16 December 2008

As Citizens

Volunteers help a California man register to vote.

This article is excerpted from the IIP publication Sketchbook USA, a richly illustrated volume that depicts Americans at work, at play, in their communities, and engaging in civic life. View and download the fully formatted Sketchbook.

“Government of the people, by the people, and for the people ….” The 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865), described the United States with those words in a speech delivered in 1863, at the height of the Civil War. A century and a half later, the government Lincoln described continues to function for the people. But the people also play an important role in serving their country. “Government by the people” depends upon people who fulfill their responsibilities as citizens to be informed, involved, and invested in their communities and their nation.

A “government of the people” can only exist when citizens choose their leaders through free and fair elections. Voting is a fundamental right and responsibility of U.S. citizens — the right to have a say in how they are governed and the responsibility to be informed about candidates and issues when they go to the polls.

In Highland Park, Michigan, volunteers build a playground for children in a low-income neighborhood.

The United States was founded, in large part, on the desire of its people to participate in the decisions of their government. Surprisingly, perhaps, the U.S. Constitution itself did not address the right to vote or eligibility for voting. The prevailing view when the Constitution was written in 1787 was that only men who owned property were qualified to vote, because they had an interest in preserving society to protect their wealth and because they had the independence and education to decide important political matters. Universal suffrage was achieved through conflict and perseverance in U.S. society and through continued analysis and interpretation of the meaning of the Constitution (see box).

Voting makes demands on citizens, obligating them to stay informed about the issues before public officials in their neighborhood or around the world.

Voting alone does not make Americans good citizens. Neither will a birthright nor an oath of allegiance. Good citizenship also requires respect for others and oneself, as well as responsibility and compassion toward family and the community. Citizenship requires honesty and fair behavior toward others, without prejudice. And it requires discipline, perseverance, and adherence to all these ideals.

A century after Lincoln’s words helped to clarify the relationship between the U.S. government and its people, President John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) offered another definition of citizenship when he said in his inaugural address, “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”

During his brief administration, Kennedy outlined policies for a massive assault on persisting pockets of privation and poverty in the country. He inspired young Americans to join government programs that worked against poverty abroad and in the inner cities at home. Though an assassin cut short the Kennedy presidency after only a thousand days, the challenge of his inaugural speech continued to inspire Americans not only to ask — but to act — to help their country, their communities, and their world.

This section describes some of the many activities and responsibilities that Americans take on voluntarily to be good citizens and to better their neighborhoods. Hundreds of thousands hold positions to serve their towns or counties; tens of millions give their free time to volunteer in nonprofit organizations that work for a greater good. They may serve in local government, pick up trash in the park, tutor children after school, visit the elderly in nursing homes, or devote part of their income to a worthy cause. Americans contribute to their society and their country in thousands of ways, understanding that citizenship is a privilege to be paid for over and over again.