There are several polls done over the last few years pertaining to this specific topic. Pew looked at what actions people thought were important to good citizenship. The results from their poll is compelling.
What’s even more interesting about this poll, is the data they’ve captured is also then broken down by political party. Voting and paying your taxes aren’t controversial. Sure, we can mostly agree on those. I say mostly, because more than a quarter of us don’t think these are required for good citizenship, which greatly surprises me.
Where a large divide exists surrounds the ‘display’ of ‘patriotism’ such as knowing and singing the pledge of allegiance and displaying the flag. Those contain the biggest disparities between the major political parties.
Thoughts:
- Respect the opinions of those who disagree: I respect your right to have an opinion. Not necessarily that opinion. Your opinion might suck.
- Participate in the US census every decade: Interesting. First mention of this ive seen. But I would definitely consider this a duty of a citizen.
- Know the Pledge of Allegiance: is this really a duty? Can I be a good citizen and not know the pledge?
- Follow what happens in gov’t and politics.
- Protest if you think gov’t actions are wrong: Is protest really expected? If so, why was BLM so criticized? What if mid-protest, it changes into a riot? What is your responsibility then?
- Display the American flag: is this really a duty? Do I need to display the flag every day, or just on Holidays? During protests you support, do you still have a duty to display?
Not surprisingly, voting is top of the list along with paying taxes. Following the law is again not a surprise. Adding the qualifier ‘always’ does surprise me. To say always would assume ALL laws are just. Which we know not to be true.
I find it funny that knowing the pledge of allegiance and the display of the flag are seen as duties. I Personally think they are good to do, but not requirements for good citizenship. Clearly this poll shows that a huge number of Americans would disagree with my sentiment.
Respecting of opinions I disagree with also needs some adjustment in my eyes. Yes, I do believe everyone has the right to their own opinion. But I can’t say it’s a duty to respect those opinions. Not all opinions are equal in terms of quality, validity, usefulness and value. Those are the criteria I use to determine whether they deserve and will receive my respect.
Gallups view is slightly different. Their poll only asks three questions
Gallup: Global Civic Engagement Score
- Donate money to a charity:
- Volunteered time to an organization
- Helped a stranger who needed help
These items have been mentioned in most of the sources I’ve found. What is interesting about this list, is that they put such an emphasis on these 3 items, that together they form a ‘scorable’ result. According to Gallup…
These questions are designed to measure residents’ commitment to the communities they live in and to help governments, businesses and organizations better understand the population of potential volunteers.
More importantly, according to Gallup, the score has meaning…
Gallup sees strong relationships between people’s answers to these questions and external measures related to the economic environment, such as per capita GDP (PPP) and long-term unemployment, as well as measures that are indicative of wealthier communities, such as information and technology expenditures and healthcare expenditures
Thoughts:
At this point, these three items have been listed in multiple places. What’s strange is that Gallup did reports in 2011 and 2016, and not since. If this metric is so important and indicative , why have they not followed up with other reports? Also, while they seem to see this metric as a core indicator, it does not seem that anyone else is using it to measure their progress. I compare this to the NPS – Net Promoter Score, which is nearly ubiquitous in business. Apparently, the Civic Engagement Score needs some PR.
The third poll I looked at is another from Pew. However, it’s focus is very different from the other two previous examples. Apparently, there is a thing called, ‘citizen science’ and we’re supposed to be supporting it. This was the first I’ve ever heard of it.
- Helped a child with a science project
- Donated money to support medical or science research
- Citizen science activities
- Donated Blood
- Participated in a medical or clinical research study
This is the only place throughout my search so far that has suggested that science, including one’s participation in it or support of it, is something even close to a duty. It might not be a duty to help a kid with a science project, but it might be a duty to help support and promote science with children.
I do think all five of these items are great to do. Are they required of all citizens? I’m not sure I think so. That said, I do believe I will try and incorporate this into my future citizen actions. To what degree I will focus on it remains to be seen.
The third poll by Pew and fourth overall concerns voter engagement.
Pew: Key findings about voter engagement in the 2020 election
- Showed your support for a political campaign or candidate on social media
- Contributed money to a candidate running for public office or to a group working to elect a candidate
- Displayed a poster, sign or bumper sticker or wore a clothing or a button
- Attended a virtual political rally or online campaign
- Attended a political rally of campaign event in person (including in a vehicle)
- Worked or volunteered for a political party, candidate or campaign
Again, while each of these six activities are surely worth doing, my search is very specifically for what must be done to be considered a good citizen. Two of these are certainly worthy of consideration for my final list.
After looking at what the pollsters are telling us about citizenship, I’ve added another category to the list. Here’s the most updated Citizens List of Duties – now at version ten (v 010).
Photo by Redrecords ©️
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