A citizen is a person who lives in a specific geographical location, and he or she has a corresponding nationality. The work of Russell Dalton divides the identity of the citizen into two distinctive groups. The first one he refers to duty-based citizens, who work in order to fulfill their professional obligations only. However, the second type that he calls engaged citizen works in order to bring betterment in the surrounding society by exerting him or herself all the time. The prime concern for the latterly mentioned group is to develop themselves and others in order to facilitate the process of evolution in the human race. They contribute by doing different things, and operating at the different levels. The artists, painters, and musicians make the perfectly engaged citizens, and they use to believe in the notion of doing more for the society than it is doing for themselves.
The relation between a citizen and his or her country has its basis in the presence of a social exchange. Both of the entities have to scratch each other’s backs legitimately in order to form a perfect behavior in terms of citizenship. The conceptual framework of self-interest also forms an important and invaluable part of the relation between a citizen and the relevant state (Dalton 126). The emergent philosophy of nationalism become outdated with the passage of time, and the globalization has kicked in lately. The relation between the state and the citizen has grown weaker over the recent years. The power of the internet gave people too much information, and they are starting to consider other countries and national systems better than their own. The excellent citizen does not leave his or her country in a time of turmoil, and there is the difference that makes America one of the greatest nation. In the world because its citizens never stop doing whatever they can in order to facilitate growth of their beloved nation.
In the view of this paper, the duty-based citizen does not make a good one because he or she has to stop putting in the effort somewhere in the early stages of the adventure. He or she does have the ability and power to remain committed and attached to a vision in the long-run perspective. The engaged citizen, on the other hand, does not give up hope and struggle before he or she can achieve his or her attended mark (Dalton 131). The citizens of latter sort give up, but they do so by turning every stone in the way, and if they do not meet success in the end of the day then, they live to fight for another day. Their struggle becomes dormant, but it does not die away, and when the environment is right then, they will emerge as leaders again. The engaged citizens never give up, and duty-based ones do it prematurely. Both of them have their flaws and difficulties.
The duty-based ones do not know where to start and engaged ones do not have any idea about where to call their efforts off, and therefore, both groups have to work in a collaborative setting in order to keep national progress ongoing. The engaged ones will add the much-needed courage to the recipe of the success, and the duty-based ones will keep the campaign socially, and politically valid in the eyes of the general public. The good citizen is the one who should know when to initiate the struggle for change, and in due time, he or she must realize that the project must be accomplished. The good citizen works within the system, and he or she does not rock the boat. The person does not uproot the system all of a sudden, but continues to seek opportunities to bring betterment wherever possible (Dalton 133).
I consider myself as a good citizen because I am an engaged one, and, therefore, I work all the time to bring betterment and positivity into the society. I do not believe that one individual cannot make a difference. I do my work and pressure myself into moving forward, and I believe it is the very essence of humanity to try to become more than oneself so that the goal of evolution can be achieved. The only challenge that we face is to overcome our fears and inertia of laziness, by this we can convert our problems into the best solutions with creative ideas. I am of the viewpoint that lethargy and laziness are two purest forms of evils, and when we attempt to become better human beings, then, we give others the energy to do the same as well.
Conclusively, an engaged citizen will have the potential to become a good one, and the duty-based one will remain trapped into the illusion of success. When in reality, he or she is a failure at trying new things. The human growth can only occur if one has the force to invest in him or herself.
Works Cited
Dalton, R. The Good Citizen: How a Younger Generation Is Reshaping American Politics. London: CQ Press, 2007. Online
