Can active citizenship keep the excessive aspects of state power at bay?

Active Citizenship

The form of government in which we live is a democracy. A democracy is described as a government of the people, for the people, by the people.

Therefore active citizenship is a key component of the government in which we live.

Active Citizenship is defined as…

“The active role of people, Communities and voluntary organisations in decision making which directly affects them. This extends the concept of formal citizenship and democratic society from one of basic civil, political, social and economic rights to one of direct democratic participation and responsibility.”

(Department of social welfare, 1997)

Active citizenship means that everybody knows how their society works and how they fit into it. The people who fall into this category are people who:

Want to play a full and active role in their communities and in wider society
Want to learn by talking and listening to people from different communities
Want to know they are being listened to
Want to feel that they can influence decisions that affect their lives
Want to try new and innovative things within their communities

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Excessive Aspects: The media & Politics

One of the main problems that exist currently within the state is the new form of media democracy politics, which exist in Countries such as England. We see that through this the voice of the active and participative citizen has been quieted. Where once the role of the citizen was encouraged, and they were able to attend meetings and participate in debates and decision-making and generally were a much more valued part of the democratic scheme, We see now in the media democracy that the politicians would rather have a twenty second advertisement on the television than hold an assembly for a couple of hours to hear the thoughts of the people. This leads to a reduction in the actual face-to-face encounters made between citizens and politicians. The voice of the citizen has been reduced to a faceless statistic in polls taken for the government and media’s convenience. We can also see that there is a form of complementary agreement between the politicians and the media, as both have separate agendas yet they both realise that these agendas can be more easily achieved through use of co-operation with another group of influence. The Politicians also see that through the media they have a ready form of communicating with the public in order to get their ideas and messages across.

The media, in particular the journalists, are acutely aware that in order to be able to present factual and informed news reports, they need at least some co-operation from politicians. Without the support of these politicians, their job becomes impossible. The aim of journalists is to enlighten and inform the people on political matters, while for the politicians the media is a means of persuading the electorate. These two paths cross and form a mutualistic agreement.

OR

As people who are involved in Voluntary organisations

These are people who appear to have a stronger commitment to ...

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OR

As people who are involved in Voluntary organisations

These are people who appear to have a stronger commitment to the development of civil society in Ireland than is general within the population as a whole

In working within the civil society, in a way they take the complete control away from the government by taking action of their own accord.

Civil Society can be defined as…

“Those areas of social life organised through private or voluntary arrangements outside the direct control of the state.”

(Green paper, supporting voluntary action, 1997)

Civil Society is the “other side” of the state, “those areas of social life…which are organised by private and voluntary arrangements between individuals and groups outside the direct control of the state.” (David Held)

It includes: ”Households, religious groups, trade unions, private companies, political parties, humanitarian organisations, environmental groups, the women’s movement and parent-teacher associations.” (Anthony McGrew)

Civil Society and new social movements

Civil society comprises social, or new social movements, e.g. green, peace and feminist movements, these are classified as “new” in order to distinguish from organisations such as the trade union movement. New social movements are a recent development within civil society and the cultural domain. Associated with collective political action “beyond” parliamentary politics, using new methods of activity, such as looser, non-hierarchical forms of organisation.

(Des McGuiness Lecture)

Volunteerism

Volunteering can be defined as…

“The commitment of time and energy, for the benefit of society, local communities, individuals outside of the immediate family, the environment or other causes. Voluntary activities are taken on of a person’s own free will, without payment but only with reimbursements of pot-of-pocket expenses.”(volunteeringireland.com)

Volunteerism is essential to developing communities and allowing active citizenship to develop. Many charitable organisations such as St.Vincent De Paul, family support projects and meals on wheels couldn’t survive without the work of volunteers. Voluntary and community organisations have management committees (also known as boards of directors, councils, etc) that are composed of volunteers. These volunteers, who have specific legal responsibilities, use their own particular knowledge and expertise in a collective manner to govern an organisation. They are the trustees of the organisation's funds and must ensure that these are raised and spent appropriately, at the same time as ensuring that the organisation's mission (the reason it was set up) is being achieved. If the organisation employs paid staff, they have all the responsibilities that any employer has. There is an added benefit of bringing in local volunteers into decision-making of these organisations as they each have a large degree of local knowledge, however the voluntary sector faces many challenges, such as:

A fall off in the number of volunteers
More paid workers in community organisations leading to tensions
Voluntary groups are now being asked to get involved in policy and decision making as well as offering services in their community and they find it hard to find the time for both
Volunteerism can be seen as under-threat as people feel tired and over-worked

Facts & Figures (Volunteeringireland.com)

33% of the adult population currently volunteers
Volunteering rates are dependent, amongst other things on age, sex, class, marital status and where people live
People volunteer for an average of 5-12 hours per month, some give less than an hour whilst others give over 50 hours per month
The two main rewards people feel from volunteering are the satisfaction of seeing the results and the feeling of doing good.
94% of people believe that voluntary work encourages people to become actively involved in society

http://www.volunteeringireland.com/Frameset_TheBasics.htm