"So What?"

My understanding of citizenship has developed from a type of “passive status” to an active and ethically-informed practice. In Citizenship and Community (RCLP 1062), we explored the foundational values of democratic participation, where I began to recognize citizenship as an experience that is lived rather than a title which is held. This learning outcome in particular ties in strongly with my minor in Political Science, specifically my coursework in Pivotal Political Events (POLS 1303), where I examined how historical narratives influence civic identity and state accountability in the present. In my essay "Maintaining the Democratic Principle: Examination of U.S. Transparency in the Aftermath of Hiroshima & Nagasaki", I argue that democracy requires an informed citizenry and that states have an ethical obligation to maintain transparency in order to preserve the legitimacy of the democratic process. This pushed me to understand citizenship as a relationship between the public and governing bodies, which is based on trust, information, and democratic accountability. 

In Democracy and Global Policy (RCLP 3015),  we explored the impacts of globalization and the restructuring of civic identity within transnational systems. This course introduced discussions on global inequality, power asymmetry, and the core-periphery model (as drawn from world-systems analysis), prompting me to consider how citizenship extends beyond national boundaries, as well as drawing on my own foundational understanding of civics from various other Political Science courses. Reflecting on my presentations from this course, specifically my group presentation on "Exploitation in the Global South" with Alex Penny & Joseph Roper, wherein we examined how global interdependence complicates what citizenship means in practice, such as how decisions made in one state can materially affect people far beyond its own borders through imports and exports, labour value, and colonial privileges which persist in trade to this day. 

My understanding of civic engagement has evolved through written analysis of social media and democratic participation, such as my examination of how digital communication reshapes political agency. In my paper: "Social Media’s Influence on Modern Democracy", I explore the tension between misinformation and increased access to political dialogue. This work highlights how modern citizenship requires not only participation, but an informed citizenry. This is achieved through “critical media literacy” which is the ability to interpret, verify, and contextualize information within broader political narratives (Sunstein, 2018). 

The idea of “citizenship” has come to represent a set of active responsibilities: remaining informed, engaging critically, and interpreting political narratives with a critical lens. These courses demonstrated that citizenship is fundamentally relational, as it is constructed through shared histories, collective memory, and ongoing negotiations between institutions and the public. There is more to say about understanding the structures that shape whose voices are heard, rather than focusing on the expression of one’s own voice alone.

Frameworks & Sources

• Loader, B., & Mercea, D. (2012). Social media and democracy: Innovations in participatory politics. Routledge.
   

• McGushin, E. (2011). Foucault’s theory and practice of subjectivity. In D. Taylor (Ed.), Michel Foucault: Key Concepts (pp. 127–142). Acumen Publishing.
   

• Mitchell, G. (2020). Atomic cover-up: Two U.S. soldiers, Hiroshima & Nagasaki and the greatest movie never made. Sinclair Books.
   

• Sunstein, C. R. (2018). Is social media good or bad for democracy? International Journal of Human Rights, 15(27), 1–12.