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Qualities of a Good Citizen: Characteristics and Examples

Categories: Citizenship

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Published: Sep 12, 2023

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Introduction, responsibility: a pillar of good citizenship, respect: fostering harmony and unity, active participation: the engine of change, examples of good citizenship.

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What Does it Mean to Be a Good Citizen?

In this section.

"We don't agree on everything—but we do agree on enough that we can work together to start to heal our civic culture and our country." CPL's James Piltch asked people all over the US what it means to be a good citizen .

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We Hold These Truths

How to be a citizen: being involved in civic life at a young age.

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with two youth organizers, Calla Walsh and Thomas Chaplain, about how to get involved with civic life when you're too young to vote.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This year, as you may have heard, we are celebrating NPR's 50th birthday. That is half a century of trying to keep you informed so you can do your part as a citizen. But that got us thinking about what other things can you do to be a good citizen. For many people, that means making sure you vote when there's an election. But that's not an option for people under the age of 18 who are not yet eligible. So today we want to turn to the question of, how do you get involved when you're not yet old enough to vote?

We found two people to help us with that. They are both in high school. They are both very active around things they care about. Calla Walsh just turned 17. She is an activist and organizer based in Massachusetts. Last fall, along with other youth activists, she launched a digital campaign that helped reelect Senator Ed Markey. Calla Walsh, welcome. Thanks for joining us.

CALLA WALSH: Thanks so much for having me. It's great to be here.

MARTIN: Also joining us is Thomas Chaplain. He is 15, about to turn 16, and the chair of the Indiana High School Republicans. That's an organization that works to promote Republican values in Indiana through community service and community events. Thomas Chaplain, welcome to you as well. Thank you so much for joining us.

THOMAS CHAPLAIN: Thank you for having me.

MARTIN: So I just wanted to start by asking both of you, what made you get involved? Like, was there a specific moment, like some light bulb experience or somebody who was important to you? So, Calla, why don't we start with you?

WALSH: Yeah, well, I think the driving factor that pushed me to get involved in politics was the climate crisis because I had always grown up, you know, knowing that there was this existential threat to my generation. But it felt so huge that I was simply powerless. And I wanted to stop feeling that way. I wanted to stop feeling hopeless, like I was just sitting back and letting adults, you know, control my entire future and just destroy the planet that I was supposed to live on when I was older.

MARTIN: Can I just ask you, Calla, though, to dig in a little bit more? Like, did you read something? Did you see something? Is there something that just lit that fire under you?

WALSH: Yeah. Honestly, the 2018 U.N. report that showed us that we have until 2030 before the effects of climate change are irreversible, I think that demonstrated the urgency. I had been aware of this crisis for a long time, as have I think most people in our generation, but it's hard to figure out how to take tangible action or what we can actually do to combat it. And often we're just told, oh, like drink - like, use - don't use plastic straws, or take shorter showers. And I wanted to feel like I was taking real action that would challenge the systems that had created the climate crisis. And so I found out about the climate strike through social media and reached out to get involved and met a lot of other cool young people through that.

MARTIN: Thomas, what about you? What is it that got you involved?

CHAPLAIN: I think a lot of it was I had been - I would read the news very frequently, and I'd try to discuss this with my friends, but many of them wouldn't have any idea what was going on. So I wanted to find somewhere where I could converse with like-minded individuals about current events, as well as educate other people my age on these issues. And then that kind of led me down the road of, well, now I know about these issues. How can I influence them, particularly within my own community? And so I wanted - I got involved with things with community service and helping with local elections.

MARTIN: But do you remember, like, why? Was there something that - same question to Calla, which is that - do you remember what it was that lit a fire under you?

CHAPLAIN: I'd say a big part of it was when the 2016 elections were happening, I - and which I thought, in my opinion, was a huge deal with the debates to find a candidate for each party. Most of the people within my grade had no idea what was going on, didn't know about the candidates or where their issues were. And I couldn't believe that because these are the people that could be potentially running our country for the next four years. And so I wanted to change that because I think, especially in democracies, it's very important for young people to be engaged and involved in the political climate.

MARTIN: So here's where I want to ask about that. And I don't mean to offend, but this is something that I have observed over time because I've been doing reporting a long time. I find that often when I write about or have reported on young people who are engaged like this, people who don't agree with them dismiss them, saying they don't know what they're talking about, or the adults are telling them what to do. Like, for example, when a lot of the Parkland students in the wake of the shooting at Parkland High School - and you saw that a lot of young people got really engaged around the issue of gun safety - people dismissed them. They said, oh, you know, you don't really know what you're talking about. You're a - you know, they said a lot of ugly things about them. And frankly, I've seen it on the other side, too, where people who are very engaged in conservative movements who are young, people will say, oh, somebody is paying them, or the adults are telling - or they're brainwashed, or people are telling them what to do. Has either of you experienced that?

WALSH: Oh, all the time. I get a lot of dismissiveness. And honestly, I think it only stopped once I was able to prove myself to people by actually securing victories.

MARTIN: But what was it like for - like, how was that communicated to you? Like, I'm saying, I don't know that people would say this to your face, but I know that people said this to me. And I just wondered, like, so has this been communicated to you? How was it communicated to you, Calla? What did people say to you? Or how was it communicated to you, and how do you respond?

WALSH: Yeah. I mean, I think a lot of it is, like, strangers on social media who leave mean comments about how 16 or 17-year-olds are too dumb to have opinions and, you know, shouldn't - we shouldn't be able to vote, and we shouldn't be able to have any influence over elections. And those are very easy to write off because I just - I think that's dumb, and they're just trolls on social media. But I will say, I think getting involved in politics was hard for me. I felt like I had to force my way through the door, that no one had left it open for me or no one had tried to really bring me in because young people, and young women especially, are very often shut out of these spaces, and they're not intended for us to be able to participate in.

And honestly, one thing that I sort of subconsciously started doing was just not telling people how old I am until they directly ask me because I know that when they find out that I'm a teenager, that they will take me less seriously and likely respect me less. And so it's really interesting to see, like, the way people's perception of you changes once they find out that you're younger than they actually assume you are. And so I think just making sure that I don't let anyone shut me down or diminish my voice just because I'm younger, that's something that I've had to learn to do. And it's hard, but it's important.

MARTIN: Thomas, what about you? Has anybody ever kind of blown you off or dismissed you because you're a teenager? And how do you deal - has that ever happened? And if it has, how do you deal with it?

CHAPLAIN: Well, the main instances in my case have mainly been on social media as well, with people just leaving comments like, oh, if you're not of voting age, then your opinion shouldn't matter. Things like - that's the - it's kind of a common theme I've seen. And I usually just kind of respond to it by just blocking it out and getting back to what we're doing because I think what we're - what we as the Indiana High School Republicans are doing in our community kind of legitimizes ourselves on its own because these people are seen as out in our community, knocking on doors, doing community service such as our drug take back day and realize that we are using our time - we're not - on our own will to do these things. And we're not being manipulated by someone or paid by someone or anything like that. And they see - when they see these kids donating their time, I think it's starting to shift opinions and realize that these people do care, and they do deserve to be heard and their opinion should be expressed.

MARTIN: And so before we let you go, what do you think is in your future, each of you? Do you think - running for office, maybe? What do you see? And I'm not asking, like, the college application essay question, I swear. But - I'm not going to hold you to it. I'm just wondering, what do you see now as being the future for you? Do you see yourself running for office? Or how do you see it? Calla, do you want to start?

WALSH: Yeah, I can start. Personally, I don't see myself ever running for office. I kind of like to stay on the back end of things. And I also think that I've probably already said too many controversial things to ever be a viable candidate for office. I won't lie. But really, wherever the movement is calling and wherever the movement needs me, I will go. And I think it'll be really interesting to see, you know, what happens with the midterms. I'm definitely focused on, like, what's happening in my state, but who knows where I'll end up being in, like, five years from now. So whatever I do, I hope that, you know, it's aligned with my values now.

MARTIN: OK. Well, keep my number, and keep in touch. Thomas, what about you? What do you see for yourself?

CHAPLAIN: For the near future, I see myself - regardless of where I am or regardless of where I go to college, I see myself staying in touch with the local politics of the area and finding ways to volunteer and still do that sort of community service and finding ways to volunteer like that. But then farther down the line, I'd like to run for office at some point because I believe that I could be a voice to promote some of the ideas and values that I believe in. But that's obviously quite a bit down the road. But I see politics - I believe politics will continue to be a very large part of my life for the considerable future.

MARTIN: Will you keep my number, too? Especially if you get elected or something, take my call. Don't act like you don't know me.

CHAPLAIN: (Laughter).

MARTIN: All right. That is Thomas Chaplain. He's 15 - almost 16 - and he's the chairman of the Indiana High School Republicans. Calla Walsh is 17, and she is a progressive organizer and activist based in Massachusetts. Thank you both so much for talking to us. Good luck to you.

CHAPLAIN: Thank you.

WALSH: Thank you so much.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

How to Be a Good Citizen – 10 Ways to Show Good Citizenship

We should all aspire to be good citizens of our country, and of the world.

The concept of citizenship was born in the city-states of Ancient Greece; specifically, in Athens. Greek education at the time was designed to instruct citizens in the values, intellectual frameworks, and habits-of-mind required to be free men. That is, to actively participate in the political system that shaped their lives and guaranteed their freedoms.

Today, being a citizen means that you’re part of a group, and that you have legal and political rights within that group. It brings with it both privileges and obligations. I would argue that we each have a duty, or an obligation, to be good citizens. After all, a nation is only as healthy as its individual citizens.

Nonetheless, in modern times, people generally aren’t educated on how to be good citizens. Therefore, I asked myself the following questions: “What does it mean to be a good citizen?”, and, “How do you become a good citizen?” In this post I’m going to share with you the answers that I came up with.

Below you’ll find 10 ways to be a good citizen.

1. A Good Citizen is Patriotic.

Patriotism is having and showing devotion for your country. It means having an attachment to certain national cultural values and showing critical loyalty to your nation. Some ways to show patriotism include the following:

Brush up on your country’s history.
Read up on social studies.
Obey the rule of law.
Pay your taxes.
Learn the national anthem.
Fly your country’s flag.
Don’t litter or engage in acts of vandalism that deface your environment.
Travel around your country and talk to your fellow citizens.
Cheer for your country’s team in sports events (World Cup, I’m looking at you).

At the same time, keep in mind that patriotism should not be confused with nationalism. Nationalism is thinking of your nation as being superior to others, and worthy of dominance. Patriots are proud of their country, but they understand that other people are also rightly proud of theirs.

Look at the words of a church hymn written in 1934 by the American Lloyd Stone to the melody of Finlandia by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius :

This is my song, Oh God of all the nations, A song of peace for lands afar and mine. This is my home, the country where my heart is; Here are my hopes, my dreams, my sacred shrine. But other hearts in other lands are beating, With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

A good citizen loves their country—a good citizen is a patriot.

2. Model the Personal Qualities of Good Citizens.

The personal qualities of a good citizen include the following:

Honesty – tell the truth.
Integrity – be morally upright.
Responsibility – be accountable for yourself and your actions.
Respectfulness – treat others how you want to be treated.
Compassion – show fellowship with your compatriots who are down on their luck by volunteering and/or making donations to charities.
Kindness – be friendly.
Tolerance – be tolerant of other races and religions.
Courtesy – be considerate of others.
Self-Discipline – have self-control and cultivate the ability to follow through on what you say you’re going to do.
Moral Courage – stand up for what you consider to be wrong and defend those who cannot defend themselves.
Love of Justice – be fair and ask that others be so as well.

Imagine what your country would be like if all its citizens strived to achieve these personal qualities. Start by adopting them yourself.

There are two ways in which you can develop the characteristics listed above. In my post on How to Develop Your Character – Benjamin Franklin’s Thirteen Virtues , I explain that at the age of twenty Benjamin Franklin resolved to always do right and avoid any wrongdoing.

The way in which he planned to achieve this was by creating a list of 13 virtues. He also created a plan for developing those virtues. I recommend you do something similar.

In addition, in his youth George Washington captured 110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior . They were rules for comporting oneself in a way that would be respectful of others, and of the self. Look through the rules and come up with your own set of rules of behavior.

3. Be a Productive Member of Society.

A good citizen contributes to their nation by being productive. They’re productive employees, business owners, artists, public servants, caregivers, and so on. Good citizens share their skills, talents, and abilities with others. They make a positive contribution to their nation.

4. Be Active In Your Community.

A good citizen is active in their community. They participate in the social life of their city or town, and they look for ways to make their communities a better place to live. That is, if they see a problem in their community they look for ways to solve it.

Here are some ways to be active in your community:

Shop locally.
Attend community events – keep your eyes open for events that are happening in your area such as festivals, community theatre, a gallery opening, and so on.
Join a local club that’s devoted to an activity that interests you, such as running, cycling, or kayaking.

Here are some ways to better your community:

Participate in a community-driven cleanup project.
Help plant a community garden.
Organize a campaign to raise money for new playground equipment.
Help out your neighbors.

Instead of being cooped up in your home glued to a technological device, get out there and become an active member of your community. It will make you a better citizen.

5. Keep Yourself Well-Informed.

Read to educate yourself about the important issues facing your nation. In 1761, John Adams implied that one of the reasons to emphasize literacy is that it makes people better citizens. Look at the following quote:

“Every man has in politics as well as religion a right to think and speak and act for himself. I must judge for myself, but how can I judge, how can any man judge, unless his mind has been opened and enlarged by reading?”

If you’re asking yourself what you should read to keep well-informed, here are some suggestions:

Various news sources that cover local, national and global news.
Books on important world issues.
Biographies of people who have helped shape the world.
History books.
Political science books such as Rawls’ A Theory of Justice , Plato’s The Republic , and Mill’s On Liberty .

6. Be Vigilant.

A country depends on a well-informed and civic minded population to safeguard the people’s individual freedoms and political rights. A good citizen remains vigilant in order to ascertain that the government is doing all of the following:

Meeting its obligations to its citizens;
Acting appropriately within its sphere and jurisdiction; and
Adhering to the limits of state action.

To do this, a citizen must have the basic skills necessary to be able to assess arguments logically and critically.

In addition, if a citizen believes that the government is overstepping its bounds or failing in its duties, the citizen must speak up. In the words of Thomas Jefferson:

“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”

7. Participate in Your Nation’s Political Life.

If you want to be a good citizen, you should be politically active. There are many ways to this. Here are some ideas:

Identify an issue you care about and pursue it.
Attend rallies and events.
Go to city council meetings.
Join a political organization.
Volunteer for a political campaign.
Vote! Do your part to elect capable, civic minded leaders.
Run for political office.

As a citizen, you have the right to have your voice heard. Exercise that right.

8. Be a Mentor.

Today’s kids are tomorrow’s citizens. Help shape the citizens of the future by mentoring kids. Some ideas on ways you can mentor kids are the following:

Talk to your own kids about civics and teach them to be good citizens.
Join a school-based mentoring program and tutor kids who aren’t doing well academically.
Get involved in an organization such as Big Brothers Big Sisters.

A while ago I published a post on how to leave a legacy . A great legacy to leave your nation is to play a part in forming good citizens who will contribute to the nation’s well-being.

9. Be Well-Rounded.

The third point in this blog post indicates that a good citizen has to be productive. That is, they need to have the knowledge necesary to produce in today’s world — technical skills, legal skills, medical skills, and so on. However, a good citizen should also be well-rounded.

A well-rounded person is better at creative problem solving and innovation than a person who is not well-rounded. In addition, they can make contributions not only to a country’s GDP, but also to the cultural wealth of their nation.

Here are some of the qualities of a well-rounded person:

They’re well-read .
A well-rounded person is cultured .
They’re well-educated .
They develop not only their mental faculties, but also their emotional, physical, and spiritual faculties.

10. Order Your Corner Of the World

Your home is a microcosm of your country. If you want to live in a clean, healthy, prosperous, happy nation, start by creating these circumstances at home.

The Chinese philosopher Confucius once said the following: “To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order; we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.”

Do things like the following:

Keep a clean and organized home environment.
Eat healthy meals.
Keep to a budget and don’t go into debt.
Pay your bills on time.
Don’t waste water or electricity.
Create a list of simple rules for your family to follow.
Set personal development goals and strive to achieve them.

Start small- create order at home. Good homes lead to good neighborhoods, which lead to good cities, which lead to good states, which lead to good countries, which lead to a good world.

I, for one, am making an effort to be a good citizen of Panama, and of the world. How about you? Live your best life by being a good citizen.

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Education Articles & More

How to inspire students to become better citizens, educators can help boost civic engagement among young people..

The political turmoil of the last few years has many of us worried about the future of our country and our planet.

But here’s the good news: Thanks to new trends in education, the next generation may be more engaged, thoughtful, respectful, and compassionate citizens.

Research suggests that the growing emphasis on social-emotional learning (SEL) in schools can lay the foundation for more active civic engagement among our youth. In a 2018 study of almost 2,500 students, researchers found that those with greater emotional and socio-cognitive skills—such as empathy, emotion regulation, and moral reasoning—reported higher civic engagement.

Among this group of eight to 20 year olds, being more empathic (more upset when others are treated unfairly) and more “future-oriented” (more aware of how decisions impact their future) predicted a host of important civic behaviors and attitudes: volunteering; helping friends, family, and neighbors; valuing political involvement (e.g., keeping up with current events and taking part in rallies); engaging in environmentally conscious behaviors; demonstrating social responsibility values; and prioritizing other civic skills like listening and summarizing conflicting views. In other words, students with certain SEL skills also seemed to be more oriented toward social, community, and political issues.

And when students help others and practice civic behaviors, they may feel better, too. In a recent one-week study of 276 college students, participants experienced greater well-being on days when they engaged in certain types of civic activities, like helping friends or strangers and caring for their environment by recycling and conserving resources. According to the researchers, these kind and helpful behaviors also seemed to be meeting young adults’ basic needs for autonomy, connectedness, and competence—to feel free, close to others, and capable.

By its nature, social-emotional learning can support the democratic structures and processes that raise up all voices in our schools, empowering students to be more engaged in their world. So how can we thoughtfully apply these skills in our own classrooms? Here are several research-based ideas and resources to consider.

1. Re-examine your disciplinary practices

Researcher Robert Jagers and his colleagues found that Black and Latino middle school students who perceived more democratic homeroom, classroom, and disciplinary practices had higher civic engagement, particularly when students perceived an equitable school climate.

Similarly, researcher Peter Levine argues that teachers who truly want to educate students about democracy face massive barriers if the school environment is “unjust or alienating.” Harsh, authoritarian, and less-inclusive climates can ultimately weaken their community engagement, turnout in elections, and trust in government .

More and more research suggests that exclusionary discipline (e.g., suspensions and expulsions) can be alienating and counterproductive, and restorative practices (strategies that focus on learning from mistakes and repairing relationships rather than punishing students) may offer a more humanizing, equitable, and respectful alternative. In this context, students come together to learn to navigate conflicts, process their feelings, and collaboratively problem-solve a way forward.

When reviewing disciplinary practices at your school, also consider the following: Who is being disciplined? How often, and why? (If your school is like many others in the U.S., your students of color are disproportionately disciplined for the same or similar infractions when compared to white students. How is your school addressing that difference?) Are preventive strategies your number-one priority (e.g., relationship and community building)? How do you model and practice communication strategies for resolving conflicts ?

2. Facilitate meaningful dialogue among diverse learners

Research suggests that students in an “open classroom climate,” one that grows out of respectful dialogue and exposure to varying opinions, tend to have greater civic knowledge, commitment to voting, and awareness of the role of conflict in a democracy.

But perhaps you don’t feel prepared to teach students how to discuss and resolve tensions—especially around charged topics like racism. You may want your classroom to feel like a “safe space,” but how, exactly, do you foster and sustain one?

Start by preparing yourself. We all have different comfort levels with conversations about race, and being uncomfortable doesn’t necessarily mean that we are unsafe (or shouldn’t venture into that territory). Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, has created the free online Let’s Talk handbook that can help you outline some of the vulnerabilities that make you feel less effective as a facilitator (along with your strengths!), and discover specific strategies for addressing strong emotions in your classroom.

More Resources

Not Light, But Fire , a new book by educator Matthew Kay, encourages teachers to be more focused and deliberate when discussing race in high school classrooms. Kay shares personal anecdotes coupled with practical strategies for facilitating meaningful classroom dialogue.

The Let’s Talk! handbook can help you navigate and understand your own uncomfortable emotions during heated conversations. It also features practical steps for leading reflective classroom discussions.

Learn the elements of compassionate listening , and seven ways to teach listening skills to elementary students . You can also adapt our Greater Good in Action Active Listening pair practice for children or teens in your classroom.

 For example, when you sense confusion or denial of racism, this Teaching Tolerance tool recommends that you “ask questions anchored in class content or introduce accurate or objective facts for consideration.” Or, if students respond that they feel blamed, remind them that “racism is like a smog; we all breathe it in and are harmed by it. We may not have created the system, but we can do something about it.”

3. Use advisory time to encourage group cohesion and connectedness

If you value opportunities for meaningful dialogue, but think there isn’t time in your schedule for yet another priority, consider advisory or homeroom time in secondary schools (and classroom meetings in elementary schools). This time in the day or week can be thoughtfully structured for relationship and skill building. In this setting, students can learn how to actively participate in supportive dialogue with their peers over a sustained period of time.

In the Jagers study mentioned above, the featured homeroom routines included establishing social norms and contracts, group problem solving, and fun group activities to build connection and trust. For example, many teachers support their students in jointly creating a group “constitution” or agreement that highlights 1) the group’s values (e.g., responsibility, respect, fairness, and honesty) and 2) the concrete behaviors demonstrating those values. Further, students might lead or assist the teacher in proposing activities, like fostering a small class pet, developing solutions to pressing problems at school (e.g., creating a recycling program), or simply enjoying social time together (yoga in the gym or a “get to know you” game).

Of course, students can also share greetings, personal interests, and feelings with one another. My daughter’s high school “mentor” group (designed to include multiple ethnicities and viewpoints) meets daily and sticks together for four years. Every Wednesday morning, they check in with each other, share how they are feeling, and receive “support” and “resonance” from their peers and teacher-mentor, as needed—a wonderful opportunity for fostering empathy and a sense of belonging.

During advisory or circle time, many students across the country also plan to participate in service activities in their schools and communities, which is a great way to promote volunteerism and civic responsibility.

4. Feature engaging civics lessons, activities, and projects in your curriculum

Of course, there are plenty of opportunities for further civics education in social studies and history classes.

Teaching Tolerance’s website includes quizzes, videos, stories, and lessons for helping children to understand and value the voting process even though they aren’t active voters yet.

Facing History and Ourselves offers a plethora of ready-made lessons and resources for secondary teachers for discussion within the following units: Standing Up for Democracy , Identity and Community: An Intro to Sixth Grade Social Studies , and Universal Declaration of Human Rights . You may also be interested in exploring civic dilemmas .

The Morningside Center for Social Responsibility regularly features lessons on current issues, such as Overcoming Hate: A Circle on the Pittsburgh Synagogue Massacre or Caravan: Why Are People Leaving Their Homes? .

In the Action Civics program, for example, students “ learn politics by doing politics .” They identify an issue they care about (e.g., homelessness, teacher pay, the opioid crisis), research it, and design a plan of action to advocate for that issue at a local level. Project-based learning like this—that is experiential, situated in the real world, and powerfully linked to students’ interests—makes politics come alive for them.

There are a number of different teaching strategies and activities (debates, Socratic seminars , and mock trials, as well as the National Model United Nations ) that give students the opportunity to actively practice civic behaviors, attitudes, and values while learning more about social studies, history, and political science. Many of these approaches help students learn how to paraphrase main ideas, develop an evidence-based argument, and anticipate counter-arguments while they practice conducting themselves respectfully and professionally in a group context.

With these ideas and resources in mind, it’s time to revitalize civic learning in our schools, and SEL skills can help serve as the building blocks. When students actively practice these skills in their schools, they are likely to feel a stronger sense of personal agency in their communities and in the larger world. There may be no more meaningful work right now than supporting a thriving democracy and more informed, responsible, and caring student citizens.

About the Author

Amy L. Eva, Ph.D. , is the associate education director at the Greater Good Science Center. As an educational psychologist and teacher educator with over 25 years in classrooms, she currently writes, presents, and leads online courses focused on student and educator well-being, mindfulness, and courage. Her new book, Surviving Teacher Burnout: A Weekly Guide To Build Resilience, Deal with Emotional Exhaustion, and Stay Inspired in the Classroom, features 52 simple, low-lift strategies for enhancing educators’ social and emotional well-being.

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How to Be a Good Citizen

Last Updated: March 7, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Miatrai Brown, Esq. . Miatrai Brown is an Immigration Lawyer based in Washington D.C. With over 10 years of academic and professional experience, her areas of focus include employment-based nonimmigrant and immigrant visas, investment-based immigration, family-based immigration, risk management assessment, and regulatory compliance. She began her legal career exclusively practicing immigration and nationality law as external immigration counsel to large U.S. corporations and fast-moving start-ups. After six years at top immigration firms, she opened her own practice, Direct U.S. Immigration. This move was motivated by her desire to provide more access to a high level of immigration support to clients worldwide. As a thoughtful and strategic advisor on immigration and related matters, Direct U.S. Immigration earned an impressive honor as Immigration Law Firm of the Year 2023 – Washington DC. There are 14 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 492,460 times.

Being a good citizen is more than simply voting. [1] X Trustworthy Source Pew Research Center Nonpartisan thinktank conducting research and providing information on public opinion, demographic trends, and social trends Go to source Good citizens are actively involved in their community and in the betterment of their fellow citizens. They take pride in where they live and strive to make it a better place. We all want to be known as a good citizen, and with a little thought and effort, anyone can be one.

Helping Your Community

If you find yourself unemployed, seek out your local unemployment office for help in finding a new job. Googling "unemployment office" and the name of your state should bring up the information, if you don't know it.

Get involved in planning processes too. Have your say in whether new supermarkets, box stores and housing estates have their place in your corner of the world. Find out what environment, social and health benefits these projects promise for the local community (beyond the profit motives) and speak with your representative and at city council meetings to let them know what you think.

Volunteer . You can volunteer with local branches of organizations that mean a lot to you. [3] X Trustworthy Source HelpGuide Nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free, evidence-based mental health and wellness resources. Go to source Try Habitat for Humanity which builds homes for the less fortunate, or Big Brothers Big Sisters, which provides mentorship to at-risk youth.
Help the homeless . You can volunteer at a local soup kitchen or shelter to help homeless people stay safe and healthy.
Donate. You can donate your money to lots of organizations: local, national, and international. Just be sure that whoever you donate to is a good organization that uses their money well. Many charities do not and are really just a money factory for the people that run them. Try using Charity Navigator or the BBB to find out if the organization you want to help is really on the up and up.

Donating blood and plasma is especially important when there's been a major crisis. Massive numbers of injuries often result in serious blood shortages.

Contact your local homeless shelter about finding workers there. Oftentimes, homeless people are simply regular folks who ran on hard times and the small amount of money they earn from your job can be enough to help them get back on their feet.

If you need help with exercise or eating healthy , wikiHow can help.
With many vaccine-preventable childhood diseases on the rise, it may be a good idea to update yours. You aren't yourself at risk, as an adult, but the unvaccinated children around you are.

Being Civically Active

It's also important to vote in local elections. At the state and county level, you'll often vote on things like transportation initiatives, which can affect how people get to work, and other important laws and measures that affect your area.

When you serve on jury duty, make sure you find out the rules you must follow to prevent causing a mistrial, as this is a waste of the court's time and can be distressing to the people who are having their case heard. Sometimes juror misconduct can be as innocent as a juror trying to learn more about the case, although jurors are only supposed to know what is presented in court. [8] X Trustworthy Source Pew Research Center Nonpartisan thinktank conducting research and providing information on public opinion, demographic trends, and social trends Go to source

Step 3 Contact your representative about issues that matter to you.

If you don't know how to contact your representative or who your representative is, you can go to the official website to find out.

Protecting Your City's Future

Recycling helps cut down on waste that fills up landfills.

Items you can compost include leftover food, extra pieces of ingredients (like the leaves from carrots), and unbleached paper.
Compost by collecting all of these items together in a large box outside. Turn the mixture every few weeks and add soil, until the whole thing looks like a single mixture. This can often take months.
When the compost is done, it can be sold or it can be used to provide nutrients to your own yard or garden.

You can also join citywide groups that go around the city and pick up litter in the most affected areas. Contact your city hall to locate a group for your city.

Step 4 Watch where and how you wash your car.

At a minimum, move your car onto the grass in order to wash it. This will help keep the chemicals out of your drinking water.
Try to go waterless and simply clean your car with a green window or all-purpose cleaner.

Food is often labeled with where it was produced. Look for products that are organic and as close to where you live as possible.

If you want to water your lawn, use gray water (which is the water left over from preparing food or taking a shower).
Take showers that last 10 minutes or less and wash your hair only every other day.
Avoid having things like swimming pools, which take lots of water out of the system and make it undrinkable.

Turn off lights in empty rooms.
Spend less time on the computer and more time reading books.

Expert Q&A

Expert Interview

Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about citizenship, check out our in-depth interview with Miatrai Brown, Esq. .

↑ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/07/02/what-makes-a-good-citizen-voting-paying-taxes-following-the-law-top-list/
↑ https://www.css.edu/about/blog/
↑ https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-living/volunteering-and-its-surprising-benefits.htm/
↑ https://cpr.heart.org/AHAECC/CPRAndECC/FindACourse/UCM_473162_CPR-First-Aid-Training-Classes-American-Heart-Association.jsp
↑ https://training.fema.gov/emiweb/downloads/is7unit_5.pdf
↑ https://www.health.harvard.edu/topics/staying-healthy
↑ https://www.uscourts.gov/services-forms/jury-service
↑ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/08/24/jury-duty-is-rare-but-most-americans-see-it-as-part-of-good-citizenship/
↑ https://www.eac.gov/help-america-vote
↑ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/community-support-for-recycling-pays-off/
↑ https://ilsr.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/growing-local-fertility.pdf
↑ https://cfpub.epa.gov/npstbx/files/KSMO_CarWashing.pdf
↑ https://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/buylocal.html
↑ https://sciencing.com/ways-communities-government-can-conserve-water-19029.html

About This Article

One way to be a good citizen is to volunteer with organizations that mean a lot to you, like groups that build homes for the less fortunate, mentor youth, or feed the homeless. If donating your time is difficult, then you can donate money, clothing, or other household goods. Additionally, you can donate blood and plasma to help save lives. If you want to be civically active, vote in every election, contact your representatives about issues that matter to you, and offer to help during election times. To learn how to help protect your city’s future, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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What Is a “Good Citizen”? a Systematic Literature Review

Open Access
First Online: 01 September 2021

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Cristóbal Villalobos 23 ,
María Jesús Morel 23 &
Ernesto Treviño 24

Part of the book series: IEA Research for Education ((IEAR,volume 12))

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The concept of “good citizenship” has long been part of discussions in various academic fields. Good citizenship involves multiple components, including values, norms, ethical ideals, behaviors, and expectations of participation. This chapter seeks to discuss the idea of good citizenship by surveying the academic literature on the subject. To map the scientific discussion on the notion of good citizenship, a systematic review of 120 academic articles published between 1950 and 2019 is carried out. The review of the literature shows that good citizenship is broadly defined, incorporating notions from multiple fields, although these are mainly produced in Western countries with comparatively higher income levels. Additionally, although there is no single definition of good citizenship, the academic literature focuses on three components: the normative, active, and personal dimensions. This systematic review informs the estimation of citizenship profiles of Chap. 3 using the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2016.

Citizenship norms
Good citizenship
Systematic review
International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS)

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Values Education and the Making of “Good” Citizens in Australia

What are the Qualities of Good Citizenship in Post-genocide Rwanda? High School Teachers Speak Through a Q-Methodological Approach

Sylvestre Nzahabwanayo, Gillian Finchilescu & Joseph J. Divala

Reflections on the Good Citizen

1 introduction.

The concept of “good citizenship” is part of a long-standing discussion in various academic fields, such as political science, education, sociology, anthropology, evolution, and history, among others. In addition, good citizenship involves various components, including values, norms, ethical ideals, behaviors, and expectations of participation. Finally, the idea of good citizenship is related to diverse contemporary issues, such as patterns of political participation, the meaning of democracy and human rights, the notion of civic culture, equal rights, and the role of technology in the digital era (Bolzendahl and Coffé 2009 ; Dalton 2008 ; Hung 2012 ; Noula 2019 ).

In this regard, the notion of good citizenship can be considered as a concept with three basic characteristics: multidisciplinary, multidimensional, and polysemic. Therefore, the definition of good citizenship is a topic of constant debate and academic discussion. This chapter seeks to discuss the idea of good citizenship, with the aim of contributing to the understanding of this phenomenon and its social, political, and educational implications. In this way, this chapter aims to map the academic discussion and literature regarding the notion of good citizenship, presenting the key debates about the limits and possibilities of this concept in the framework of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2016.

In order to organize this complex debate, we start from the premise that any notion of good citizenship is composed of the interaction of two definitions. On the one hand, it involves a certain notion of membership, that is, of belonging to a community. As Stokke ( 2017 ) shows, the definition of who is (and who is not) a citizen is, in itself, a subject of debate, since the definition of citizenship implies political, social, cultural, and legal components. On the other hand, the definition of good citizenship always implies a conceptual position regarding how citizens are expected to act and what they are expected to believe (the “public good” component). In this sense, the debate focuses on the types of behaviors that should be promoted and their ethical-political basis, which is highly dynamic depending on the cultural and historical context (Park and Shin 2006 ). Finally, in order to answer the question about the meaning of good citizenship, it is necessary to first decide who qualifies as a citizen, and how they are expected to behave.

Considering these objectives, the chapter is structured into five sections, including this introduction. The second section describes the systematic review methodology used to select the literature and analyze the discussion regarding the concept of good citizenship. The third and fourth sections describe the results of the analysis, mapping the main trends and characteristics of the academic discussion on good citizenship and exploring its different meanings. Finally, the fifth section presents the conclusions, focusing on the conceptual challenges and methodological limitations to be considered in future research.

2 Methodology

2.1 the systematic review.

We conducted a systematic review to map the academic discussion on good citizenship. This review seeks to identify, evaluate, and analyze the publications in relevant fields of study, in order to determine what has already been written on this topic, what works and what does not, and where new studies are needed (Petticrew and Roberts 2006 ). Through the definition of eligibility criteria, the systematic review is an explicit and reproducible methodology that allows for both an evaluation of the validity of the results of the selected studies (Higgins and Green 2011 ) and the objective valuation of evidence by summarizing and systematically describing the characteristics and results of scientific research (Egger 1997 ). In this regard, the systematic review, unlike other forms of literature review, allows for recognizing “gray” spaces in the literature, describing trends in academic research, and analyzing conceptual and methodological aspects of studies.

2.2 Procedure

The systematic review was conducted using five academic databases, including the main journals in the fields of education, social science, and the humanities. These databases are: (i) Journal Storage, JSTOR ( https://www.jstor.org ); (ii) Educational Resource Information Center, ERIC ( https://eric.ed.gov ); (iii) Springerlink ( https://link.springer.com ); (iv) WorldWideScience ( https://worldwidescience.org ); and (v) Taylor & Francis Group ( https://www.tandfonline.com ). For each search engine, the keywords used were: “good citizen” and “good citizenship.” Additionally, each search engine was tested with other related concepts, such as “citizenship norms,” “citizenship identities,” or “citizen norms.” The results showed that articles containing these latter concepts represented no more than 10% of new articles. For this reason, we decided to concentrate on the two keywords described above.

Considering the importance of these key concepts, the search was limited to those articles that contain these terms in the title, abstract, and/or full text. Of the five search engines, only two had the full-text option in the advanced search and only one allowed searching by keywords, then all results were filtered manually. The search was conducted from May to July 2019, obtaining 693 academic articles.

The search was restricted to those academic articles written in English and published between 1950 and 2019, as a way to study contemporary conceptualizations of good citizenship. We discarded letters to the editor, responses to articles, and book reviews. As a result, we obtained 693 articles to which, based on a full-text review, we applied an additional criterion, excluding those articles about other subjects or from other disciplines. Included in the first search exclusively for having the word “citizenship” in the abstract, there is a wide range of articles including studies on biology, entomology, and film studies. Similarly, with this search strategy we retrieved articles on a related topic but not specifically about citizenship (e.g., leadership, public participation, social values, and immigration), articles on the concept of corporate or organizational citizenship, and articles on social studies in the school curriculum and its contribution to the education of citizens.

After applying the abovementioned selection criteria, we analyzed the abstracts of the articles to verify that they were related to the general objective of the study. As a result, all articles were selected that sought (directly or indirectly) to answer the question, “what is a good citizen?” Specifically, this involved incorporating studies that: (i) study or analyze citizen norms in conceptual, historical, political, educational, or social terms; (ii) generate models or analytic frameworks that define variables or dimensions that should make up the concept of a good citizen; (iii) explore factors on how good citizenship occurs, studying the educational, institutional, and cultural factors that would explain this phenomenon; (iv) relate the expectations (or definitions) of a good citizen with other dimensions or aspects of the political or social behavior of the subjects. The research team, which was comprised of two reviewers, held a weekly discussion (six sessions in total) during which the selection criteria were discussed and refined. This analysis resulted in the selection of a total of 120 articles (see list in Appendix A ).

2.3 Analytical Strategy

The data collected in a systematic review may allow for a wide variety of studies, but the analysis depends on the purpose and nature of the data. Given that the review included quantitative and qualitative studies, as well as both theoretical and demonstrative essays, such heterogeneous literature does not allow for statistical analysis. As a result, the recommended methodology is to carry out a narrative synthesis and an analysis that focuses on relationships between different characteristics and the identification of gaps (Grant and Booth 2009 ; Petticrew and Roberts 2006 ).

The narrative synthesis is a process that allows for extracting and grouping the characteristics and results of each article included in the review (Popay et al. 2006 ), and can be divided into three steps: (i) categorization of articles; (ii) analysis of the findings within each category; and (iii) synthesis of the findings in the selected studies (Petticrew and Roberts 2006 ). The first step towards the narrative synthesis consisted of reading, coding, and tabulating the selected documents in order to describe their main characteristics. A set of categories was designed to classify documents according to four dimensions: general characteristics, purpose, methodology, and results.

To analyze these categories, we transformed data into a common numeric rubric and organized it for thematic analysis, using the techniques proposed by Popay et al. ( 2006 ). The first category was used to summarize the quantity and characteristics of the published studies, while the thematic analysis focused on systematically identifying the main, recurrent, and/or most important concepts of good citizenship.

3 The Concept of Good Citizenship in Academia

Despite being a topic of interest for several decades, academic production on good citizenship tends to be concentrated in the second decade of the 21st century. Since 2009, there has been an explosive increase in the number of scientific papers published on this topic (Fig. 1 ). Although an important part of this growth may be due to the global pressures of academic capitalism to publish in academic journals (Slaughter and Rhoades 2009 ), it could also be the case that academic communities have cultivated a growing interest in studying this issue.

Academic papers by year of publication

Although few in number, the earliest articles published represent a landmark for the discussion. Thus, for example, the text of Almond and Verba ( 1963 ), which analyzes through interviews the perceptions of individuals in communities in five countries (United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, and Mexico) and highlights their different participation profiles, has been repeatedly cited in the discussion with 263 references (as of August 2019), according to Google Scholar. Another classic text is Ichilov and Nave ( 1981 ), which aims at understanding the different dimensions of citizenship by surveying young Israelis. To this end, it generates the following five criteria, which have been widely used in academic discussions: (i) citizenship orientation (affective, cognitive, or evaluative); (ii) nature of citizenship (passive or active); (iii) object of citizenship (political or non-political); (iv) source of demand (mandatory or voluntary); and (v) type of guidance (support principles or behavior).

The selected articles are geographically concentrated in two aspects: by institutional affiliation and by the location of their studies. Considering the institutional affiliation of the authors, 32.77% of the articles were produced in the United States, a figure that rises to more than 60% when the countries of Western Europe and Australia are included. This bias is maintained, although to a lesser extent, when analyzing the countries where the studies were carried out. Moreover, more than 50% of the studies were carried out in the United States, England, and the democracies of Western Europe. Africa (4.24%) and Latin America (2.54%) were the regions least represented in the studies. These characteristics, which tend to be representative of global academic production in the social sciences (Connell 2007 ), may encourage certain notions of good citizenship that are anchored in Anglo-Saxon traditions, such as the liberal conception of citizenship studied by Peled ( 1992 ), or more recently, the conception of active citizenship (Ke and Starkey 2014 ), both of which have had an important influence on academic discussion about good citizenship.

Finally, the third characteristic of academic production is related to the multiple research fields and diverse purposes of the studies that deal with the concept of good citizenship. Research on good citizenship is published in multiple disciplines. Of the articles included in the review, 82.29% are concentrated in three disciplines: education, political science, and sociology. However, there are also articles associated with journals of history, philosophy, anthropology, and law. Additionally, we identified six main objectives from the articles reviewed (Table 1 ). The most common objectives are related to bottom-up research, which seeks to gather information on how diverse populations understand good citizenship, and top-down research, which seeks to conceptualize and/or define the idea of good citizens based on conceptual, historical, or political analysis. In addition, there are a wide variety of studies that seek to explain good citizenship, as well as studies that use the idea of a good citizen to explain other behaviors, skills, or knowledge. In other words, in addition to being multidisciplinary, research on good citizenship has multiple purposes.

In sum, although the academic discussion on good citizenship has been mainly developed during the last two decades in the most industrialized Western countries, the academic research is a field of ongoing and open debate.

4 Understanding the Meaning of “Good Citizenship”

As an academic field with a lively ongoing discussion, the notion of good citizenship is associated with different sets of ideas or concepts. Some keywords were repeated at least three times in the articles reviewed (Table 2 ). Only those articles that used a keyword format were included. The most frequent concepts are related to education, norms, social studies, political participation, and democracy.

This indicates that, first, studies tend to associate good citizenship with civic norms and citizen learning, highlighting the formative nature of the concept. Second, studies that associate good citizenship with other dimensions of citizenship (such as knowledge or civic attitudes) or contemporary global problems (such as migration) are comparatively scarcer.

Another way to approach the concept of good citizenship is by analyzing the definitions proposed by the authors in the articles studied. Most of the articles propose characteristics or aspects of good citizenship (in 43.8% of the cases) that, instead of creating new definitions, are often based on existing political, non-political, liberal, or philosophical concepts. In this regard, many papers define good citizenship based on specific behaviors. In contrast, other authors (18.6%) refer to citizenship rules when it comes to voting or participating in politics, thereby seeking to relate the concept of the good citizen with a specific civic attitude—participation in elections. Finally, a large group of studies define good citizenship in terms of the values, virtues, or qualities of a good citizen (22.6%). Within the group of studies that propose new definitions, it is possible to identify two main categories: studies that propose types of citizenship, such as Dalton ( 2008 ), distinguishing between “duty” and “engaged” citizenship, and works, such as Westheimer and Kahne ( 2004 ), which differentiate between “personal responsible citizenship,” “justice-oriented citizenship,” and “participatory citizenship.”

Finally, the meaning of good citizenship can be analyzed by studying the variables used in the studies. Among the quantitative studies included in the review, only 28.3% use international surveys such as ICCS, the Center for Democracy and Civil Society (CDACS), the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), the United Citizenship, Involvement, Democracy (CID) Survey, and the European Social Survey (ESS). Each of these surveys contained a slightly different definition of good citizenship and the variables used to measure the concept (Table 3 ).

In general, the indicators used to measure citizenship in the different surveys share certain similarities. Variables associated with rules (such as obeying the law or paying taxes) are present in all surveys. Additionally, variables related to participation also have an important presence, especially (although not only) related to voting in national elections. To a lesser extent, surveys include variables related to solidarity (supporting people who are worse off than yourself) as well as attitudes related to critical thinking and civic culture (knowing the history of the country, thinking critically).

5 Discussion and Conclusions

The concept of good citizenship can be considered an umbrella term, which includes ethical, political, sociological, and educational aspects and discussions about who qualifies as a citizen and how they should act. The systematic review has shown that good citizenship is broadly defined, although these notions are mainly valued in Western countries with comparatively higher income levels.

For this reason, the definition of good citizenship used is, in large part, highly dependent on the research objective of the academic endeavor. In our case, the analysis is based on ICCS 2016, which defines good citizenship in relation to notions such as conventional citizenship, social movement citizenship, and personal responsibility citizenship (Köhler et al. 2018 ). The variables included in ICCS 2016 are related to the three main dimensions of good citizenship: normative, active, and personal. These three components of good citizenship have been essential in the academic discussion in the last seven decades, constituting the central corpus of the concept, although this definition does not incorporate current discussions on good citizenship, which focus, for example, on the notion of global citizenship (Altikulaç 2016 ) or the idea of digital citizenship (Bennett et al. 2009 ). These latter concepts are part of the ongoing debate on good citizenship, although it seems that more work is needed to better understand how these notions of citizenship are related to the ways in which individuals or groups in society relate to power and exercise it to shape the public sphere.

This systematic review has mapped the academic discussion to date on good citizenship. However, despite its usefulness, this review has a number of limitations. Firstly, it summarizes and analyzes the academic discussion, ignoring the gap between the scientific debate on good citizenship and the social discussion related to this subject. Secondly, it focuses on English-language literature, which may result in a bias towards publications produced in Western countries. In spite of these limitations, the review allows us to study the process of defining the concept of good citizenship, and to identify the main debates related to this notion, which is the central focus of this book.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank their research sponsors, the Center for Educational Justice ANID PIA CIE160007, as well as the Chilean National Agency of Research and Development through the grants ANID/FONDECYT N° 1180667, and ANID/FONDECYT N° 11190198.

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Kerry J. Kennedy

The following list of publications is the reviewed references for the systematic review conducted in this chapter.

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Villalobos, C., Morel, M.J., Treviño, E. (2021). What Is a “Good Citizen”? a Systematic Literature Review. In: Treviño, E., Carrasco, D., Claes, E., Kennedy, K.J. (eds) Good Citizenship for the Next Generation . IEA Research for Education, vol 12. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75746-5_2

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Good Citizenship and Global Citizenship Essay

Introduction, good citizen needed to make a global citizen, global citizenship needed to make a good citizen, works cited.

The 21st Century has witnessed integration and increased cultural interaction among people on a previously unprecedented scale. This frequent interaction between people from varied countries and cultures has risen mostly as a result of the advances that have been made in transport and communication technologies.

As a result of this interaction, there has been the major integration of economies and cultures in a process known as globalization. As a result of globalization, governments are increasingly being required to link together different levels of their activities: national and global. This has resulted in the building of a global citizenry which sees the world as their “country”.

However, the global citizen continues to be heavily influenced by the traditional notion of citizen, a term that is “wrapped up in rights and obligations and in owing allegiance to a sovereign state” (Lagos 1). This paper shall argue that it is hugely necessary for one to be a good citizen so as to become a global citizen. To reinforce this claim, this paper shall analyze the extent to which it is necessary to be a “good citizen” in order to be a “global citizen”, and vice versa.

The world is full of social injustices mostly perpetrated by the stronger members of the society against the weaker ones. A defining characteristic of a good national citizen in such an environment is his/her concern about the injustices that occur within their boundaries.

This concern normally manifests itself in protests and public demonstrations calling for action by the government in place to counter the perceived injustices. A report by the World Bank demonstrates that the global citizen shows the same concern for the welfare of the globe and is moved to free their fellow men from dehumanizing conditions (1). As such, it takes a good citizen to make the global citizen who will be keen to decry social injustices against other human beings.

Core to the agendas of the good citizen is the preservation of peace in his country. A good citizen will strive to preserve peace especially within the boundaries of his/her country. This is mostly because the citizen recognizes the destruction and loss that war culminates in. For this reason, the good citizen seeks to mobilize against all wars through peaceful demonstrations and advocacy against wars.

The United Nations declares that peace is a precondition of global citizenship. The global citizen views war and strife as being contrary to his/her agenda. A good citizen who is committed to preserving peace is therefore needed to make a global citizen.

One of the attribute that a good citizen in any democratic society should possess is an understanding of public policies in his/her country. An understanding of this policies will result in enlightenment on one’s country position on issues such as energy, free trade, agriculture and the environment to name but a few.

It is only by understanding the public policies adopted by one’s country that a person can act so as to shape certain conditions such as protection of natural habitat. A global citizen is also concerned with the protection of the environment and establishment of free trade. It would therefore take a good citizen who is well versed with public policies to make a global citizen.

A good citizen is concerned about the impact that his individual actions and daily personal choices have on the country. This is an ideal that is also desirable in the global citizen since as a global citizen should make his/her decisions bases on an awareness of the impact that the decisions will have on the planet. A good citizen who is aware and conscious of the impact that his actions have on a larger scale is therefore needed to make a global citizen.

The international community is characterized by a rich diversity of cultures among its people. The global citizen is therefore prepared to operate amicably in this intercultural environment. The global citizen realizes that there should be unity in diversity and nobody has the right to impose their ideology on anybody or any group of persons.

An ideal citizen should also demonstrate this values and pay respect to people from different cultures and strives to live harmoniously with them. The good citizen should recognize that differences may exist within members of the country and this should not be a cause of strive. By acting as a global citizen who operates in a multicultural sphere, a person can be a good citizen and exist harmoniously with other citizens of varied backgrounds.

Lagos documents that while globalization is acclaimed for having opened up the world and led to the emergence of a “global village”, the same force has paradoxically resulted in localization and local communities have taken greater and greater importance (9). In such an environment, it is the global citizen who holds the separate entities together and seeks to iron out the differences that the various local communities seek to advance.

For a citizen to pass for a good citizen in such an environment (the environment where local communities have taken great importance), he must have the global perspective of the global citizen. It is only by taking the global perspective that a citizen can give fair consideration to ideas with which they disagree.

Global citizenship is increasingly working towards making the planet sustainable for all people. The efforts directed to this end are mostly in the form of advocacy for conservation of the environment, reduction of pollution and the reliance on renewable sources of power. A good citizen is supposed to work towards the preservation of the country’s resources for future resources. As such, the good citizen has to be a global citizen who is concerned with making the planet sustainable.

As a global citizen, one is expected to be non judgmental and overlook the religious differences that divide humanity. The UN states that the global citizen should have values such as “rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion”. A good citizen should also have these values enshrined in them. A good citizen should avoid engaging in religious discrimination since this threatens unity among the citizens of the nation.

This paper has demonstrated that being a global citizen is intrinsically connected to being a good citizen. As such, being a global citizenship implies a responsibility to be a good citizen. However, there are instances where being a global citizen may cause one to be a “bad citizen”.

For example, a global citizen is not expected to advocate for war or side with any party during war. Good citizenship calls for one to back their country when it is involved in a war. Acting as a global citizen in such instances can therefore prevent one from being an ideal citizen.

Lagos indicates that a citizen obtains a certain amount of protection from his/her country in return for abiding to some restrictions that the government may impose on him/her (3). A good citizen is therefore required to abide by some laws and allow some bureaucratic control from his/her nation.

A global citizen on the other hand does not have any kind of protection and has some amount of degree from bureaucratic control. Lagos states that the hallmark of global citizen is the lack of allegiance to any body of laws to control the individual. In this light, being a global citizen goes contrary to what being a good citizen entails.

This paper set out to argue that to a large extent, it is necessary to be a “good citizen” in order to be a “global citizen” and vice versa. The paper performed a detailed analysis of how a person may be obligated to be a good citizen so as to qualify as a global citizen and vise versa.

This paper has shown that global citizens borrow most of their rights and obligations from the traditional “citizen” who is defined by a civic engagement to a nation existing in a particular geography. In particular, the paper demonstrates that values such as tolerance, civic education are innate in both the good citizen and the global citizen. However, the paper has also shown that global citizen differs significantly from the citizen and in some instances, being a global citizen may cause one not to fulfill his role as a good citizen.

Lagos, Taso. Global Citizenship- Towards a Definition . 2002. Web.

The World Bank. “Global Citizenship- Ethical Challenges Ahead”. Conference on Leadership and Core Values . 2002. Web.

UN. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 2010. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2024, January 31). Good Citizenship and Global Citizenship. https://ivypanda.com/essays/good-citizenship-and-global-citizenship/

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What does it take to be a good citizen?

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How to Be a Good Citizen in 15 Ways

Moral Lessons

Someone making an offering at the church, one of the four types of giving according to the bible.

Published August 18, 2023

What does it really mean to be a good citizen? If you’ve been asking yourself this question, then you’re not alone. With everything that’s happening in our country (and the world) right now, the definition of being a good citizen tends to vary for every person. Most of the time, it’s based on their political views and their stand on certain issues.

But being a good citizen goes beyond the black and white of politics. It doesn’t matter which side of the political spectrum you’re on. What matters is how you make this country a better place to live in.

If you don’t know where to start, here are some suggestions on how to be a good citizen:

1. Be Patriotic

The dictionary defines patriotism as the love for or devotion to one’s country. This is why being patriotic is one of the most important qualities of a good citizen.

You see, when you love someone, you only want the best for them. The same thing applies when you love your country. You don’t want it to come to harm. Rather, you want it to improve and be the best that it can be. And if necessary, make sacrifices for it to achieve greatness.

2. Give Back to the Community

As citizens and human beings, we are morally obliged to look out for our brothers and sisters in need. It’s what makes us a society . So if you want to be a good citizen, give back to your community. Donate to charities and volunteer in non-profit organizations. Help the poor and the sick. Start a fundraising activity for a worthwhile cause. Whatever it is, as long as you make other people’s lives better, then you have already done your duty as a citizen of this country.

3. Be a Productive Member of Society

To be a productive member of society means actively contributing to its betterment. The operative term here is “productive” which is the same as “useful”. That’s why being one is essentially the basic requirement of being a good citizen. A productive member of society is someone who is of use to the society he/she belongs to. They are the ones who make a positive contribution to the country. In short, a good citizen.

4. Take Part in Social Issues

Admit it or not, most of us tend to take part in social issues only when it concerns us. But being a good citizen also means getting involved in issues plaguing the country – even if it doesn’t directly affect you. This doesn’t necessarily mean going out in the streets and taking part in rallies and demonstrations. Just being aware of those issues and educating others about them is a good start. Though actively doing your part to solve those issues would be much better.

Voting is one of the ways you can show your country that you care. Whether it’s your local school board or the national elections, your vote can make a change. It’s not just a right but a responsibility. Besides, there are so many people in the world right now who are robbed of the right to vote. Don’t waste that opportunity given to you .

6. Mentor Someone

Sharing your knowledge is one of the greatest gifts you can give to your country. If our ancestors didn’t share their knowledge, no civilization would flourish. So go ahead. Mentor someone. Ask your local school board for any after-school teaching opportunities. If you have a particular skill you want to share , you can also offer internship opportunities to the youth in your local community.

Young woman teaching the kid at the classroom

7. Cultivate Your Skills and Talents

Your talents and skills are your best contribution to the country. Whether you’re skilled in the arts, sciences, or sports, your country has benefited from it in one way or another.

If you’re making a living from it, the taxes you pay are used in nation-building. And if you compete in international events, you bring honor to the country. As such, your country will benefit a lot more if you cultivate whatever skills and talents you have.

8. Keep Your Home in Order

The family is the basic unit of society and the home is where someone’s values and beliefs are formed. Thus, keeping your home in order is already making a positive contribution to society.

9. Follow the Law

The law might be harsh or unfair at times but it is the law. And it’s your duty as a citizen to follow them and encourage others to do so.

10. Treat Others With Respect

Being a good citizen means treating everyone with respect no matter who they are or where they come from. Remember that how you treat others reflects the kind of society you were brought up in. If you don’t know how to respect other people’s culture, beliefs, and traditions, then what does that say about your country?

11. Stand up to Injustice

Every day, millions of people are experiencing injustice all over the world. Yet, only very few have the courage to stand up against it. But remember that as long as most of us are turning a blind eye to the injustices happening around us, there can be no real change. Besides, it’s our duty as citizens to defend those who cannot fight for themselves.

12. Conserve Resources

A country’s natural resources are its greatest assets. That’s why doing your part in conserving those resources is already a service to your country.

Besides, resources like water, in particular, are vital to people’s survival. You may not think much about not turning the faucet off or not fixing a leaking pipe but in some areas, all that wasted water can already cost a life.

13. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Just like conserving resources, a good citizen should practice the three R’s: reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Reducing your waste keeps the landfill from overflowing with trash. It also keeps potentially toxic materials from rivers, streams, oceans, and waterways. While reusing and recycling materials saves money and resources. It helps your country save on waste disposal costs. Plus, it ensures that raw materials are turned into new products reducing the need for virgin materials and conserving the country’s resources.

14. Pay Your Taxes

This goes without saying. Paying taxes is an obligation for every income-earning citizen. And if you want to be a good citizen, you must pay your taxes diligently. Your taxes are used to build roads and bridges, fund schools, and pay the military. If you don’t pay your taxes, how will the government do all those?

Being a good citizen may not be that easy but it’s not that hard either. All you need is a little bit of selflessness and a whole lot of love for your country and its people. But at the end of the day, it still boils down to your choices. So make sure to choose to be a good citizen every single day.

15. Support local businesses and artisans

Supporting local businesses and artisans helps stimulate the local economy and creates a sense of community pride and connection. By choosing to buy from local shops and artisans, you are contributing to the livelihoods of your neighbors and fostering a vibrant and diverse local culture. Additionally, supporting local businesses often leads to more sustainable practices, as they tend to have a smaller carbon footprint than large-scale corporations.

What Does it Mean To Be a Good Citizen?

Being a good citizen means being responsible for your community and country. It means following the laws, respecting others, and caring for your environment. It also means being kind, honest, and helpful to others . Being a good citizen means doing your part to make your community better for everyone.

What Makes a Good Citizen?

Being a good citizen involves following the laws, treating others with kindness and respect, and caring for the environment. Good citizens participate in their communities, voting, volunteering, and helping others when they can. They stay informed about important issues and strive to make positive changes individually and collectively. By embodying values such as honesty, empathy, and integrity, good citizens play an essential role in creating a better world for everyone.

Characteristics Of A Good Citizen

1. responsible.

Good citizens take responsibility for their actions and obligations. They fulfill their duties, such as paying taxes, obeying laws, and participating in civic activities.

2. Respectful

Good citizens show respect for others, regardless of their differences. They treat others with kindness, empathy , and fairness.

Good citizens value honesty and integrity. They are truthful and trustworthy in their interactions with others.

4. Civic-minded

Good citizens actively engage in civic activities and show an interest in the well-being of their community and country. They vote, stay informed, and participate in initiatives that benefit society.

5. Environmentally conscious

Good citizens care about the environment and take steps to protect it. They practice eco-friendly habits and promote sustainability.

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Essay on Responsibilities of a Good Citizen for Students [500+ Words]

December 10, 2020 by Sandeep

Essay on Responsibilities of a Good Citizen: Responsibility of a good citizen is to sacrifice everything for the motherland. Respecting the culture & heritage of their own country is one of the duties of a citizen. He or She must always keep in mind to raise the future of his country. Unity & prosperity must be the priorities of a good citizen.

Essay on Good Citizen 500 Words in English

Below we have provided the responsibilities of a good citizen essay, written in easy and simple words for class 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 school students.

We are born and raised in a single country, sometimes different countries., regardless of location, we incorporate the values of our respective cultures in the way we act and treat other people. Being a citizen of a country, however, is much more than some words and a stamp on endless paperwork. Along with it, one bears an ideology that connects them to other citizens of that country, regardless of their race, religion, or gender. Being a citizen gives a person all the rights to which the constitution says they are entitled.

This is why the process of citizenship of any country is a long and complicated one since it means that the person will legally have a voice in matters of the country. It also means that they will have to abide by the laws of that country, out of respect for the nation as a whole, as well as to uphold law and order. To be a responsible citizen, the person must educate themselves about their country and culture. This begins by conversing with people and understanding their way of life. It also involves an awareness of the country’s history and heritage.

This would mean reading about important figures in the country’s history, crucial events that led the country to where it currently stands, and other aspects such as the history of art and literature. It is also crucial that people who want to be responsible citizens know the diversity of different socioeconomic groups in the country. They must learn about the situation in the country in regard to equality in terms of race, religion, gender, and several other factors. One must learn about how minority groups are treated in the country, and if they are discriminated against, then the person must be an advocate to protect their rights.

A responsible citizen must always stay updated with the news. This does not mean simply reading the headlines on the front page of a newspaper- it means reading the articles thoroughly to understand the state of the nation. In an age where fake news is rampant, one must also not limit themselves to a single news source. They should try understanding an issue by learning about it from different news channels and articles by different newspapers. They will always provide different perspectives on the same issue, and this knowledge will allow the person to gain a better understanding of what their stance ought to be.

One must also learn about their own purchases- in an age of globalization, the products we use can be made in one country with materials from another. As a responsible citizen, one must not completely boycott products from other countries but should try to use local goods and services as much as possible. By doing so, the person is helping the economy of the country as well as financing local households. Volunteering and contributing to community development efforts is an important step in helping the country progress. One does not have to have widespread connections with major NGOs to volunteer- simply helping a disabled neighbour with their groceries also counts.

One can volunteer in local homeless shelters, orphanages, animal shelters, retirement homes, as well as other educational institutions like struggling schools and nurseries. If one does not have the time in their schedule to volunteer physically, they can instead choose to donate to charity. However, one must always donate wisely, because some charities are dishonest and lack transparency in terms of what actually happens with the funds from the donation. Therefore, always research the charity before donating to it.

However, supporting the community isn’t limited merely to volunteering with organizations or donating- it also involves supporting art, music, and cultural activities. One should support local artists by promoting their work and also stay on the lookout for shows, exhibitions, and other cultural events. By attending and promoting them, the person will not only develop a healthy sense of what truly constitutes entertainment but also allow the culture of the country to flourish in all areas truly. Being a good citizen involves being cooperative, friendly, considerate, and dedicated to fostering a positive environment in the community.

Good Citizenship Essay: How To Be A Good Citizen

Everyone is a part of some community, society, city, and country . Most people live for themselves. They consider their desires and goals the major issue. So, such people take care about their happiness and fortune. Citizenship means the position or status of being a citizen of a particular country . Don’t you think that such a status requires from a person to follow some rules? Many people ignore this notion. However, it does not mean that they do right. Indeed, people have to obey particular rules that have been set in a country that they live. If he/she wants to be a useful member of a city, he/she has to perform qualities of a good citizen essay well as much as the best essay writing service does its job.

Good citizenship definition . We will talk about them in Essay On Citizenship. It is a huge field of spheres where a person can be useful . In the Bible it is said that people have to pray for rulers. Actually, it is a bright act of good citizenship. A person must be interested in what is going on in his country. If he does not agree with the acts of a ruler or if a ruler is very cruel or unfaithful, he has to pray for him. So, if the Scripture calls us to be active members of society, we have to be them. Read essay on Christianity on this page: https://findwritingservice.com/blog/christianity-essay-christian-beliefs

Definition of good citizenship not only means to follow rules. It means to perform duties and regulations. Most of them are based on a simple system of what is right and wrong. It is a policy of our conscience. To what extent we can sacrifice our time and ourselves in the name of social benefit. It was not a mistake that in a previous paragraph we have mentioned that most people take care about their lives. They do not think about a neighbor which is the main condition of a good citizenship .

It is also mentioned in the Bible that a person has to love the one who is near as much as he loves himself. Is there anything wrong with it? These words are just wonderful. While doing this, people may improve their living. They could live in a perfect world. Ironically but truly is a notion – read the Bible and be happy. By the way, check our excellent Essay On Religion .

Good citizenship is a wide spectrum of interesting and useful things which will make your life in a society better and a country where you live in prosperous.

Please, make a pause and pay attention to a small list of articles.

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Citizenship E ssay And How To Be A Good Citizen

We have already told you that it concerns many questions and deeds. For this reason, the list would be rather big.

1. Be a good student . To be useful for society you have to gain an excellent education. Learn smart at school. It will give you a proper basement for choosing another step which is a college or university. Learning is vital. You have to make proper decisions in future. Education will help you to be informed and to be armed with necessary knowledge. It will give you the understanding of everything which is going on around. If you need an article on high school or college life, we can make it quickly and very professionally. If you say this, “I want pay someone to do my essay for fee”, our writers will do it.

2. Always be a hard worker . Education is only the beginning of the further process which is called working. While working hard, you contribute to the well-being of society . It does not matter whether you are a lawyer or a teacher, a baker or a bus driver. All this is a part of everyday life of your country. Your duty is to perform your function well. Check essay on hard work here: https://findwritingservice.com/blog/hard-work-essay-examples-and-tips

3. Stay informed . Watch news, check news channels on YouTube. Read newspapers and magazines which reflect the life of people that surround you. Usually such issues inform people about significant changes, movements, and events. It is important to know what people in your country think , how they react, what makes them angry or happy.

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4. Help community, if you have spare time. It is extremely good idea to spend it on helping others. Nowadays one can do it in many ways. Do you have homeless people whom you see every day? They do not have money, home, or even clothes. Help them. Come and share your food with them. Buy a warm coat, if it is winter. Prepare hot tea and sandwiches or buy presents for them. There are many organizations which need money or other materials. You can donate books to a local library, for instance. Our company also serves as a good example. We help students who always need written papers. Often we here such words as, “ Do my assignment for me in an extra hurry .”

5. Make a gift of your blood . Blood transfusion is a vital process. A huge amount of people need this help. It is a real charity, more real than money donating. You can literally save the life of someone if give your blood. By the way, it is very good for your health.

6. Be trained . It means that you may help people in case of emergency. There are some basic trainings which a good citizen must know . Nobody expects to face danger but it is better to be aware of necessary emergency trainings.

7. Give a job . You can do it, if hire someone to clean your house. Do it at least once in a month. You will help people. It is a huge contribution to economy of a country. There are shelters where people seek job. Call them and find someone who will trim your lawn. You can easily give additional job to one of our writers, if say, “ Take my online class for me online .”

8. Take care of yourself . You must be healthy, if you want stay a good citizen. It is impossible to perform all the duties without staying healthy. Check the doctor, consume good food and necessary supplements . Have a good sleep and enough rest. Find out what is traditional American food in Popular American Foods Paper .

9. Take part in voting . It is an integral part of being a good citizen. This is a must thing to do. While staying neutral, you remain useless . Your voice is necessary. Let it be heard.

10. Do cleaning . We are talking about cleaning which you can do outdoors. If you see litter, you can pick it up and throw in a proper place. Use gloves to protect yourself. It is a nice example and contribution.

11. Save water . Water scarcity is one of the main problems nowadays. Conserve it and do not overuse water like most people do. It is a vital resource.

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12. Be polite . It is a very simple duty and highly necessary. People often get depressed and a light which you can reflect may improve their mood and productivity. Smile and laugh, be open and sincere.

We thank you for reading this article. We hope that it is very useful. Read our blog and make orders on our site.

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Essay on Who is a Good Citizen

Students are often asked to write an essay on Who is a Good Citizen in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Who is a Good Citizen

Understanding a good citizen.

A good citizen is someone who respects others and their property. They are friendly, helpful, and considerate. They understand their rights and responsibilities as a member of a community. They always try to make their surroundings a better place for everyone.

Responsibilities of a Good Citizen

A good citizen always follows the rules and laws of their country. They pay their taxes on time and vote in elections to support democracy. They respect the rights of others and do not harm or disturb anyone. They help others in need and participate in community activities.

Qualities of a Good Citizen

A good citizen is honest, brave, and responsible. They always tell the truth and stand up for what is right. They take responsibility for their actions and do not blame others for their mistakes. They respect diversity and treat everyone equally.

Role of a Good Citizen in Society

A good citizen plays an important role in society. They contribute to the well-being of their community by volunteering, cleaning up the environment, and helping the less fortunate. They promote peace and harmony by treating others with kindness and respect.

250 Words Essay on Who is a Good Citizen

Who is a good citizen.

A good citizen is a person who does their best to make their country a better place. They respect the laws, rights, and freedoms of their country. They also care about the well-being of others in their community.

Respecting Laws

A good citizen follows all the rules and laws of their country. They know that rules are made to keep everyone safe and to make sure things are fair. They do not break laws, even if they think no one is watching.

Caring for Others

A good citizen cares about other people. They help those who need it. They might give food to a person who is hungry, help a neighbor with their work, or just be kind to someone who is having a bad day. They think about how their actions affect others.

Being Active in the Community

A good citizen is active in their community. They might vote in elections, attend town meetings, or join a local club or group. They want to be involved in making decisions that affect their community.

Protecting the Environment

A good citizen also cares about the environment. They do things like recycle, pick up litter, and use less water and electricity. They know that taking care of the environment is important for the future.

In conclusion, a good citizen is someone who respects laws, cares for others, is active in their community, and protects the environment. By doing these things, they help make their country a better place for everyone.

500 Words Essay on Who is a Good Citizen

A good citizen is someone who understands, respects, and follows the rules and laws of their country. They are a key part of any society and help in its smooth functioning. They know their rights but are equally aware of their responsibilities.

Respect for Rules and Laws

A good citizen always follows the rules and laws of their country. They understand that these rules are made for everyone’s safety and well-being. They also know that breaking these rules can lead to problems for them and others around them. For example, they follow traffic rules, pay taxes on time, and respect public property.

Active Participation

Good citizens are actively involved in their community. They vote in elections, attend local meetings, and voice their opinions on matters that impact their community. They understand that their opinion matters and that they can contribute to positive changes in their society.

Respect for Others

A good citizen respects other people, regardless of their race, religion, gender, or age. They treat everyone equally and do not discriminate. They understand that everyone is different and that these differences make their community diverse and vibrant. They also help others in need and are always ready to lend a helping hand.

Responsible Behavior

Good citizens display responsible behavior. They take care of their environment by not littering, recycling waste, and using resources wisely. They also take care of public property and do not damage it. They understand that the resources and facilities they enjoy are shared with others, and they need to use them responsibly.

Education and Awareness

A good citizen is educated and informed. They keep themselves updated about what is happening in their country and the world. They also understand the importance of education and encourage others to get educated. They know that an educated society is a progressive society.

In conclusion, a good citizen is a valuable asset to any country. They follow rules, respect others, participate actively in their community, behave responsibly, and promote education. They contribute positively to their society and inspire others to do the same. Being a good citizen is not just about enjoying rights but also about fulfilling responsibilities.

Remember, every small action counts. Even simple acts like throwing trash in the bin, helping an elderly person cross the road, or voting in elections can make you a good citizen. So, let’s strive to be good citizens and make our society a better place to live in.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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Essay on How Can We be Good Citizens

Every nation or society is known because of its people. It is required that every person living in the nation be a responsible and good citizen. How can we be good citizens? What qualities make us good citizens of the nation? I hope many of us have several answers to these questions and many of us would also be curious to know the qualities that make a person a good citizen of a nation.

Short and Long Essay on How can We be Good Citizens in English

This is a commonly asked topic in exams and competitive exams to write an essay on it. Many students find it difficult to understand that what things have to be included in writing an essay on this topic.

10 Lines Essay on How can We be Good Citizens (100-120 Words)

1) A good citizen is a person that understands his duty toward the nation.

2) A good citizen is responsible for a good and healthy nation.

3) We can be good citizens if we follow all the rules and regulations.

4) Helping the poor and needy makes us good citizens.

5) A good citizen will never misuse the rights provided to them.

6) We can be good citizens if we maintain peace and harmony in the nation.

7) A responsible person is considered a good citizen.

8) Good deeds towards other people and the country makes us good citizen.

9) A good citizen will never be a participant in violent activities.

10) Working for the progress of the country will make you a good citizen.

Short Essay – 250 Words

Introduction

The people living in any of the nations in the world are called its citizens. The nation provides rights and freedom to every citizen. Thus, it is the duty of every citizen to be a good and responsible citizen of the nation.

Being good citizens is the real service to the nation

The nation provides us with different types of rights that are essential for the growth and development of a person. It also expects us to be good citizens of the nation. The work of the good citizens is to fulfill the duties and responsibilities that they have towards the nation. If we want to do something for our nation we must become the good citizens of the nation. It will enable us to do the right things, respect and care for other people’s rights, abide by the rules and regulations of the nation, help the old, poor, and needy people, and make the right use of the freedom granted to us. The act of doing good things for the nation will make us good citizens and will be the real service to the nation.

Good citizens are the real strength of the nation

The progress and development of every nation depend upon the deeds of its citizens. If the percentage of good citizens is higher in a nation the country will have good progress and development. We must always try to work in unity, live with peace and harmony, treat everyone equally, foster the understanding of education among people, and be ready to help the nation in its need. When we develop these qualities in us we can be good citizens and the strength of the nation.

Good citizens are those who give priority to the nation and never try to hurt anyone by their words or deeds.

In the same reference, I have also provided a long essay on this topic. I hope it might ease the difficulty of students and give them an idea to write an essay, project, or assignment on this topic.

How can You be a Good Citizen – Long Essay (1100 Words)

There are many people residing in any of the nations in the world. They all are called the citizens of that particular nation in which they live. We get recognition in our society because of our deeds. Every person born in the nation has some duties and responsibilities towards the nation. This act of being a responsible person and doing good deeds make us good citizens of the nation.

What is Meant by a Good Citizen?

Citizens are the real wealth of any of the nations in the world. In democratic countries, every single citizen holds equal importance. For example- India is the biggest democracy in the world. Every Indian citizen’s contribution is important for the development and progress of the nation. As a citizen, every person in India has their liabilities towards the nation. The person who serves the nation by caring about the people of the nation and abides with every rule and regulation in life is stated as a good citizen of the nation. Everybody can be a citizen of any of the nations in the world but to be a good citizen requires doing good deeds and caring about everyone’s rights.

Qualities Required for being a Good Citizen

The people who are good as a person by their deeds help in the formation of a good society and nation. They are called the good citizens of the nation. The special qualities required for becoming a good citizen are enlisted below:

Enjoy the Right and Freedom Sensibly – As a citizen of the nation, every one of us enjoys some rights and freedom. These rights are granted to us by birth and are meant for our development and progress. A good citizen should understand the limitation of freedom and rights and never misuse them.

Respect for others – A good citizen should have respect for everyone in the society either it is rich or poor. He/she must respect and help the older people of the society and take advice from them when needed. He/she must be polite to everyone. He should not hurt anyone because of their look or status. In a democratic country like India, there is the freedom to practice any religion according to our faith. Therefore a good citizen must have respect for every culture and region in the society. He/she must do anything that might create violence or hurt the feeling of other communities.

Help People in Need – If we are born in any of the nations we are ultimately called the citizens of that nation. As the citizens of any nation, it is our duty to helps people in their needs. When we help others in their needs other people also help us in our needs. This makes us a good citizen of society.

Participate in Healthy Politics – A good citizen must give a vote during the elections in the nation. Every single vote is of immense value. This also confirms the views and opinions of every single person. We know that the existence of any nation is only because of its citizens. Therefore it is the responsibility of a good citizen to participate in the political, social, judicial activities of the nation. A good citizen does not give the vote to support a particular party or a group of people but for the welfare of the entire nation and its people.

Abide by Rules and Regulations – A good citizen should follow all the rules and regulations made by the nation. He/she should never break any rule or perform any act by going against the laws. They must understand the importance of the judiciary and laws made by the nation and must pay tax. A good citizen must go through proper procedure meant in the nation for seeking justice for any injustice or crime.

Work for the Betterment of the Nation – A good citizen is only the one who thinks about the progress of the nation. He/she instead of being indulged in nonsense activities should think about some new ideas and ways that might benefit the nation and people. He/she must make others aware of pollution by giving speeches and conducting cleanliness drives. Moreover, a good citizen should make people understand the need for education in their lives.

Never Participate in Violence – A good citizen teaches people in the society to live with peace and harmony. He/she does this by not involving in any of the violent acts that might give rise to fight. In this way, a good citizen becomes an example for other people living in society. A good citizen always tries to make every people in the society become a good person and act in a wise way.

Always be Ready to Serve the Nation – A good citizen must be a true patriot and always be ready to serve the country in need. He/she should be ready for any type of sacrifice for the nation and its people.

Are we Seriously Performing our Duties as Good Indian Citizens?

India is a democratic nation and every Indian is a citizen of this nation. Every citizen of the nation is granted some rights and freedom from birth. This right is granted to every citizen for their progress and development that in turn would benefit the entire nation. Now the great question arises that’ Are we seriously performing our duties as a good citizen?’ Every day we notice different types of heinous crimes, corruption, violent acts, happening in our nation. If we Indians are performing our duties as good citizens then why are these things happening.

We all need to understand our duties and responsibilities as the citizen of India. We must try our best to be a good citizen instead of just being a citizen of the nation. The honest answer to the question stated above is “No”. The fault lies among us as we are not fulfilling our duties as good citizens. Unless and until every citizen understands their duty and responsibility towards the nation it is difficult to bring the change. It is never too late for starting anything and we all know that citizens are the real wealth of any nation. Therefore it is only we who can change the present scenario by acting wisely and understanding our responsibility for the nation.

The citizens are smallest units of the nations that organize to form a family, society, and further a nation. A good citizen will surely give rise to a good family. Several good families will make a good society and finally a good nation. We all must try to become good people in our life. The good person only becomes a good citizen for the nation.

FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions

Ans . Bhutan is the country in the world having the toughest procedure of giving citizenship.

Ans . The virtue of being honest, respectful, responsible, and true love for the nation makes a person to be called a good citizen.

Ans . Educated people can participate in decision making and that is the duty of a good citizen.

Ans . The minimum age of voting is 18 years for a citizen in India.

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How To Be A Good Citizen Essay
Good Citizens pay taxes - A good citizen always pays taxes. People who do not pay their taxes are considered tax evaders. Tax evasion is illegal in most countries and can result in fines, jail time, or both. Moreover, tax helps to maintain public infrastructure, which is essential for a healthy society. Good Citizens serve on a jury - Jury ...
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The first essay is a long essay on the Good Citizen of 400-500 words. This long essay about Good Citizen is suitable for students of class 7, 8, 9 and 10, and also for competitive exam aspirants. The second essay is a short essay on Good Citizen of 150-200 words. These are suitable for students and children in class 6 and below.
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Respect is another vital trait of good citizenship. Respectful citizens treat others with dignity, valuing diversity and individual rights. They listen to differing viewpoints, engage in constructive dialogue, and resolve conflicts peacefully. By showing respect, citizens help create a harmonious and inclusive society where everyone's voice is ...
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Center for Public Leadership. What Does it Mean to Be a Good Citizen? "We don't agree on everything—but we do agree on enough that we can work together to start to heal our civic culture and our country." CPL's James Piltch asked people all over the US what it means to be a good citizen. "We don't agree on everything—but we do agree on ...
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That is half a century of trying to keep you informed so you can do your part as a citizen. But that got us thinking about what other things can you do to be a good citizen. For many people, that ...
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7. Participate in Your Nation's Political Life. If you want to be a good citizen, you should be politically active. There are many ways to this. Here are some ideas: Identify an issue you care about and pursue it. Attend rallies and events. Go to city council meetings. Join a political organization.
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Here are several research-based ideas and resources to consider. 1. Re-examine your disciplinary practices. Researcher Robert Jagers and his colleagues found that Black and Latino middle school students who perceived more democratic homeroom, classroom, and disciplinary practices had higher civic engagement, particularly when students perceived ...
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Pay attention in school, get good grades, and try to go to college. [2] 2. Work hard. No matter what job you have, working hard is an important part of being a good citizen. When you work hard, you provide services to others and you earn money, both of which contribute to a stronger economy in your area.
Essay on How to Be a Good Citizen
This essay sample was donated by a student to help the academic community. Papers provided by EduBirdie writers usually outdo students' samples. In order to be a good citizen, you have to follow rules, laws, expectations, and responsibilities. We have these rules and responsibilities so everyone can be safe.
Good Citizenship: The Purpose of Education
The practical side of good citizenship is developed most successfully in school because in miniature one is living in a society, and the conditions and problems of the larger society are more easily reproduced and met and solved. To accomplish this, however, presupposes a high grade of teaching, a teacher who not only teaches a subject but is ...
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Good citizenship involves multiple components, including values, norms, ethical ideals, behaviors, and expectations of participation. This chapter seeks to discuss the idea of good citizenship by surveying the academic literature on the subject. To map the scientific discussion on the notion of good citizenship, a systematic review of 120 ...
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The UN states that the global citizen should have values such as "rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion". A good citizen should also have these values enshrined in them. A good citizen should avoid engaging in religious discrimination since this threatens unity among the citizens of the nation.
What does it take to be a good citizen?
Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Don't litter. Take a nap every afternoon. The same question was recently asked to a group of Filipinos . While their responses were a bit more sophisticated than my kindergarten list, the responses were much the same ...
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A good citizen is an individual who strives towards the goal to honor and submit to their government and takes the initiative to improve their country. There are many opinions as to what constitutes a good citizen. Aristotle makes a distinction between the good citizen and the good man, writing, "...there cannot be a single absolute excellence ...
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You may not think much about not turning the faucet off or not fixing a leaking pipe but in some areas, all that wasted water can already cost a life. 13. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Just like conserving resources, a good citizen should practice the three R's: reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Essay on Responsibilities of a Good Citizen for Students [500+ Words]
Essay on Responsibilities of a Good Citizen: Responsibility of a good citizen is to sacrifice everything for the motherland. Respecting the culture & heritage of their own country is one of the duties of a citizen. He or She must always keep in mind to raise the future of his country. Unity & prosperity must be the priorities of a good citizen.
Good Citizenship Essay: How To Be A Good Citizen
For this reason, the list would be rather big. 1. Be a good student. To be useful for society you have to gain an excellent education. Learn smart at school. It will give you a proper basement for choosing another step which is a college or university. Learning is vital. You have to make proper decisions in future.
How To Be A Good Citizen Essay
Good Citizens always vote - Voting is one of the most important rights and duties of any citizen in any democracy. Moreover, it is a fundamental right that is necessary for the existence of democracy in any country. Good Citizens do not litter - One of the most important issues in our global society is littering.
A good Citizen
17891. A good citizen is one who properly fulfills his or her role as a citizen. There are many opinions as to what constitutes a good citizen. Theodore Roosevelt said, "The first requisite of a good citizen in this Republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his weight." Education is sometimes viewed as a prerequisite to good ...
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Conclusion. In conclusion, a good citizen is a valuable asset to any country. They follow rules, respect others, participate actively in their community, behave responsibly, and promote education. They contribute positively to their society and inspire others to do the same. Being a good citizen is not just about enjoying rights but also about ...
Essay on How Can We be Good Citizens
1) A good citizen is a person that understands his duty toward the nation. 2) A good citizen is responsible for a good and healthy nation. 3) We can be good citizens if we follow all the rules and regulations. 4) Helping the poor and needy makes us good citizens. 5) A good citizen will never misuse the rights provided to them.
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Paragraph Writing. A citizen is the asset of a country. A good citizen has as many duties as he has rights. The basic rights of a citizen are his basic human rights. He has right to live, travel, work, and vote. He has the right to education, security and justice. He has also the right to die a normal death.
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