national citizenship essay

What is Citizenship?

This essay will define and explore the concept of citizenship. It will discuss its legal, social, and political dimensions, the rights and responsibilities it entails, and how it varies across different nations and cultures. Additionally, PapersOwl presents more free essays samples linked to Citizenship.

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Citizenship can be described as a state of belonging to a particular nationality or country, where one can practice his or her constitutional rights within the country’s jurisdiction. However, citizenship requires more than the sense of belonging to a particular country. It entails several values, roles and responsibilities of a citizen and requires one’s commitment to his or her nationality. This paper will study citizenship and what it means for one to be a good citizen to his or her country.

It will also highlight the roles and responsibilities of a citizen in nation-building and what values good citizenship requires.

Various nations have different structures with regards to their citizenship in different social contexts. However, many structures are similar to others in several aspects. Birth the most assured way of becoming a citizen of a nation. Naturalization and registration can also enable one to be entitled a citizenship of a nation. In the modern day society, one can choose to have a dual citizenship, whereby he or she is recognized by two different nations as its citizen or one can also choose to commit his energy and tie to one nation. Many nations have similar conditions of obtaining citizenship by naturalization and registration. Therefore, it is crucial to note that one cannot obtain a country’s citizenship without some additional values being taken into considerations. One’s contribution to that particular country might be considered at times.

The main value of citizenship is creating positive impacts towards the development of one’s country. It entails engaging in unified activities with other people of the same nationality in an attempt to create a better society, (Sweet, 2006.) However, explanations on citizenship often take a socio-political course. In simple terms, the value of citizenship is closely attached to both social and political responsibilities, (Isin and Turner, 2002.) There are several social and political values that constitute to good citizenship. Many of these values are however dominated by both social and political virtues.

The first value of good citizenship is one’s concern about the welfare of other people, (Davies, Gregory and Riley, 2002.) This is one general point from which other points can be obtained. In simple terms, a good citizen should observe high standards of morals in social life, (Davies, Gregory and Riley, 2002.) An individual being concerned about others means that one will neither get involved nor advocate for violence in cases when there are two or more parties which seem to differ in ideologies. This value further calls for personal involvement in promoting peace and harmony. It also advocates in active participation in social welfares and organizations that champion for equal rights and equal treatment.

A good citizen should be patriotic in nature. However, the term patriotic may attract other definitions but in this case it is used to mean one’s commitment towards in serving his country. Patriotism is a crucial element of good citizenship, (Davies, Gregory and Riley, 2002.) In many cases, patriotism has been explained as the willingness of one to give up all, including his or her life for the sake of his or her country. However, many logical arguments are not often considered in this case. Instead of one being willing to die for his or her country, it could be prudent if patriotism could be seen as the willingness of one to live in order to offer his or her unlimited contribution in nation building. Some citizens often commit large-scale assaults on foreign nations and see their acts as patriotic acts due to this misconception.

Active participation in socio-political activities is also a value in good citizenship, (Konttinen, 2009.) Though, not all socio-political activities amount to good citizenship. For example, fighting particular groups in an attempt to secure political interest is not a sign of good citizenship. A good example of both social and political activities that can amount to good citizenship is voting. Voting is a constitutional right that enables one’s voice to be heard in electing leaders that will represent the interest of the voter. Voting is another way of creating order in a country whereby one’s participation in the exercise enables the establishment of a body that will ensure the peace is upheld and the state of affairs conducted in an orderly manner. Good citizenship creates can be a driving force behind the quest for justice, a matter that calls for the unity of purpose, (Sweet, 2006.)

The purpose of citizenship in a society varies from different social contexts, (Isin and Turner, 2002.) According to Isin and Turner, (2002), citizenship creates a sense of solidarity in the society. It enables the society to come up with a common goal and work in a unified way towards its realization. In simple terms, it helps the society to have a central focus or a common goal. Secondly, citizenship is important in the society as it gives an individual a sense of belonging. In this way, an individual is capable of feeling secure and accomplished as opposed to the feeling of stateless persons, who do not officially belong to a country and have no one to present their grievances to.

The world is slowly turning into a small village with several events unfolding in the world of technology. The world is no longer a vast spherical ball where movement from the East to the West could take long periods of time. This calls for a world citizenship plan, where all people can work in unity towards achieving common goals. This can be ensured by establishing a sovereign force that can effectively execute this plan, (Sweet, 2006.) It is hard to imagine what will be the impact of a united people committed to a common course of making the world a better place for anyone. Many environmental-friendly achievements can be made if the global population unifies its focus to this matter. However, that is almost impossible in the current setting where several groups have all established their own focus. A global unified focus can only be achieved by global citizenship and therefore, global governments should come up with a unified structure on World citizenship in order to create a better world for the quickly upcoming generations.

In conclusion, citizenship is an aspect that entails a variety of values, roles and responsibilities that are meant to hasten the economic growth of the nation. Its unifying nature should be taken advantage of and establish global citizenship in order to unite the world, considering the fact that many attempts have been made. Global citizenship can be helpful in eradicating major environmental problems by establishing a central focus in dealing with these issues. It will also be helpful in unity the global population and hence create a unity of purpose that can help a lot in pursuing issues of concern.

Davies, I., Gregory, I., & Riley, S. (2002). Good citizenship and educational provision. Routledge.

Isin, E. F., & Turner, B. S. (Eds.). (2002). Handbook of citizenship .

Konttinen, A. (Ed.). (2009). Civic mind and good citizenship. University of Tampere.

Sweet, M. E. (2006). Cosmopolitanism: World citizenship and the imagination.

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Importance of Being a Global Citizen Essay

Introduction, the distinction between globalism and globalization, being a global citizen in the world of advanced technologies, disagreement between theorists about the definition of global citizenship, choosing and explaining two of the six outcomes of global citizenship, describing at least two personal examples, identifying and explaining two specific general education courses.

The relevance of being a global citizen is that through international encounters, people develop a considerable awareness of the problems faced by various parts of the world. In this case, being such a person encourages young individuals to focus more deeply on the effects of their activities and decisions on other areas of the world. Although becoming such a citizen is critical in contemporary society, there is a need to differentiate between globalism and globalization.

Globalization refers to the spread of jobs, information, products, and technology across nations in the world. On the other hand, globalism refers to an ideology regarding the belief that goods, knowledge, and people should cross international borders without restrictions (Reysen & Katzarska-Miller, 2013). Globalization means civilization, where people migrate to any part of the world despite the risks involved. Globalism is an ideology committed to favoring globalization and placing the interests of the world above the interests of individual countries.

Global citizenship is a crucial step that people should take because it has its advantages. In the world of advanced technology, being a global citizen is helpful because it assists in succeeding in meeting individual, professional, and academic goals and objectives. Modern technology helps people to keep in touch or communicate with business partners, family, and friends through text messages and emails (Ahmad, 2013). Through globalization, people can share information from any part of the world. In contemporary society, advanced technology has become the key to communication, enabling people to meet their professional, academic, and individual goals.

Various theorists disagree about the definition of global citizenship because they have divergent meanings. For this reason, some define the concept in their own words, while others believe that it is a concept that has to be taught to people (Reysen & Katzarska-Miller, 2013). In addition, other individuals believe that global citizenship needs people to be isolated from their customs and cultures. Some theorists feel that when a person becomes a global citizen, they will not be considered fully part of one country. Therefore, such people will have challenges living within the social spheres of such an area. After reading the article by Katzarska-Miller and Reysen, I defined global citizenship as becoming exposed and interconnected to international cultures that give people opportunities to develop their identities.

The two of the six outcomes that I choose include social justice and valuing diversity, and they are the most relevant in becoming a global citizen concerning others. When a person embraces such citizenship, one understands that silencing people is not the solution in the community and that they have to be allowed to serve (Arditi, 2004). Therefore, social justice ensures that oppressing others is not the solution and that giving individuals a chance is the best thing. Social justice ensures that human beings do not miss out on growth and development opportunities because of a lack of diversity. Valuing diversity helps one to become such an individual as it assists a person in recognizing the fact that the world has different people. Therefore, global citizenship can relate to individuals from other parts of the globe. Such an interaction could be on academic or business grounds as the world becomes increasingly interconnected.

In my life, I have had to relate with individuals from all corners of the world. Therefore, I view myself as a global citizen because I value and embrace diversity in all my undertakings. For example, my school embraces diversity and inclusion, where students are admitted from different parts of the world. In this case, my school environment has become one of the most significant contributors to my value for diversity over the years (De Soto, 2015). In school, I interact with other students from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Canada, and other parts of America other than the United States. I have understood the challenges of interacting with foreigners, such as differentiated business cultures and language barriers. In school and my immediate environment, I have come to appreciate treating other people as the law requires. Therefore, I have come to respect everyone and do not like seeing people being oppressed.

The two general education courses that contributed the most to being a global citizen include Introduction to Literature and Introduction to social responsibility and Ethics. The concept of global citizenship has shaped my identity, and being such a citizen has made me a better person in the community (Arditi, 2004). The literature course has strengthened my ability to learn other people’s cultures, customs, and traditions, which has enabled me to appreciate diversity more. Social responsibility and ethics as a course have helped me to strengthen my ability to determine what is right before taking any action.

In conclusion, global citizenship is a concept that has relevance in contemporary society. In addition, being a citizen enables one to comprehend other relevant concepts, such as globalization and globalism. Being a student allows one to appreciate diversity and inclusivity, pertinent elements of globalization or being a global citizen. For example, studying some courses such as ethics and literature helps one understand and appreciate others.

Ahmad, A. (2013). A global ethics for a globalized world (Links to an external site.). Policy Perspectives, 10(1), 63-77. Web.

Arditi, B. (2004). From globalism to globalization: The Politics of Resistance . New Political Science , 26 (1), 5–22. Web.

De Soto, H. (2015) . Globalization at the Crossroads. [Video]. You Tube. Web.

Reysen, S., & Katzarska-Miller, I. (2013). A model of global citizenship: Antecedents and outcomes. International Journal of Psychology , 48 (5), 858–870.

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