The Communitarian Model of Citizenship

The trustor-trustee relationship in a social contract gives us an idea why societies need a form of government. The social contract is put in place to ensure the society’s stability, order, and progress. Looking at the other side of the coin, the individuals in a society has an equal role to perform alongside its chosen system of rule to fulfill the success of a social contract.

By definition, the communitarian model of citizenship argues that “society is made up of groups and communities and only works effectively when individuals feel part of such communities.” (Leydet 2011, Zalta 2011) It is in Man’s innate nature to seek for the meaning of his existence which he may validate through self-fulfillment. The communitarian view gives an individual a sense of purpose as a citizen with duties and obligations for the good of his community. This also gives him the satisfaction and feeling of giving something in return in exchange for his rights as a citizen. Under these circumstances, the aim of an individual in the communitarian perspective to validate his self- fulfillment is to do his duties and obligations as a citizen for the good and success of his group or community.

In a nutshell, if I were an individual with a communitarian perspective, it is my duty to give back to my community because it is in my belief that I can only be a full-fledged citizen and be allowed my rights by doing so.

Back to School

So we're required to write a blog for our CWTS1 class. I have decided to use my little corner of the internet to air out my thoughts.

It was my second time last night to attend an online class. We used Yahoo Messenger as the primary medium of communication for another subject just a few years ago. We experienced a lot of technical difficulties making it less enjoyable then. I'm glad to say that today, technology-wise, computers have more-than-enough hardware specs and the ISPs can provide higher bandwidth capacities which are more stable and faster. Not to mention that there are a lot of great online teaching tools the instructors may use and choose from.

The discussion last night was about citizenship. There were a lot of ideas and each of my eager classmates had a lot of thought-provoking insights to share (specially when it comes to politics.) The scroll speed of the chatbox was nothing short of insane. I hope Prof. V. didn't have a hard time catching up (to think she was also feeling a bit under the weather.) I thought she discussed the topic pretty well and I was able to understand most of it.

I think the gist of citizenship is that we have our responsibilities (following the law) to ensure our "needs" are met from a fully-working society. At the same time, what we "want" in life (e.g., success) will give us the fulfillment in which only a successful society can provide.

See you all again in class.