Redefining Citizenship: Interviews with Civic Field Leaders

Concerns about the strength and efficacy of our democracy are front and center for many Americans, including the very concept of democratic citizenship. How can we redefine “citizenship” for today’s context in a way that resonates with a diverse range of civic learning advocates? In this series, the Institute for Citizens & Scholars is excited to share three projects we undertook to explore this question raised by the Mapping Civic Measurement report.

Imagine a woman who pays taxes, votes in most elections, and has served as a juror when summoned. Now imagine a woman who spends a few hours a week bringing meals to home-bound seniors or cleaning up her local park. Finally, visualize a woman who serves on a committee for local government and regularly attends school board meetings.

Maybe you imagined three different women—or maybe you just imagined one! There are many different ways that someone can “be” a citizen, from engaging with their community to participating in elections, paying taxes, and willingly showing up for jury duty. How do we make sense of the many facets of citizenship, and how do we assess if young people are prepared for it?

In the summer of 2023, Citizens & Scholars launched an initiative to help us better understand how people, particularly those in the civic learning space, think about citizenship. We began by interviewing 30 individuals with diverse perspectives and lived experiences, asking each the same set of seven questions based on the topics below.

Defining American Citizenship

Without seeking a textbook definition, we asked interviewees to define “American citizenship.”

• Responses frequently began with the legal definition (acquired by birthright or naturalization) but then expanded to include themes of place-based identity and community membership.
• Commonly cited elements of citizenship included “rights, responsibilities, and duties,” such as voting and jury service.
• Interviewees noted that citizenship status can be exclusionary, highlighting that it grants certain privileges or benefits.
• A recurring theme was the importance of community and belonging, regardless of one’s citizenship status.

Non-negotiable vs. Optional Elements

This two-part question was intended to differentiate which elements of citizenship interviewees viewed as “non-negotiable” versus those they felt were “optional.” We defined “non-negotiable” as aspects of citizenship that everyone should embrace, while  “optional” aspects were framed as the parts of citizenship that interviewees might personally hold more important (e.g., peacetime military service).

• Many interviewees agreed that access to the rights and responsibilities of citizenship is non-negotiable but that taking action on those rights and responsibilities is a choice.
• Some felt strongly that participation in some form as a citizen is non-negotiable, though how different citizens choose to participate—engaging in their community, running for office, serving in the military, etc.—is for the individual to decide.
• Views on patriotism varied. Some felt strongly that national pride or loyalty to country are optional while others shared that a commitment to the “idea of America” or a “belief that America has redeeming qualities” should be seen as non-negotiable.
• Voting sparked mixed responses. While some valued the freedom to choose, others viewed it as a fundamental responsibility. Only a few respondents said that voting might need to be mandatory in policy or law, while acknowledging that any such requirement might be at odds with the concept of liberty.

What exactly is a “global citizen?”

We wanted to explore the concept of “global citizenship” and asked interviewees what relationship it has with “American citizenship.”

• The question was polarizing: responses ranged from an outright rejection of the concept of “global citizenship” to an acknowledging that we are all, in a sense, members of a global community.
• Responses touched on themes of American exceptionalism and the role of the U.S. on the global stage. America’s position as a global leader may inspire a sense of responsibility in its citizens to be good ambassadors when traveling abroad or interacting with individuals from different countries.
• Interviewees weighed the differences between legal citizenship, which guarantees political rights and freedoms, versus broader human rights, which might be important to the concept of global citizenship but are not easily enforceable across borders.
• The theme of community emerged again, this time on a global scale. Climate change was often cited as an issue that highlighted our interconnectedness and our shared responsibility as humans.

Individual journeys toward good citizenship

With this question, we sought to uncover experiences and resources that may have helped shape interviewees’ understanding of good citizenship.

• Family was a major influence. Whether a family member demonstrated civic engagement through voting, community service, or military service, interviewees shared stories about how the actions of family members shaped their understanding of “good” citizenship.
• We also heard interviewees’ stories of immigration (either their own or their parents) and naturalization and how these experiences provide a certain perspective on what it means to be an American citizen when by choice, rather than by birthright.
• Finally, interviewees shared the influence of other lived experiences on their development as citizens, such as international travel or historic events during their adolescence.

Getting back to basics

We revisited our initial question with a slightly different framing to dig into the foundational concepts of citizenship and respondents gave us answers that coalesced into some very clear takeaways:

1. Community membership and belonging were common responses along with a defined sense of what is shared by members: beliefs, identity, and foundational documents (the Constitution, for example).
2. Interviewees noted that citizenship is about the relationship between individuals and the state, with one respondent noting that, “there is a distinction between being a citizen and citizenship” which ties into the earlier conceptual foundation named by respondents: a sense of action, or active participation, as definitive for citizenship.
3. Civic literacy or acknowledging and understanding the mechanics of the rights and responsibilities of citizens and the state was often described as core to the concept of citizenship.

What have we missed?

We ended each interview by asking interviewees if they had any other thoughts to share. Three themes emerged:

1. The concept of “others.” A small percentage noted that citizenship as a concept can be exclusionary, leading to an “othering” and segmenting of people into different groups. But we also heard about “others” in a different way. We heard that caring about others in your community or ensuring that all voices—including those of other groups—are heard is essential to democratic citizenship.
2. Respondents wanted to acknowledge the fraught state of citizenship, naming current controversies over access to legal citizenship in the United States and the increasing polarization in America.
3. Many respondents used this as an opportunity to note that they believe citizens have a responsibility to be informed and, therefore, civic education is vital to citizenship.

So…now what?

From the outset of this project, we had intended to take the findings from our interviews and then build a working definition of “citizenship” that we could share with practitioners and stakeholders in the civic learning space. We were encouraged to see common themes emerge from our interviews, especially given the diverse range of individuals that we interviewed. Yet, as we concluded our analysis, it became clear that we were missing a significant voice: young people.

Young people today have experienced unprecedented changes from the rapid rise of technology to a once-in-a-generation pandemic to witnessing the harsh impacts of a changing climate; all are likely influential in how today’s young people think about what it means to be a citizen.

Over our next two blogs, we will share a literature review that expands on additional categories of citizenship and helps contextualize our interviews, followed by findings from a small pilot survey of Gen Z.

Special thanks to Anna Gallos for her important role in shaping this series.