Vocabulary Related
To Citizenship
This is a list of vocabulary items
related to citizenship
Citizenship:
It is membership in a political community (originally a city or town but now
usually a country) and carries with it rights to political participation as well as duties (responsibilities)
towards the good of the whole community.
Active citizenship:
"Active citizenship"
is the philosophy that citizens should work towards the betterment
(improvement) of their community througheconomic
participation, public
service, volunteer work,
and other such efforts to improve life for all citizens. In this
vein, schools in some countries provide citizenship education.
Active citizen:
A citizen who takes an active role in the
community (as in crime prevention and neighbourhood watch)
Citizen:
A person having a membership in a political community is a citizen
enjoying rights and exercising obligations (duties, responsibilities.)
Civic behaviour:
The behaviour citizens areexpected
to demonstrate in their daily lives.
"Collective work to clean your neighbourhood, helping lost strangers to
find their ways, leaving your bus seat for an old person... can be considered
as civic behaviour."
Civic engagement:
Positive involvement in the affairs
(social, political, and economic) of the home town, country, state
... Civic engagement can take many forms- from individual volunteerism to organizational involvement to
electoral participation. It can include efforts to directly address an issue,
work with others in a community to solve a problem or interact with
the institutions of representative
democracy.
Civic culture:
The way good citizens should
behave.
Civic values:
The beliefs people have about what
is right and wrong and what is most important, which control their civic
behaviour
Civic consciousness:
Awareness of civic
behaviour, good citizenship.
Civicism:
The principle of civil
government. The doctrine that all citizens have the same rights
and obligations.
Civic duty:
An act or a course of action that
is required of one by position, social custom, law, or religion.
Moral obligation to fulfil one's responsibilities.
The social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that
force; "we must instill a sense of duty in our
children"; "every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity,
an obligation; every possession, a duty"- John D.Rockefeller
Jr
Community:
a. A group of people living in the same locality and under the same
government.
b. The
district or locality in which such a group lives.
Community service:
Work that people do to
help other people without payment.
Some young criminals whose crime is not serious enough for them to be put in
prison are sometimes ordered to do community
service.
Country:
It is a political unit. An area of
land that has its own government, army, etc:
"Which is the largest country in
"
Cooperation:
When you work together with someone
or do what they ask you:
There's very little cooperation between the neighbours.
Election:
A time when people vote in order to
choose someone for a political or official job:
"The Government is expected to call an election (= allow the country to
vote) very soon."
"The first election results have started to come in."
Election campaign:
The period of weeks
immediately before an election when politicians try to persuade people to vote
for them.
Dual nationality / citizenship:
The nationality of two countries at
the same time:
"Dual British and American nationality"
Non-profit organization:
A non-profit
organization (abbreviated
"NPO", also "non-profit" or "not-for-profit") is
a legally constituted organization whose primary objective is to support
or to actively engage in activities of public or private interest without any
commercial or monetary profit purposes. NPOs are
active in a wide range of areas, including the environment, humanitarian aid, animal protection, education, thearts, social issues, charities, early childhood education, health care, politics,
religion, research, sports or other endeavors.
Patriotism:
Love of and devotion to
one's country.
A devoted love, support, and defense of one’s
country; national loyalty. —
patriot, n. — patriotic, adj.
State:
A country or its government:
"The drought is worst in the central African states."
"
"The government was determined to reduce the number of state-owned
industries."
Vote:
To express your choice or opinion,
especially by officially marking a paper or by raising your hand or speaking in
a meeting:
"She was too young to vote in the national election."
Volunteerism:
Volunteerism is the willingness of people to work on behalf of others without the
expectation of pay or other tangible gain. Volunteersmay have special training as
rescuers, guides, assistants, teachers ... But the majority
work because they recognize a need and fill it, whether it be the
dramatic search for a lost child or the mundane giving of directions to a lost
visitor. In economics, voluntary
employment is unpaid
employment. It may be done for altruistic reasons, for example charity, as a hobby, community service orvocation,
or for the purpose of gaining experience.
Volunteers engage in voluntary work
A Citizen's
Vocabulary
A
Accountability
Accountability means that the government in a democracy is politically
answerable to the people. Specifically, both appointed and elected officials of
the government are held responsible to the people by the laws that regulate the
use of the government’s power. Accountability is primarily ensured by periodic
elections, which the people use to choose their representatives. Also, mass
media (Internet, newspapers, television, and radio, for example) informs the
public about elected officials’ performance, and the laws that govern freedom
of speech and the press thus contribute to accountability in a democracy.
Authority
Authority is the legitimate use of power by government over its
citizens. Government in a democracy derives its authority or legitimacy from
the consent of the people, which is based on fair, competitive, public
elections.
B
Bicameralism
Bicameralism is the organization of a legislative body based on two
chambers. In some democracies, the lower house has the greatest legislative
power, and the upper or second house of the legislature has a more restricted
role. In the
C
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system characterized by ownership of property
and capital (i.e., accumulated facilities and goods used as the means of
production) by individuals and corporations. Investments are determined by
private decision rather than government, and prices, production, and the
distribution of goods are determined mainly in a free market. Aggregates of
property or capital provide income for the individuals or firms that accumulate
and own it, and individuals and firms are relatively free to compete with
others for their own economic gain.
Citizen
Citizens are “the People” to whom legitimate democratic governments are
accountable. A citizen is the full and equal member (a “partner” or “owner”) of
a political community, e.g., a country or a nation-state. Citizens have both
equal rights and equal responsibilities for their political community. Citizens
are not subjects but share in the sovereignty of their nation.
Citizenship
Citizenship is the legal relationship between citizens and their
government and country. Citizens are responsible for the governance of their
political community. Citizens owe a legitimate government their loyalty,
support, and service — for the common good. Governments owe their citizens the
protection of constitutionally guaranteed rights to life, liberty, property,
and equal justice under the law.
Civic Education
Civic education is how governments teach — and citizens learn about —
their rights and responsibilities of citizenship in a democracy. The knowledge,
skills, and virtues needed by citizens to participate effectively and intelligently
in government and civil society are fundamental requirements to maintain
democracy. Each generation of citizens must learn to vote competently,
communicate effectively about public issues, cooperate with their fellow
citizens to solve common problems, and make judgments about the performance of
government. Formal civic education is transmitted via school curricula, and
informal civic education is transmitted through various societal organizations
that individuals participate in.
Civic Virtue
Civic virtues are the ideals and principles of a democracy. These
character traits, such as civility, honesty, charity, compassion, courage,
loyalty, tolerance, patriotism, and self-restraint, prompt citizens to
contribute to the well-being of their community and democracy.
Civil Society
Civil society is the network of nongovernmental organizations, such as labor unions, formal religious organizations, professional
and business associations, private schools, community service organizations,
and privately owned media, that are separate from government but subject to the
rule of law. Through their participation in nongovernmental organizations,
citizens develop the knowledge, skills, and virtues of citizenship that are
required to maintain - and improve -- their democracy. A vibrant civil society
also shows that citizens are willing to donate their time and energy to
improving their communities, and to use their constitutional rights to freedom
of assembly, speech, and press.
Common Good
The common good refers to the well-being of the people as an aggregate
whole. In every democracy there is a degree of tension between the personal and
public rights and interests of individuals and the communitarian, or
collective, whole. Both individualistic and communitarian conceptions of the
common good are combined and expressed in democracies so that public safety,
order, and stability are maintained with the cooperation of the citizens who
recognize that their personal fulfillment cannot be
attained unless the general welfare of their community is assured.
Commonwealth
Commonwealth is a form of government in which the body politic is
founded on the rule of law and united by the consent of the people to form a
politically organized community (e.g., a state, nation, etc.) for the common
good. The supreme power resides with the people and their representatives.
Communism
Communism is an economic system characterized by the collective
ownership of the means of production and by the organization of labor for the common good of all members of society. Production
facilities and capital are owned by the state, and economic decisions are made
by the government, rather than being directed by market action. Often, in a
communist system, a single, authoritarian political party controls the
economic, social, and cultural life of the society.
Congress
A congress is a formal legislative body of a nation, especially a
republic, which assembles to discuss and solve the public problems of a democracy.
It may be unicameral or bicameral.
Conservative
Philosophically and politically, a conservative is most supportive of
the established order. Conservatives support the status quo not so much because
they like it per se; rather they believe it is the best that can be achieved at
the given time since they lack confidence in society's ability to improve via
bold policy initiatives. Generally, conservatives view proposals for change
with distrust. They place great importance on order and value institutions and
traditions that have evolved over time.
Constitution
A constitution is the fundamental framework of principles and laws that
prescribes the purposes, powers, and limits of a government and sets forth how
a country is administered. It is the supreme law of a country, and all
institutions, individuals, and groups must obey the constitution. While
constitutions vary in length and detail, all of have seven common attributes: a
preamble that states the purposes of government; a description of the structure
of government; an explanation of the powers and limits of government;
provisions about Citizenship; guarantees of basic human Rights; means of electing and appointing government officials; and procedures
for amendment.
Constitutionalism
Constitutionalism combines two concepts, limited government and the rule
of law, to illustrate the relationship between a government and its citizens. These
concepts permeate the constitutions of every democracy today, and hold that the
best government is both constitutionally empowered to act decisively and
effectively to fulfill a common good and limited by
law to protect the rights of the people.
Country
A country is a political state or nation, which is distinguished by the
attributes of its people and government.
D
Democracy
Democracy is a form of government by the people. It is based upon
majority rule. In a direct democracy, the supreme power of government is held
and exercised directly by the people, rather than through elected
representatives. In a representative democracy, the people administer their
government indirectly by delegating their authority to officials and
representatives that they choose by way of periodic and free elections.
Democracy, Representative and
Constitutional
Democracy today is
representative, meaning that the people exercise power indirectly through their
elected public officials, and it is also constitutional, meaning the government
is both limited and empowered to protect the rights of all citizens. The elected
representatives serve the interests of their constituents within the framework
of a constitutionally limited government that ensures both majority rule and
minority rights.
Diversity
Diversity is variety - for example, of ethnicity, religious beliefs,
ideas and interests, social and political groups, and centers
of power. In a free and open civil society, which typifies a constitutional
democracy, the rights to freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, and
association are protected, which encourages diversity. There is open
communication of ideas and differences of opinion; there are myriad
nongovernmental organization that cooperate and compete to promote their
opinions and interests; and there are political parties that compete to advance
their vision of how government should perform its functions. Last, diversity in
centers of power -- i.e., national and local
government, nongovernmental organizations, a market economy -- provides a
division of power among different levels of government, which serves to limit
power and protect the liberty of citizens.
E
Elections
Elections are the hallmark of democracy. Through the periodic occurrence
of free, fair, transparent, and competitive elections the people express their
will on the common issues of their society and select their representatives and
officials, who will then administer and exercise the power of government on
their behalf with their consent. Elections enfranchise citizens, linking them
to their government and giving them a stake in the fair and appropriate
exercise of its power. Since citizens select their representatives, elections
help to legitimate government and contribute to societal stability.
Equality
Equality means equal justice under the law. In a democracy, citizens are
constitutionally guaranteed equal protection under the law, which means that no
one is above or beyond the laws of the society. All citizens are entitled to
fair and equal treatment by the legal system; basic human rights, which means
that every person is an equal member of the human species and is thus entitled
to security of liberty based on the Rule of Law; and equality of citizenship, which means that all persons have the
same rights and privileges regardless of wealth, race, gender, etc.
Executive
The executive branch of government is charged with the conduct of
foreign policy, supreme command of the military, execution of the laws, and
appointment of other government officials. It also holds a degree of
legislative power in the form of the veto, initiation of legislation, and
dissolution of the legislature.
F
Fascism
Fascism is a reactionary rejection of democracy and capitalism. It is a
form of totalitarian government that seeks to control all aspects of society
and to increase the personal power of a dictator within the state. It is
essentially a collection of fear- and hatred-based rationalizations used to
respond to political problems. Its driving force is the rejection of basic
human rights and objective science and reason. It is also an elitist theory
that holds people are obviously unequal and to deny this fundamental rule of
human nature is pure folly. The extension of elitism is imperialism and
militarism, where one nation dominates others and asserts it "national
will" through war, which is considered the highest form of human power.
Federalism
Federalism, which was created by the framers of the U.S. Constitution, is the division of powers between a central, national government and local governments within the state. The constitutional powers delegated to the national or federal government take precedence over the powers of the local or state governments. While each level of government is supreme in its own sphere of authority and can separately exercise powers directly upon the people under its authority, the federal government prevails throughout the nation. However, federali