Active Citizenship

Paper Summary:

The paper defines active citizenship and the importance of active civic and political engagement. The paper examines the need to introduce this concept in school curriculum, making students more aware of their responsibilities as active citizens of a country. The paper discusses several impediments that might come in the way of exercising the right to active participation in local and global affairs.

Outline:
Defining Active Citizenship
Active Citizenship and Social Capital
Active Citizenship and Education
Active Citizenship and Impediments
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Citizenship is an important political and philosophical concept and it occupies a pivotal place in western political thinking. What is citizenship and who is a citizen are questions that have attracted unlimited attention from political circles in western countries. Citizenship is usually associated with belonging to a country that allows a person certain rights. Citizenship is thus seen as a status by virtue of which a person enjoys some important rights such as right to vote, property, education, work etc. However a not so recent but definitely a relatively new concept in the area is that of active citizenship."

Sample of Sources Used:

• QCA (1998) Education for Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy in Schools, Final Report of the Advisory Group on Citizenship, QCA, London.
• T H Marshall (1950) Citizenship and Social Class and Other Essays, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
• Robin Bunton. Alan Petersen. The New Genetics and the Public's Health. Routledge. London. 2002.
• Longstreet, W. 1985. "Citizenship:"The phantom core of social studies curriculum. Theory and Research in Social Education 13 (2): 21-29.
• Ferguson, P. 1991. "Impacts on social and political participation". In Handbook of research in social studies teaching and learning, edited by J. P. Shaver. New York: Macmillan

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