Active Citizenship and Development - Essay Example

Active Citizenship – A Literature Review Active Citizenship basically refers to active civic participation. It is an extremely essential concept for both the rejuvenation of civil society as well as for public governance. The present day societal challenges make it imperative to implement civic participation and also focus on factors which enhance or limit such participation. This concept aids the understanding of the evolution of citizenship owing to the enlargement and dissolution of geographical boundaries and the globalisation and glocalization at large.1 Enhancement of diversity due to increased mobility of people necessitate new and novel forms of communication and connect the lives of people in different places to facilitate travel as well as exchange of ideas. Although volunteering and active citizenship are intricately associated both in government procedures and in political debates. Both together aid a fundamental thread of communal cohesion and civic rejuvenation as are the aspects of local security.2 However, it is very superficially, that active citizenship has been referred to as a volunteering or an informal social commitment. Rather, it embraces formal, non-formal, cultural, interpersonal as well as ethnic endeavours. 3 An expansion in the community welfare provision as well as community support outside the family has accorded a new context in which accountability for education, care and welfare is realised. Today, fewer social services in arenas such as health, education, youth related activities and poverty assuaging are undertaken by religious institutions or trusts. Voluntary and community enterprises are much more vigorously supported and financed by State and public agencies. There are various organizations like for example The Association of the Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA), which are committed towards furthering this concept and in this regard, have launched an ambitious pilot projects with thematic exercises. At various levels, the initiatives taken range from implementation of training modules on this concept of active civic participation aimed at local agencies and civil society institutions. A wide ranging practical citizenship exercise and practical involvement learning methodologies are proposed to have been adopted in this regard. A large variety of publications and handbooks towards creating an awareness of this concept along with awarding scholarships for mutual implementation of active citizenship activities have been introduced. A host of surveys, best practice exchanges, conferences, seminars and public awareness campaigns have aided the progress of citizens’ participation at micro level. 4 Similarly another such organisation called ‘The taskforce on active citizenship’ operates in Ireland which reviews and tracks the trends in civic participation across communities and cultural expanse in Ireland which also involves a comparison with the international developments. The report prepared by this organization discusses the evolution of this model and an evaluation of the association between Active citizenship, societal development and social capital. This report analyses the relevance of the subject in present day’s context.5 The concept of active citizenship can be traced back to political science, philosophy and sociology. A legalistic view of citizenship is not necessary and it can be absorbed well in various normative structures. This concept has been closely derived from the concept of civil republicanism which is in turn a derivative of social capital. An indication of political thinking in relation to citizenship is the base of civil republicanism.6 It may also be referred to as some formal rights embedded in law. Political jurisdiction can ensure the protection and maximisation of individual interests. Communism thinking however, will describe citizenship as a social obligation where the relation with other impacts an individual’s identity. A ‘civil republican’ outlook on citizenship evolves from the ability for collaborative self-government and the individual’s perception of social interest as a member of a community. These recognise the versatile nature of citizenship as an attitude and practice that appreciates mutually harmonious goals of liberty, equality and fraternity (or community). Republicanism emphasises civic integrity of participation, democracy, liberty, equality and social cohesion. Civic republicanism and active civic participation refer to practical exercise of these values and not absence or presence of affiliation a cultural or national identity. There is a well acknowledged interdependence of those belonging to a society and there is a possibility of overlap of identities and multiple identities within and across societies. The acquiescence that any political organisation needs active, erudite and conscientious citizens who behave as per the various civic virtues is essential. In absence of the practice of civic virtue and without active participation by citizens in the communal life, the establishment of democracy, the market, the State – civil arrangement in entirety cannot function in a sustainable manner. Moreover, not every individual was accorded the recognition of being an equally empowered citizen of his or her community where, assets, gender and age formed the basis of citizenship authority. There has been a long standing dilemma over the concept of active citizenship which either may be regarded as a legal conformation to being a member of a nation state and a nationality or it may be interpreted as an active participation responsibility in a community of a nation state irrespective of the legal citizenship or affiliation status. Also, there may be certain economic inequalities which hinder the progression of equivalent citizenship where those who are economically well off have an overbearing over the others who do not. 7 Active citizenship may also be defined as the active employment of social privilege and mutual responsibilities associated with belonging to a community or society and entitles to a direct democratic participation and responsibility.8 The concept is wider than just a formal or legal definition and encompassing civic, political, social, economic and cultural rights and obligations such as equality before law, paying taxes, incorporation of a jurisdiction or a cultural identity.9 There are some individuals who are currently excluded based on their ethnicity, social status etc. are also included in the broader concept of active citizenship. NESF acknowledges the multi-faceted nature of this concept ranging from casual, unstructured friends’, neighbours’ and relatives’ network to officially recognised participation in structures between public institutions and the citizen. Active Citizenship refers to the voluntary competence of citizens and societies working together, either directly or through elected representatives, to employ economic, social and political authority in pursuit of common goals. Citizens may exercise their voluntary capacity individually or in groups within a territory or community irrespective of the religious affiliations, creed, ethnicity, nationality status or other facets; Institutions and practices of formal democracy, like the local government, the system of elected representatives, do not drain out the existence of Active Citizenship and rather potentially enhance it; and Active Citizenship is an innately risk prone undertaking owing to its voluntary nature which is tough to monitor, forecast or route to the various parties involved such as Government, Business, Community and Voluntary bodies. There as certain aspects of Active citizenship which may be enumerated as follows: 10 Informed and Interested Citizen: An inherent desire to pay attention to political, social and economic whereabouts of the surroundings and participating in a well informed decision making directly or indirectly. Responsible civic attitude: An attitude towards mutual and common benefits rather than individualistic achievements recognizing interdependence and engaging in civic self restraint so as to willingly challenge an infringement of individual as well as the rights of others. Conscious engagement: Citizens those who are to explain their position and at the same time give a due respect to the others’ viewpoint so as to change their own in case of the other being on the correct standing. They should be proactive enough to defend others’ as well as their own rights against the injustice done to either of them. Broadly thus, active citizenship is more than just about voluntary help which is also essential. But, it is also about decision making, democracy, politics and participation in governance issues also. An attempt to make public contributions as active citizens’ welfare of needful individuals like elders, children and disabled people are as much an active citizen as are those who try to engage their family to visit local communities and common activity platforms. The role of families in enhancing the foothold of active citizenry needs to be evenly stressed as an individual learns his first lessons of citizenship and belongingness to community through relating to the experiences within their families and the interaction of their families with the outside communities. Families equip children with the habit and which gradually devolves into practice to ponder about various issues ranging from simple to complex; to cooperate and adjust with others; to talk with and listen to others; to use information as a basis for decision-making and action; and to take action towards agreed goals. Families thus are the fundamental entity of active citizenship. Active citizenship is also closely related to a concept of social capital which is a combination of several different units consisting of a common structure facilitating actions of individuals within that social structure. 11 Certain duties and hopes, social networking and information sharing and normative social procedures are the backbone of social capital that facilitates cooperation within or among groups. 12 An active citizen in a democracy would thus be one who belong to each other in a community with diverse values and cultures but still sharing common sense of responsibility and shared civic space. They need to be engaged and mutually responsible members of community – both local as well as global. Citizenship concept has widened to include public welfare mechanism and acceptance of different cultural backgrounds with discerning equality among each other. It comprises of sense of civic duty, rights and responsibilities. Discussions on active citizenship are fundamentally aligned towards civic participation and less on volunteering, interactional partisanship and casual social connect and support. All standpoints are noteworthy. Two balanced dimensions of active citizenship have been described as – the perception of broader social interest and the ability to engage intentionally in self-governance.13 A caution towards the hype to be more active or civic spirited, or to join voluntary establishments in order to enhance societal resources, unless normal citizens are provided with a greater voice in decision-making, prospects for significant participation and the factual conditions vital for active citizenship in the two senses outlined above. Promotion of the concept of active citizenship, need to be carefully deliberated. Otherwise it might lead to a primitive autocratic society with a moralistic view of common good. Active Citizenship as a concept, target and collection of ideas and beliefs invite diverse communities and individuals to operate together towards mutually important goals and at the same time paying due regards to the intrinsic differences in ideas, beliefs, preferences and behaviour given that these do not hamper social bonding. This activeness in citizenship can at the same time also bring in a threat to freedom which will come from individuals who can exert random and unaccountable power such as exclusive religious and cultural entities, large corporations which exploit its labourers and media moguls which monitor and control the news released to masses in general. Another aspect of strategising the promotion of active citizenship is through the means of empowerment and fundamental mobilisation.14 An establishment named ERGO encourages awareness of active-citizenship and toils to provide Roma an equal and respected place in society. ERGO promotes a very dynamic conception of active citizenship, starting with basic citizens’ rights and inching towards more abstract rights, like for instance an individual identity and universal respect. It seeks to enhance empowerment and grassroots mobilisation through encouraging activism and leadership. The process of empowerment equips people both personally as well as socially, to take charge of their lives and act together to produce change in their societies. This is a process driven approach and focuses on change mechanism and a long term viewpoint. The process of grassroots mobilisation collects people together and aids them to contest for a shared cause. A more practical approach adopted by it is to introduce role models who are invited to the awareness generating campaigns and network meetings; to promote a reflection on international issues while carrying out community meetings and also to initiate network campaigns promoting its communities. The above is done through stimulation of institutions of small groups and committees through small scale projects; creation and facilitation of networks and collaborations; and communication establishment at different levels between networks where information exchange actually takes place. Also, vital is the discussion on how to measure the concept as abstract as active citizenship. 15 A specific literature thus illustrates the development of composite gauge of active citizenship. It also elaborates the process of building such an indicator or gauge and the evaluation of results in terms of cross cultural comparisons. Certain surveys and research carried out in this regard can provide significant results. In order to have a clearer understanding of the phenomenon of active citizenship, the association between the Active Citizenship Composite gauge and several other social and economic indicators need to be investigated. A very high negative correlation with the Corruption Perceptions index, and a high positive correlation with GDP per capita and the Human Development Index has been derived gradually through several studies. A moderate positive correlation is also found with the Social Cohesion Index (SCI) and the Global Gender Gap Index. The association with the ACCI and the five benchmarks on education and training (along with the investment in education) determined, is not final. Rather it indicates towards the requirement for further research on this arena. Basically, good levels of social trusts generated out of active civic participation strengthen collaboration among individuals in a society and to a certain extent eliminate chances of anti social conduct. 16 As described already, social capital is a closely woven conceptualisation with active citizenship. A multi-faceted spacious framework surrounds the two major affiliations, i.e. the nature of capital and their scope. With regard to its forms, capital can be split into: Structural social capital (comparatively factual and externally observable social frameworks such as networks, collaborations, and establishments, and the regulations and procedures they symbolise. A role of formalised framework in the manufacture of social capital)17 Cognitive social capital (subjective and intangible elements such as attitudes, behaviours, values, reciprocity and faith). This approach necessitates the individual aspects of social capital such as the aspects which consider the advantages to the owner of social capital and the intentional construction of hospitality for the purpose of creating this resource. 18 These forms of social capital are mutually supporting but can exist independent of each other. Various levels of action under the scope of capital can be enumerated as follows: Micro-level: horizontal networks of households, individual household and the related customs and values that lie beneath these associations. Meso-level: horizontal and vertical relations among groups. Macro-level: the institutional and political environment which serves as a background for all economic and social activities. Thus, active citizenship is recognised in the very widest sense of the word participation and is not limited to the political milieu. It ranges from cultural and political to environmental activities, on micro, regional, national, and international levels. It encompasses fresh and less conservative forms of active citizenship, such as once in a lifetime political issues and trustworthy consumption, as well as the more conventional forms of voting and membership in parties and NGOs. The limits of active citizenship are set by ethical bondages. People’s activities should brace the community and should not breach the principles of human rights and the rules of legality. Participation in extremist groups that encourage intolerance and violence should therefore not be included in this definition of active citizenship. The facets of active participation thus are: participation in Political Life, Civil Society, Community Life and the Values needed for active citizenship (acknowledgement of the value of human rights, democracy and intercultural understanding). Some stipulations are necessary at this point. The first and most obvious is that the legitimacy of the results depends fundamentally on the availability of data. Several important variables, like informal participation, are usually poorly or not at all represented. Furthermore, active citizenship is a gradually progressing concept, therefore some forms of active citizenship (for example the creation of websites, blogs, e-mailing, IT-related interaction, etc.) are excluded from the analysis due to the absence of comparable data. A second stipulation relates to the degree of active citizenship. When ranking countries, it is unavoidable that some countries appear at the bottom and some at the top of the table. But does that mean that the bottom countries are performing badly, or that the top countries are performing extremely well. The lack of a benchmark for active citizenship makes it impossible to definitively conclude. The issue therefore is whether it is actually feasible to create such a normative benchmark. Citizenship has to do with culture, history and the establishment of human activities in a particular country, and diversity is a prerequisite which needs to be accepted. Active citizenship should in its basic nature stir a social change within a community or society.19 In essentiality, while dealing with youth it is imperative to avoid the creation of hierarchy or a chain of command among different forms of active citizenship initiatives and rather should emphasize on encouraging more and more youth to participate and engage with social issues in the manner they best can. This paper indicates a concurrence towards the idea that achieving candle light vigils alone would not be sufficient to bring about effective change. Also, that there are a large number of initiatives that have to be carried out simultaneously. A larger process of facilitate citizens to convey their affirmation with social change issues. Conclusion It is a well known fact and as also endorsed by The Association of the Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA) that the citizens of a society have a fundamental and vital role in building a society and its progress. A further conceptualization of the concept of active citizenship and designing new and creative tools to promote citizens’ participation level will indirectly also promote the development of the society at large. Every community has plethora of people, relationships and norms of conduct. With new and novel situations and relationships, the earlier norms are changing and evolving constantly. Although, some values, beliefs and relationships remain fairly static and are transmitted from one generation to another, the cultural communication of values, beliefs and practices is a complicated process. The development of communities can be hindered or extended (depending upon the definition of progress and development) by affiliates of a community. Community development can be comprehended as ‘convoluted networks of focussed discussions about the issues that matter most to people’ within that community. 20 These discussions define and represent the people behind it and form the pillars of community development. Empowerment of a community and the yardstick that should be used to measure or gauge its development may be linked to (i) Citizens (human capital), (ii) Social interaction among them, (iii) Public institutions (family, neighbourhood, association, enterprise, polity) and (iv) Physical tools, facilities, nature, etc. Subsequently, Community development is a very wide concept illustrating a process or flow of discussions, evolution and progress in any given community; social capital is an inherent resource that communities can draw upon while Active Citizenship depict and aid the manner in which some forms of community development shape up: Operational, Autonomous and Citizenship / belonging Such development is active and operational when it engages people in decision-making and monitoring activities rather than leaving them as mere passive recipients of others’ aid or subjects of power. Development is democratic and autonomous when it involves people deliberations, working and consulting together to arrive at mutually agreed methods to resolving issues that are considered as essential and vital collectively. Community development entails citizenship absorbed in the widest sense of civil republicanism such as affiliation to a community founded on equality, commonality and freedom or voluntary participation. Socio cultural and multicultural issues inclusive of the integration of minorities are very much an ingredient of active citizenship as is the practice of exercising civil rights and democracy. It emphasises the notion of empowerment and enabling people to voice out opinions. It indirectly fosters and encourages individuals to take responsibility and assume leadership in situations which so demand. A very interesting and less discussed topic is the alliances of local governments with civic social establishments. There have been identified the need for civic social establishments / organisations (CSOs) to have evidence based research to support their lobbying attempts with government. Active citizenship projects are enthusiastically pursued in some countries such as the Central American Free Trade Agreement. A properly funded public service encompassing health, education, training, employment and housing requires active citizens. It is hard to envision the Government to deliver services without the pro-active engagement of citizens at various levels from planning, designing to implementation. The challenge of creating participation within communities so as to form a valid connection between public service and Active Citizenship can be traced to the overlap areas between (i) voluntary Involvement, (ii) public assistance and (iii) establishments of democracy. This challenge of creating participation can be met by enabling and empowering citizens to engage in community activities through public assistance and establishments of democracy. If their efforts indeed are fruitful and show results, participation is an automatic end result. Now, involvement of citizens can lead to the development or hinder the same owing to certain issues which exist in the society and are its inherent part. These can never be removed or separated from the very entity of society. These issues are apparent democratic gap especially but not entirely at the micro level where some communities and citizens feel powerless to influence decisions about planning, public services and other areas because they are an insignificant contributor to that situation or at least it seems so. Further, a low level of engagement in political affairs, community establishments, volunteering or regional activities steered by individual preference or obligatory financial conditions is also a major developmental issue associated with it. And, a danger of social divisions or split where the advantageous can secure for themselves an exclusive part of the public sphere in the form of a private health, education, leisure and related community activities which cast a negative image of citizen engagement into public arena. A lack of suitable frameworks within which citizens can deliberate and discuss with others on issues of common concern; listen to the others’ view points; arrive at solutions and take appropriate action. Development occurs only when an active citizen is aware of his rights and responsibilities and behaves and acts accordingly. This requires a training and awareness facilitation. The advantages of citizenship enlightenment and the development and practice of active citizenship can therefore be observed as the capacity to appreciate contradictory point of views and differing values from personal to group level, from local to international level, and to act on politically and ethically challenging decisions that are often contentious, such as agendas pertaining to environmental issues and social justice. It has been extensively recognised that active citizenship is an integral part of perennial and lifelong learning. This re cognition has thus spread over to enhancing its awareness through education and training which is pretty much needed given the fact that very little is known about the way active citizenship education functions. There are several doubts regarding whether certain shared strategies exist which would lead to a successful practice. Several researches on such topic have analysed it from a qualitative viewpoint. Governance is a primary issue for a thriving active citizenship education, where engagement of participants in a democratic manner, are mandated by almost all activities suggested by the projects along with aspects of self-regulation. Important criteria amongst these were partnership development which is an indicator of healthy citizenship interaction. The vast plethora of such practices also involve a wider community, particularly those where levels of implementation are varied in nature, providing mixed types of education and working with intermingled age groups. A research indicates that there is no common understanding of development education and active citizenship within adult and community education and there is a need to develop this common understanding which will in turn nurture civic competence in a society.21 The conceptualisation of active civic participation or citizenship as is commonly known can potentially be widely executed and carried forth as a substantive project of implementation on a global platform. In such cases, a proper project management as under may be quintessential. Conclusively, it may be well stated that the onus of creating and maintaining a society worth residing in requires the conscious and deliberate efforts of its residents – its citizens. Citizens make or break a society and build a society block by block, brick by brick. A set of individuals in a family and a set of individual families constitute the citizen population of any community. Thereby, by the very virtue of their affiliation to their society, every activity or non activity of theirs effect significantly the development and future of the society. An active participation and indulgence in citizenship responsibilities are therefore imperative for the smooth functioning and the overall growth, nurturing and development of the society. It is needless to say that citizens are the heart, soul and lifeline of a society; and in conjunction with the governmental and social institutions in the neighbourhood, can create a comfortable and well deserved living standards. Read More