6 LEARNING UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION TO ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP: DEFINITION, MEANING, KEY ELEMENTS AND DIMENSIONS The term Influential citizen engagement is related with an engaged citizenry having the power to make flexible decisions. These decisions could be achieved through a number of actions like voting, attending public hearings, being a member of citizen boards, and taking part in public opinion surveys (Ahrari et al, 2014). Every culture and community has a different definition of active citizenship, but overall, these definitions are comparable. For example, in the European meaning, it means having the ability to deal with contemporary concerns as well as understanding of shared standards and identities with regard to social and cultural globalization (European Commission-Education and Training, 2010). As for the key elements that provide the basis of citizenship in general and active citizenship in particular, these entail (Sociology group, 2017) i) the civil element where it is composed by the rights necessary for one’s freedom; ii) the political element that refers to the right of participation in exercise of political power; and iii) the social element which is related to the ability of living in a society as a civilized person according with the standards of economic welfare and security. Dimensions of active citizenship According to the Council of Europe (2006) active citizenship is characterized by four main dimensions: ü The political dimension where citizenship is reflected through the knowledge of political system and the promotion of democratic attitudes and participatory skills ü The social dimension which is intertwined with individual’s behavior in non-governmental actions. This element of citizenship is detected by analyzing people’s loyalty and solidarity with one another ü The cultural dimension which constitutes the common cultural heritage shared by a number of people as well as by the basic skills and history they have in common (for example, language competence, reading skills etc) ü The economic dimension which is directly related to the labour market. It englobes those rights in the working environment, economic skills, training In general, there are two approaches through which one can comprehend the context of active citizenship. The first one refers to Sociological theories, which place more emphasis on preparing people for new jobs through socializing them at each stage of life (Ahrari et al, 2014). Moreover, Socialization serves two seemingly opposing purposes: the one foresees "fitting people into social roles" whilst the second one leads to "individuating" people from each other. Contrary to sociologists' attention on social and structural forces and environment during socialization, psychological theories frequently place a greater emphasis on personal development and how it affects people to participate actively in their communities. As Eguz& Kafandar (2020) foresee in their work, Active citizenship will be for sure determined by individuals’ competences in a sense that it will be shaped by their personal knowledge, skills, attitudes and values.
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