Citizenship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Citizenship - Essay Example American citizens need to be active and engage in daily operation of the government activities in order to establish a just and liberal society. Therefore, it is the significant for civic, local, small, and religious groups get detailed knowledge and education significant to administer the right combination of compassion, loving and active discipline necessary for each citizen. This in turn will foster citizenship, encouraging civic pride and nurturing American families. Citizens must be ready and willing to agree and adhere to the regulations, tenets, obligations, and rules by which they are governed. Democratic governments give many freedoms to their citizens incorporating the freedom to criticize and dissent the government. Citizenship in a democratic country needs civility, patience, and participation. Democratic citizens realize that they have rights and responsibilities (Jeffrey et al, 2010). Due to this, they are challenged to understand that democracy needs hard work and an i nvestment of time. Therefore, a government of the people requires consistent support and vigilance by the governed. Responsibilities of citizens in a democracy demand the need for collective self-government and a personal sense of social concern as member of a polity. This shows a multifaceted nature of citizenship as a practice and philosophy that values the objectives and goals of equality, fraternity, and liberty. In democratic states such as the United States of America, the civic participation or engagement implies that citizens are required to act as juries or offer mandatory civilian or military national service for a certain period (Jeffrey et al, 2010). In addition, other obligations apply to the democratic ideals and are the main roles or responsibilities of the citizen. For instance, a sole responsibility among these is the respect for the rule of law. It is significant for citizens to pay their taxes, respect the rights of other people who have different ideas or opinion s from theirs’, and accepting the power of the elected government are some of the responsibilities of a citizen in a democracy. A citizen in a democratic government has the role of pursuing the common good of the community. Therefore, it is important to lay emphasis on the principles of voluntarism or freedom in that the government or the authority does not have the right to compel and force its citizens to be good but it can offer incentives as well as sanctions for bad or unacceptable behaviors. A democratic government needs to have educated, aggressive and responsible citizens who act in accordance with the various civic virtues such as self-determination, freedom from oppressive government and interdependence. This is because in absence of active citizen participation and without practice of civic virtue in the life of a community, democratic institutions such as the State and market and the entire civil society cannot operate in a sustainable manner (Jeffrey et al, 2010) . Democratic citizens understand that they bear the burden of roles for their community if indeed they have to benefit from the government’s guard of their rights. In order for democracy to succeed, its citizens must be aggressive since they are aware that the failure or success of the government is their obligation and responsibility. In turn, the government understands that it must treat its citizens