A philosophy that advocates that members of charitable organizations, companies, or nation-states have certain roles and responsibilities to society and the environment is referred to as active citizenship. It can be sighted as an articulation of the debate over rights versus responsibilities. There are two complementary aspects of citizenship: citizenship rights and active citizenship. Individual freedoms, political, civil, social, and economic rights are part of citizenship rights while active citizenship includes civic responsibility, campaigning, taking action against injustice, and holding the government accountable. The inference is that an active citizen is one who fulfills both their rights and responsibilities in a balanced way. The book studies, analyses and upholds the pillars of active citizenship and its utmost significance in modern times. It picks up individual topics and explains their need and contribution in the context of a growing economy. For all readers who are interested in active citizenship, the case studies included in this book will serve as an excellent guide to develop a comprehensive understanding.

* Raise awareness * Start a club * Use the media * Make a difference * Get involved * Choose an issue * Build a team * Have fun! Make a difference in your hometown and around the world! Inspired by the vision, spirit, and activities of thousands of kids working to improve the lives of others, Take Action! shows how you, too, can change the world. Authors Marc Kielburger and Craig Kielburger are the founders of Leaders Today, an organization dedicated to helping young people realize their fullest potential and become socially involved. Their remarkable work has been profiled on Oprah and on many national news shows, as well as in magazines and newspapers across the U.S. and Canada. Now, with Take Action!, they provide easy-to-follow guidelines for making a difference in the lives of people all over the globe. By following the valuable tips, strategies, and examples in this book, you'll get organized and start tackling important issues in your community, your school, your country, and around the world. From writing letters and public speaking to planning fundraisers, preparing petitions, and working with the media, Take Action! covers all the basics of how to become socially involved-and have fun at the same time! You'll discover how you and your friends can join the fight for children's rights, get involved in environmental issues, help those suffering from hunger and poverty, and much more. You'll also meet other extraordinary young people like yourself who turned their thoughts and passion into action and have made a tremendous impact on these issues. There are no limits to what you can accomplish. You can be a leader and help others today-all you have to do is Take Action!

"What kind of citizen is no ordinary education book. By drawing on accessible and engaging discussions around the goals of schooling, it is imminently readable by a broad public. Neither fluff nor polemic, the theory and practice described in the book are based in solid empirical research and come out of the most influential frameworks for citizenship and democratic education of the last several decades (the "Three Kinds of Citizens" framework that emerged from collaboration between the author and Dr. Joseph Kahne as well as consultations with thousands of school teachers and civic leaders.) - This framework has been used in 67 countries to help teachers and school reformers think about how to structure educational programs and how schools can strengthen democratic societies. - This book pulls together a decade of research on schools into one place giving the reader a comprehensive look at why schools should be at the forefront of public engagement and how we can make that happen"--

People's understandings of what it means to be a citizen go to the heart of the various meanings of personal and national identity, political and electoral participation, and rights. The contributors to this book seek to explore the difficult questions inherent in the notion of citizenship from various angles. They look at citizenship and rights, citizenship and identity, citizenship and political struggle, and the policy implications of substantive notions of citizenship. They illustrate the various ways in which people are excluded from full citizenship; the identities that matter to people and their compatibility with dominant notions of citizenship; the tensions between individual and collective rights in definitions of citizenship; struggles to realize and expand citizens' rights; and the challenges these questions entail for development policy. This is the first volume in a new series: Claiming Citizenship: Rights, Participation and Accountability

Citizens around the world look to the state for social welfare provision, but often struggle to access essential services in health, education, and social security. This book investigates the everyday practices through which citizens of the world's largest democracy make claims on the state, asking whether, how, and why they engage public officials in the pursuit of social welfare. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in rural India, Kruks-Wisner demonstrates that claim-making is possible in settings (poor and remote) and among people (the lower classes and castes) where much democratic theory would be unlikely to predict it. Examining the conditions that foster and inhibit citizen action, she finds that greater social and spatial exposure - made possible when individuals traverse boundaries of caste, neighborhood, or village - builds citizens' political knowledge, expectations, and linkages to the state, and is associated with higher levels and broader repertoires of claim-making.

Teaching Civic Engagement provides an exploration of key theoretical discussions, innovative ideas, and best practices in educating citizens in the 21st century. The book addresses theoretical debates over the place of civic engagement education in Political Science. It offers pedagogical examples in several sub-fields, including evidence of their effectiveness and models of appropriate assessment. Written by political scientists from a range of institutions and subfields, Teaching Civic Engagement makes the case that civic and political engagement should be a central part of our mission as a discipline.