How could you be an active citizen of the Philippines What is the importance of being an active citizen of the country?

Citizens make the future of the country. But what makes active a citizen?

Active citizenship means people getting involved in their communities and democracy at all levels from local to national and global.

An active citizen promotes the quality of life in a community through both political and non-political process developing a combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to work to make a difference in the society.

Other EucA projects where active citizenship is the main actor, is the EU Citizenship Study Visit.

The EU Citizenship Study Visit is an immersive and remarkable experience in Brussels, the heart of the European Union. A selected group of students would have the chance to meet and chat with their local Members of the European Parliament, visit European Institutions and take part in simulations.

Learn more about this project here.

Given the nowadays low levels of civic engagement and participation, it is crucial to promote the active citizenship, especially with young people.

EucA supports the democratic participation of the young students and the concept of European citizenship through European projects as Message to Europeans 3.0 and many others initiatives.

In Message to Europeans 3.0 the Student Leaders, the students selected to carry on the project in their countries, have the goal to get people to think, talk, express and debate opinions, ask questions on the causes, solutions.

They organize civic initiatives: events, polls, simulations, campaigns, anything that gets people engaged with European politics and policies.

To learn more click here.

Active Citizenship The word citizen is defined as “a native or naturalized member of a state or nation who owes allegiance to its government and is entitled to its protection” (Webster’s College Dictionary). Fulfilling the basic duties of a citizen is a fairly simple task for the average person. Going above and beyond these duties by becoming engaged in a community and giving to others separates the average citizen from an active citizen. According to the FACE IT Project, active citizens are “those who develop the skills, knowledge and understanding to be able to make informed decisions about their communities and workplaces with the aim of improving the quality of life in these” (http://www.faceitproject.org/active_citizenship.htm). An active citizen is a positive role model who is involved in public life at the local, state and/or national level and challenges the rules to make the world a better place. A citizen can become active at many levels. The level closest to a person’s everyday life is the local level. Becoming active at the local level means being active in your community or town you live or work in. Volunteering is an easy thing to do that can include everyone. Like the United States, New Zealand is a nation known for volunteerism. Statistics show that each year 1.2 million people volunteer, giving more than 270 million hours of unpaid time back to the society (http://www.familyservices.govt.nz/my-family/community-life/becoming-an-active-citizen.html). There are many ways to volunteer at the local level. Citizens can coach youth sports teams, ring the Salvation Army bell, join the fire department or a first responder group, set up a neighborhood watch to protect children, or deliver meals to the elderly, just to ... ... middle of paper ... ... generally have a strong desire to improve the world through activism. Instilling a desire to care about government and to keep it accountable are the keys to making sure our democracy continues to thrive (http://www.activecitizenship.org). Citizens can also support national candidates by attending rallies, handing out promotional materials and making phone calls to encourage support from others.

Most people can be a regular citizen with little effort. Becoming an active citizen is taking citizenship a step further. It means getting involved, giving to others by volunteering and promoting change to make things better. People can become active at all levels, local, state and national. As citizens of a country, a state or a local community, we have a responsibility to help make the world a better place and be positive role models for the next generation.

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Active citizenship or engaged citizenship refers to active participation of a citizen under the law of a nation discussing and educating themselves in politics and society,[1] as well as a philosophy espoused by organizations and educational institutions which advocates that individuals, charitable organizations, and companies have certain roles and responsibilities to society and the environment. Active citizens may be involved in public advocacy and protest, working to effect change in their communities.

Active citizenship can be seen as an articulation of the debate over rights versus responsibilities. If a body gives rights to the people under its remit, then those same people might have certain responsibilities to uphold. This would be most obvious at a country or nation-state level, but could also be of wider scope, such as the Internet (netizen) or Earth (global citizenship). The implication is that an active citizen fulfills both their rights and responsibilities in a balanced way.

A problem with this concept is that although rights are often written down as part of the law, responsibilities are not as well defined, and there may be disagreements amongst the citizens as to what the responsibilities are. For example, in the United Kingdom, citizens have the right to free health care, but voting in elections is not compulsory, even though many people would define this as a responsibility.

Writing a clear definition of responsibilities for an active citizen is much more problematic than writing a list of rights. For example, although voting might be considered a basic responsibility by many people, there are some who through disability or other issues are not able to participate fully in the voting process.

An active citizen is someone who takes a role in the community; the term has been identified with volunteering by writers such as Jonathan Tisch, who wrote in the Huffington Post in 2010 advocating that busy Americans should try to help others, particularly by offering high-level professional expertise in such areas as banking, education, engineering, and technology to help the less fortunate.[2]

Active citizenship is considered a buzzword by some due to its vague definition. Examples include volunteering, donating, and recycling.

Developments in social media and media literacy have changed how scholars begin to look at, and define active citizenship.[3] Active citizenship in politics can lead to an apparent consumption of the engaged person rather than offering people with an informed, active opinion.[4] Social media sites let people spread information, and create events to provide opportunities for engaged citizenship.[5]

Social media and the internet provide a public access point to government affairs, and police, away from town hall meetings, creating communities with similar concerns to recognize the pitfalls of governments and government policies.[5]

Due to concerns over such things as a lack of interest in elections (reflected by low voter turnout), the British Government has launched a citizenship education program.[when?] Citizenship education is now compulsory in UK schools up to 14 and is often available as an option beyond that age.

In Scotland, UK, active citizenship has been one of the three major themes of community policy since The Osler Report (section 6.6) in 1998. The Scottish Government's 2009 guidelines for community learning and development, Working and Learning Together, has active citizenship as a target within other policy aims. Britain has a points-based immigration system, and in 2009 was considering a probationary period for newly admitted immigrants which would examine, in part, how well they were being so-called active citizens.[6]

In Denmark, active citizenship is part of the curriculum in Danish teacher's education. The course is defined as 36 lessons.[7]

In Canada, there is an Active Citizenship Course being run at Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario. It is a compulsory course that is delivered by the Language Studies Department to all students at the college.

In the United States, writer Catherine Crier wondered in the Huffington Post about whether Americans had lost sight of Thomas Jefferson's sense of active citizenship. Crier lamented how Americans have tended to neglect participating in voluntary associations, and tend to live as "strangers apart from the rest", quoting Tocqueville.[8] In contrast, writer Eboo Patel in Newsweek suggested that President Obama had a somewhat different sense of active citizenship, meaning strong families, a vibrant civic center in which persons of different faiths and secular backgrounds work together, with government acting as a "catalyst".[9]

Jose Antonio Vargas writes in his memoirs, Dear America: Notes from an Undocumented Citizen, that undocumented immigrants, who contribute to the cultural, social, and economic fabrics of their adopted countries, are and ought to be considered citizens of those countries, notwithstanding what immigration authorities call them. He calls this a "citizenship of participation".[10]

^ Lewis, Justin; Wahl‐Jorgensen, Karin; Inthorn, Sanna (2004-05-01). "Images of citizenship on television news: constructing a passive public". Journalism Studies. 5 (2): 153–164. doi:10.1080/1461670042000211140. ISSN 1461-670X. S2CID 145242468.
^ Jonathan Tisch (April 27, 2010). "Active Citizenship: A New Approach to Volunteering". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2010-06-16. I introduced Citizen You, the movement I've spearheaded to encourage Americans to utilize their professional skills to help others. This new kind of volunteering, which has come to be known as 'active citizenship,' is a fresh, innovative solution to an old problem: Countless busy Americans would love to help others, but simply don't have the time to figure out the perfect way to be useful. What could be more useful than applying high-level professional expertise -- in banking, law, education, engineering, technology, and other fields -- toward problems faced by those who are less fortunate?
^ Mihailidis, Paul; Thevenin, Benjamin (2013-11-01). "Media Literacy as a Core Competency for Engaged Citizenship in Participatory Democracy". American Behavioral Scientist. 57 (11): 1611–1622. doi:10.1177/0002764213489015. ISSN 0002-7642. S2CID 145079247.
^ FAUCHEUX, RON. "Guest column: When engaged citizens become consumed, politics disrupt lives, affect personal happiness". The Advocate. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
^ a b Fakhoury, Rania. "Can Social Media, Loud and Inclusive, Fix World Politics?". thewire.in. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
^ Gaëlle Faure (August 12, 2009). "British Citizenship: Points Off for Protest?". Time. Archived from the original on August 15, 2009. Retrieved 2010-06-16. Becoming British just got trickier. Under a new government proposal announced on Aug. 3, would-be Brits may have to work a little bit harder to get their citizenship when a second test is added to the country's points-based immigration system. If the plan goes through, applicants would serve a term as 'probationary citizens,' winning or losing points on the path to the passport depending on how well they fit into British society. Critics have also attacked the ways points could be awarded. Some worry that the 'active citizenship' fast track would coerce candidates into volunteering,
^ "Curriculum in Danish". Archived from the original on 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2012-10-26.
^ Catherine Crier (May 21, 2006). "A Degree in Citizenship". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2010-06-16. Alexis de Tocqueville, described our challenge over a century ago in his monumental work, Democracy in America. So clearly did he see the strength of a democracy and the weakness of human character, his words might have been written today. He said, in summary, that our real power as a people came through voluntary associations. Our personal freedoms would be protected if we could voluntarily resolve the problems of society, rather than permit the heavy hand of government to do it for us. But he recognized our great weakness--the willingness to live 'as strangers apart from the rest'.... we Americans have failed to shoulder our responsibilities. The qualities of active citizenship that Jefferson ascribed to us have not been realized, nor have our appointed leaders lived up to their noble assignment.
^ Eboo Patel (March 18, 2010). "The Faith Divide". Newsweek. Archived from the original on March 25, 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-16. Barack Obama's vision of the good society is based on the idea of strong families, a vibrant civic sector that includes groups from various faith and secular backgrounds working together, and a government that serves as a catalyst, a convener and a capacity-builder, while always respecting the line between church and state. And Barack Obama's Faith Council gives me a vision for what active citizenship in that good society can look like.
^ Andy Fitch. "Citizenship of Participation: Talking to Jose Antonio Vargas". BLARB. Retrieved 2019-10-07.