Citizenship, a Right and a Responsibility….

Topics: Law, Citizenship, United States Declaration of Independence Pages: 4 (1570 words) Published: October 9, 2000
When I think of America I think of freedom and citizenship. The right to vote or the right of free speech are aspects that, as citizens, we posses. Being born in America automatically gives you these rights and many more, and most importantly, you become a citizen. Now, with citizenship comes responsibility such as obeying the law and paying taxes. So if you follow these simple rules does this make you an effective citizen? This question, in my opinion, is almost impossible to answer for a number of reasons, which will be addressed in the following paper. It was extremely hard to come up with a clear cut answer as to what an effective citizen entails. I grappled with this term through many drafts and in the end came up with many conclusions about effective citizenship. Let me state my main point of this paper, and that is, effective citizenship entails so many things and the true meaning of a "good citizen" differs from person to person and from time to time. In this paper I will share with you how the idea of effective citizenship varies according to person and time and my personal beliefs on what is effective citizenship.

As an American citizen I have a responsibility to this country as a citizen. I also have rights because I am a citizen of this country. Firstly, as stated above, being a citizen of America entitles me to certain inalienable rights, and among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (Jefferson, 352). Thomas Jefferson made sure that as American citizens, each and everyone of us has these rights which are documented in the The Declaration of

Independence. Each citizen has rights and with these rights comes responsibility, responsibility to themselves as citizens and to the country. In my opinion, as citizens, we must make certain sacrifices for a greater cause. These sacrifices include paying taxes and obeying laws. We pay a portion of our hard earned money to the government which is for the greater good of the...


Bibliography: Bloom, Lynn and White, Edward. Inquiry. Boston: Blair Press, 1993.
Somerville, John and Santoni, Ronald. Social and Political Philosophy. New York:
Doubleday, 1963
Jefferson, Thomas. Declaration of Independence. Philadelphia, 1776.
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