What makes a Good Citizen? Citizenship Across the Democratic World

Citizenship can be defined as a set of norms, values and practices which bind society together, makes democratic government possible and helps individuals to solve collective action problems (Pattie et al. , 2004). These values and practices are rooted in an implicit bargain, or an invisible handshake between the individual and the state, in which citizens claim rights and protections in exchange for accepting various obligations to deliver things that the state needs if it is to be effective. Citizens may demand that the state provides a decent standard of living for all, for example, but in exchange they have to be willing to pay their taxes. If citizens demand rights without accepting obligations, the system will not be able to deliver, and problems of governance will arise. So in a real sense successful democratic government relies on this implicit bargain.