Citizen Duties Defined Part 7: What Do Other Countries Say?

Until this point, I’ve only looked at American sources of information, presuming Webster’s, Dictionary.com and Wikipedia.en as ‘American’. That said, I believe the concept of citizenship to be a global idea, not unique to any individual nation. Do the duties of citizens in other countries differ from ours? What are they saying about it?

The roots of democracy were planted half way around the world hundreds of years ago. So while my country has done a great deal to foster, promote and advance the concept of citizenship throughout its lifetime, we by no means hold a monopoly on it. Let’s look at some other countries and see how our view of citizenship duty differs, if at all.

The first country to look at is our neighbor to the north – Canada. I quickly found a national study published in 2011 that was based on a public opinion survey. The poll at the heart of the study, titled ‘Defining Good Citizenship‘, was from the Environicsinstitue.org, who referred to it as the first national survey on what it means to be a citizen in Canada.

The first thing I will say about this poll, is that it is dealing with exactly the question I am asking, thus it is a perfect fit for this particular project. To be honest, I expected to find hundreds of similar polls out there. The fact that I did not is part of why I’m engaging in this project. It just should not be this hard to find this information.

The second thing I will say, is that I love the separation of the poll into two resulting data sets: most mentioned unprompted and the rest based on their specific questionnaire. Generally speaking, I’ve found few people who have thought about this topic in considerable detail. When asked, they tend to hover around the two or three most commonly discussed areas of citizenship, voting, jury duty and maybe paying taxes or being a good neighbor. When prompted with other less common duties, however, the discussion tends to become more lively, with fewer easily anticipated responses.

The third thing I find interesting, is simply the general differences between typical American answers and Canadian. I would argue that Canadians are mostly or almost Americans. We’re siblings with different mothers. Cousins, but raised in the same house. Let’s see if the polls confirm that notion?

Thoughts:

• Shares/adopts Canadian values: What are ‘Canadian’ values, or ‘American’ values for that matter? What about “community” values? I believe this single concept, that a nation has a definitefe set of values, to be simultatneoulsy absolutely uniting and utterly divisive. That said, I believe it is a topic that requires some deep exploration, particularly because I do feel that a Nation should have a set of values – and the people should be the ones to both maintain and support as well as adjusta nd evolve those values as needed over time.

• Works hard/does not rely on government: I believe this general principle to be a valuable duty one should work to fullfill. That said, as with any of these duties, it is the specific scenarios and situations where we need to explore. What limitations or exceptions should be made for individuals and what conditions should they be made under?
  
  What about if for a time, you need help? Is getting help a marker of a bad citizen? How long does one need to recieive assistance to be considered reliant? Are farmers who receive subsidies ‘reliant’? What about ranchers who get grazing rights?

• Treating men and women equally: I find it very Interesting that I’ve not seen this specifically listed on any of the US based lists! Should we treat them women and men equally, or equitably? It makes me wonder if duties for a female are or should be diffferent from a male. As a male, I tend not to think specifically of gender, a consequence of happening to be male I am sure. Does there need to be multiple duty lists?

• Protecting the environment (e.g. recycling): While this has already been mentioned multiple times and is a fequten ite listed on many lists, I find it interesting how high this list is on the Canadian poll. 80% feeling its important is a very lareg number in my opinion.

• Feeling connected to others in society While I generally am trying to avoid ‘feelings’ this one might actually be relevant. Feeling close to others in society may be more important to specify thatn to simply engage. While I’m generally trying to figure out what I need to ‘do’ to be a good citizen, in this case, the spirit of what I’m trying to achive might be better communicted by this ‘feeling connected’.

• Knowing something about Canada’s history: I have never looked at history as a duty, but I think it’s one of the more important ones. You must know what’s happened before so that you don’t repeat past mistakes and you can reproduce the successes. The question about history is, what counts? I belive as an American, I need to be versed in American history, Native American history, Black history and World history at a minimum. What other subcategories are required? The next question is, how much History? What’s the test?

• Displaying pride in Canada (e.g. celebrating Canada day): My question with this is always, how much is enuff? What about if you don’t support an action you’re country did/is doing? Is it good citizenship to rebuke your country by refusal of a pride display? When is it ok versus not ok? E.g. time of war?

• Learning about Aboriginal peoples: Some say a nation can be defined by how they treat their aboriginal peoples.

• Speaking both English and French: This is a particular point of concern for Canadians, whose coutry has an entire Providence (state) whose primary language is different than the countries official language. Is it also relevant for countries with onl one official language? If not your country, the world? Should all citizens be required to learn at least one other language than their primary? Should all citizens be required to learn a minimum amount of Sign language?

Let’s be honest. Canadians are about as American as you can get, and the polls prove it. I almost think of Canada as our dozen northernmost states! Except for Montreal. They’re French! So not surprised at the type of responses and their similarity to our countries citizens. But what about other less “Western” nations?

The second country to look at is one that our country has had a number of political differences with over the year, Russia. Unlike the case of Canada, for Russia we are not looking at a poll or a study. We are looking at their Constitution, because unlike the United States Constitution, there is at least one clause where citizenship duties are outlined. There are a few duties specified in the current Russian Constitution. The most pertinent and not already completely covered already are outlined in Article 58.

The third country I’ve found that has outlined some citizen duties is Germany. In Germany’s case, we actually have two different Constitutions to take into account. The first is the Weimar Constitution of 1919, and the second is the Constitution in place today.

What is the Weimar constitution? Who wrote it? The Constitution of the German Reich, usually known as the Weimar Constitution, was the constitution that governed Germany from 1919 up until the end of the Second World War.

This constitution has a number of duties specifically outlined in the document. Many of them seem overbearing and possibly even facist in nature. The current constitution has far fewer. Really, the only one is outlined in Article 14.

The duties spelled out in the German constitutions makes me want to be very careful about how much I want to specify as a duty. My American “don’t tread on me” sensibilities get their hackles up. Government specified duties invariably bring consequences for not fulfilling them.

India is another country who outlines specific duties of their citizens in their constitution. Here are several items pulled from their document.

Thoughts:

• preserve nature and the environment and to treat natural resources with care: This item is taken from the Russian Constitution. The Indian Constitution outlines this duty, similar to Russian. protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life: I would argue these are some of the highest duties assigned a citizen, and I think it makes perfect sense to outline it in the Constitution.
• to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem: Respect of the flag and the anthem is certainly believed to be a duty in America, even though not specifically spelled out in our Constitution. The degree to which we are bound to these duties certainly varies depending on political party, location or even race. My general feeling is that ‘respect’ needs to be defined and cannot be absolute or indiscriminate of situation. I do not believe in undying respect, no matter the situation, particularly when a duty to protest or dissent is present.
• to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India: Interesting to see this spelled out. I would certainly consider this a duty, though the degree to which one is responsible for furthering it, and the limits to this duty certainly would need to be outlined. Harmony, also is a subjective thing. Depending on which side of the movement one found themselves, Martin Luther King Jr was seen as simultaneously, the biggest promoter of harmony amongst Americans – and its biggest detractor. Perspective makes all the difference.
• renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women: The fact that a duty such as this must be specifically addressed to women certainly says something. I would argue that this is a duty owed all people. That said, I understand there are reasons this has been specified in this way. It makes me think if there are other similar duties that should be specifically addressed for the support or benefit of a specified gender, race or cohort of individuals.
• parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, ward: I think providing for your own child’s education is a clear and understood duty of any parent. My question, is it the duty of a citizen to help ensure the education of any and all children in the society?

Summary:

The number and level of duties spelled out in these documents is very interesting. While only looking a few countries, it’s clear that in at least several countries, the concept of citizenship duty has not only been studied but also even accounted for in the foundational government documents such as their constitutions. Also interesting, is that looking at these international sources displays duties I haven’t yet found within American sources. Even with these differences accounted for, while it seems other countries have taken more of an effort to specifically spell out duties for their citizens, the lists of duties do not that drastically differ from what I see coming from US sources. Thus, only a few additions to the ongoing list.

Version seven (v 007) of the Citizens List of Duties has now grown to a full page.

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash