ABSTRACT
This entry discusses the civic duty of public administrators, based on legal, ethical, and practical interpretations of democratic citizenship. Civic duty refers to the rights, obligations, feelings, and habits of a citizen. A citizen has membership in a democratic state. A state is an independent country with defined territory. A state compels obedience from all who reside in its geographic domain because its sovereign commands absolute power internally. The sovereign's institutions promote a country's permanent interests—law and order, social stability, long-term prosperity, and national security. The relationship between a state and citizens is two-way. The state provides protection to citizens. In exchange, citizens accept the duty to obey the sovereign, to fulfill the requirements of citizenship, and to defend the state from external aggression. Adult residents who are not citizens do not enjoy the full protection or the rights therein of a state.
