His is not the first exhortation we’ve ever heard, of course; many will recall the more famous one issued by JFK. But, if we look at voting as our most fundamental act of citizenship, how well did we heed the president’s call? Only about 40 percent of us bothered to vote in subsequent midterm elections, and only 60 percent of us did so in the presidential contests. Whether or not these rates of participation suggest that our democracy is at risk depends largely on one’s image of what it means to be a good citizen. Interestingly, Americans don’t fully agree on this.
Aristotle suggested that a good citizen is one who shares in both ruling and being ruled. In a democracy, these activities specifically include political participation, being informed and active, submitting to government authority, and social interaction that promotes care for others in the community.
Research has shown, however, that Americans don’t rank the importance of these four dimensions the same. Some view caring for others as more important than being politically active, for example, while others reverse the priority of these two activities. Still, others view submitting to government authority as the primary measure of citizenship. In fact, based on data from two national surveys in which respondents ranked the relative importance of these four citizenship dimensions, researcher Russell Dalton has identified two distinct orientations in America. The first he calls “duty bound citizenship” and the second “engaged citizenship.”
Those who identify more with the former would view duties such as obeying the law, always voting, and serving in the military as the most fundamental to good citizenship. Those who espouse the latter orientation would rank helping the needy, being active in associations, and empathizing with others as more important. To be clear, Americans view all of these as aspects of good citizenship, but the relative importance attached to any one dimension varies from person to person, and here lies a key to understanding American politics. Specifically, those who are older, Republican, white, male, and less educated are more likely to hold the duty-bound orientation, while younger, Democratic, minority, female, and more highly educated Americans tend toward the engaged notion of citizenship.
What might these differences signify for our democracy?
An obvious implication is that calls for renewing American citizenship, like the one made by President Bush, will not have the same meaning for everyone. Misunderstandings resulting from this further divide us by devolving into claims that our fellow citizens’ actions are illegitimate, or worse, “un-American.” The health of our Republic depends on our understanding and acceptance of all dimensions of good citizenship. What does good citizenship mean to you? Why not pose this question at the next gathering of family or friends and see if you can find common ground? Respecting each other as citizens depends on it.
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