Liberal and Republican Citizenship - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The second, the citizen is considered a political agent; he actively is involved in political activities. The third states that the citizens are a member of a political organization with distinct characteristics. Thus, to enhance cohesion in the society one has to display a tremendous sense of belonging to a political community. , The citizen enjoys rights depending on the political they belong in and this gives individual some respect too. The two models of citizenship include the liberal and the republican. The republican sources are found in the writings of authors like Machiavelli, Aristotle, and Cicero. The main principle of the model of citizenship is the aspect of civic self rule (Dworkin 76). Aristotle characterized it as the ability to be in charge and to be ruled. The fact that they co authored through general will, the writing of the laws this makes them freer and legitimate of the law. In the real sense, being a republican one is a political agent. On the other hand, the liberal model traces its roots back in the Roman Empire. Liberal citizenship meant being protected by the law instead of being in the process. Being liberal was just a legal status than a fact in daily living like the republican. It may mean that the membership is in a community that shares law or has common law. It is still common. This is a distinctive characteristic of the liberal citizenship. Other factors that make liberal citizenship are that it is a legal status and that people are free from interference by other authorities or even other individuals. The liberal tradition majorly started back in the 17th century. Citizens with it exercise the freedoms they have mainly in private associations other that a political community. The liberal citizen is in charge of contemporary constitutional freedoms. The civic virtues are evident in many theories; they can be categorized in various ways. This includes community citizen virtues, self governance citizen virtues and of course the one in discussion, in this paper liberal citizen virtues (Macedo 100). These virtues are autonomy, cooperation, obedience to law, participation, respect for rights, deliberative excellence, responsibility, restraint, allegiance to liberal democratic community and vigilance. A dutiful citizen accomplishes tasks successfully by coordinating with others, and he also helps back in return to the good deeds he receives from others too. Cooperation is extremely healthy in a community as it helps the community grow socially. Although there is the aspect of conditioned cooperation where someone expects the same in return if they help, but also this is usually in the effort to obey laws (Macedo 108). Participation as a virtue is portrayed by the active involvement of the citizen to politics and being well informed and interested in the same. Part of the participatory actions is making justice claims, registering voters, running for presidency, being part of the neighborhood associations and voting. The excellent participation depends highly on the initiative of individuals and their interest in participating. The purpose of being participative is that it is an excellent way to help the community effortlessly (Dworkin 103). Vigilance is another virtue; the virtuous citizen should be able to decide they want in power and refuse to be harassed by those in power. The ...Download file to see next pagesRead More