Revisiting norms of citizenship in times of democratic change

Christian Schnaudt,Carolin Zorell,Yannis Theocharis,Jan W Van Deth

doi:10.1177/02633957211031799

Christian Schnaudt, Carolin Zorell + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1177/02633957211031799

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Abstract

Over the last two decades, scholars have investigated norms of citizenship by focussing primarily on ‘dutiful’ and ‘engaged’ norms. In the meantime, contemporary democracies have witnessed growing demands for more sustainable styles of living and increasing public support for authoritarian and populist ideas. These developments point to both a change and an expansion of conventional understandings and conceptions of what a ‘good citizen’ in a democratic polity ought to do. Specifically, they raise questions about whether demands for more sustainability and increasing support for populist ideas establish new facets of democratic citizenship, and if so, how they can be meaningfully incorporated into existing images of citizenship. This study provides a re-conceptualization of citizenship norms and empirically tests a new measurement instrument using original data collected in Germany in 2019. The empirical application of an expanded set of items demonstrates the existence of more variegated facets of norms of citizenship, including norms to safeguard a sustainable future and distinct populist facets emphasizing the relevance of trust in authorities and experts as well as reliance on feelings and emotions. Contemporary conceptions of citizenship thus go beyond conventional distinctions between dutiful and engaged norms of citizenship.

Highlights

What are desirable characteristics and behaviours of a ‘good citizen’ in a polity? While this question has occupied political philosophers and theorists throughout the centuries, it Politics 00(0)continues to be of utmost importance today
The normative perspective is usually emphasized by introducing a hypothetical ‘good citizen’ and exploring how important certain characteristics and behaviours of a ‘good citizen’ in a democratic polity are considered to be (Bolzendahl and Coffé, 2013; Copeland and Feezell, 2017; Dalton, 2008)
These two dimensions reflect an emphasis on social order, allegiance to the state, and participation through traditional democratic channels as desirable traits of the ‘good citizen’; or they focus on greater independence, social solidarity, and political activity in civic and non-traditional arenas

Summary

Introduction

What are desirable characteristics and behaviours of a ‘good citizen’ in a polity? While this question has occupied political philosophers and theorists throughout the centuries, it Politics 00(0)continues to be of utmost importance today. Many studies rely on a distinction between ‘dutiful’ citizenship norms, on one hand, and ‘engaged’ (Dalton, 2008) or ‘actualizing’ (Bennett, 2008) norms, on the other These two dimensions reflect an emphasis on social order, allegiance to the state, and participation through traditional democratic channels as desirable traits of the ‘good citizen’ (dutiful norms); or they focus on greater independence, social solidarity, and political activity in civic and non-traditional arenas (engaged/ actualizing norms). This distinction seems to be generally accepted as a valid conceptualization of norms of citizenship and has been regularly applied in empirical studies to date The continuous reliance on the same narrow set of items means that important, more recent understandings of citizenship norms may not have been sufficiently considered

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