2004-08-04
The Loss of Citizenship
I'd like you to try something for me... let's call it engaged research. Over the course of the next week ask at least five people the following: What does it mean to be a citizen? I'd suggest that you add the paraphrase or subquestion of What are the responsibilities of a citizen? An add on might be to ask about how citizenship relates to the different levels of government such as local, state, and federal. Email me about the experience or better yet post it as a comment for others to read.
My goal here is twofold. First, I'd like to know what people think about the role and responsibilities of a citizen. Second, I want people to talk about what it means to be a citizen. My prediction is that most folks have thought very, very little of the responsibilities of citizenship. The typical answer seems to be the most obvious and basic: To be a citizen is to vote and to pay taxes. Some will say that it is to be a resident of a place. But a part of the point here is that to be citizens we have to think about what that means and we have to develop ourselves in that context. We have to identify ourselves as citizens and even make it a priority in our lives.
The simple fact is that democracy is non-existent without an active citizenry. Democratic process is meaningless without citizen participation. Unfortunately the role of citizen is one which has been gradually but very consistently eroded. Why and how did this happen? Was it an accidental development or purposely planned?