Encouraging Citizenship: Report of the Commission on Citizenship1
Citizenship, according to Bernard Weatherill, the Speaker of the House of Commons, has to be learned like everything else. Yet schools fail to provide even the most basic instruction, and young people have little idea of their rights and responsibilities as future members of political society. Those who do volunteer and take part in community service at whatever age find hurdles to participation. Hence the Speaker's Commission was established to consider the encouragement and development of 'Active Citizenship' by first defining it, then reviewing existing initiatives, and finally by considering devices for recognising its application. The first task was eased somewhat by appointing to the Commission those who could be expected to know what they were looking for, since the prototype active citizen may have much in common with the man on the Clapham omnibus beloved of lawyers both are more imaginary than real. Educationalists and industrialists made up the majority of the 34 members of the Commission, with the remainder of the group including a couple of bishops and a politician from each of the three main parties (but no apparent token Scot; and many more men than women). 'Active citizenship' is a hybrid concept involving lofty ideals, part Palmerstone (the proud assertion 'civis Britannicus sum' is again to imply protection against injustice and wrong), part Roosevelt New Deal (the essential attribute of citizenship as the ability and willingness to pull one's weight). Knowledge, skills, opportunities and encouragement are all needed to get more of us involved both in political society and also in voluntary work. That Active Citizenship is a Good Thing is taken as self-evident; it enriches giver, recipient, the community and, ultimately, democracy. Gone are the days of Bagehot and disdain and contempt for the lower orders; all are now equal partners in the task of strengthening democracy and community life. For twenty months the Commission contemplated citizenship. It sought guidance and experience from a wide and possibly disparate group of organisations, including the British Institute for International and Comparative Law, the Family Policy Studies Unit and the Prince's Trust. It held meetings and seminars, and undertook research. Its agenda included discussions on the philosophy of citizenship, the constitutional aspects of citizenship, citizenship and caring, the youth service and citizenship, and industry and citizenship. Citizenship was explored, examined, probed and dissected. At the end of the day, though, its recommendations were on the whole more muted than radical, more self-evident commonsense than dramatic iconoclasm. First, civics training should begin in infant school and continue right through until university, with certain occupational groups (including doctors, civil servants, police ofElcers and judges) receiving additional specific training. Second, the law should be made more accessible both by codiifying it and by improving access to it. Third, each citizen should be able to 'live the life of a civilised human being according to the