Citizenship and civic responsibility : a sociological perspective

Abstract

Every society passes through a process of formation throughout the course of its history. Citizenship evolves alongside societies and the more complex they become in nature, the vaster the dimension citizenship takes. Citizen status has changed tremendously through the centuries however, inequalities in terms of inclusion and exclusion still prevail in today's Western democratic states, and Malta is no exception. As the legal rights of citizenship are established through laws, the social rights of citizenship may not be so clearly defined. Citizens are expected by society to be committed to social participation, but are the members of the community being trained and allowed the possibilities of participation? Individuals are not born with a sense of civic responsibility, they need to be guided to it. This study forwards an overview of the sociological literature on citizenship and civic responsibility emphasising the role of T.H. Marshall in setting the theoretical boundaries of this subject of sociological interest. Moreover, it aims to arrive at a preliminary assessment of the attitudes, perception and behaviour of Maltese University students with regard to citizenship and civic responsibility. Findings reveal that respondents have an understanding of the notions of citizenship however, the sense of civic responsibility, participation in decision-making processes and social activity is hindered by a lack of opportunity and direction provided by mainstream socialising agents.