasses activities in politics, workplaces, civil society, and private spheres. This concept emphasizes how citizens' interactions with staff, administrators, and politicians at different levels affect their ability to shape services according to their needs. Three dimensions are considered: choice, empowerment, and participation. Choice involves informed decisions about service use, empowerment allows individuals to control their lives as users, and participation includes engaging in policy processes and influencing services.

Public engagement or public participation is a term that has recently been used to describe "the practice of involving members of the public in the agenda-setting, decision-making, and policy-forming activities of organizations/institutions responsible for policy development." It is focused on the participatory actions of the public to aid in policy making based in their values.

Citizenship education is taught in schools, as an academic subject similar to politics or sociology. It is known by different names in different countries – for example, 'citizenship education' in the UK, ‘civics’ in the US, and 'education for democratic citizenship' in parts of Europe. The different names for the subject is mirrored in the different approaches towards citizenship education adopted in different countries. These are often a consequence of the unique historical and political developments within different countries.

Joel Westheimer is an American-born academic, and is a full professor at the University of Ottawa, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He is known for his work in citizenship education.

References

  1. ↑ Robert Develin (1973). "The Good Man and the Good Citizen in Aristotle's "Politics"". Phronesis. 18 (1): 71–79. doi:10.1163/156852873X00069. JSTOR   4181903.
  2. ↑ Theodore Roosevelt, Speech at New York (1902-11-11)
  3. ↑ Orit Ichilov and Nisan Nave (1981). ""The Good Citizen" As Viewed by Israeli Adolescents". Comparative Politics. 13 (3): 361–376. doi:10.2307/421903. JSTOR   421903.
  4. ↑ Joel Westheimer and Joseph Kahne (2004). "Educating the "Good" Citizen: Political Choices and Pedagogical Goals". Political Science and Politics. 37 (2): 241–247. doi:10.1017/S1049096504004160. JSTOR   4488813. S2CID   16693158.
  5. ↑ Roger Soder (2003). "The Good Citizen and the Common School". Phi Delta Kappan Magazine. 85 (1): 37. doi:10.1177/003172170308500110. JSTOR   20440499. S2CID   140809395.
  6. ↑ S Lee, WM Roth (2003). "Science and the" good citizen": Community-based scientific literacy". Science, Technology, & Human Values. 28 (3): 403–424. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.179.1002 . doi:10.1177/0162243903028003003. S2CID   15844284.
  7. ↑ Sonja Schoeman (2005). "Educating Democratic Minds in South African Public Schools: African Teachers' Perceptions of Good Citizenship". The Journal of Negro Education. 74 (3): 275–286. JSTOR   40027433.
  8. ↑ Thoreau, Henry David. "Civil Disobedience".
  9. ↑ A. S. Cutler (1953). "Why the Good Citizen Avoids Testifying". Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 287 (Judicial Administration and the Common Man): 103–109. doi:10.1177/000271625328700116. JSTOR   1028908. S2CID   145671556.
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