Norms of good citizenship

Normative political theorists have argued about good citizenship for centuries. From Aristotle to Alexis de Tocqueville and Walter Bagehot, civic virtues such as rationality, moral obligation to pursue the common good, social engagement, and political activism have been interpreted as prerequisites of a good society and a good polity (see, for example, Almond 1980; Walzer 1989). There is, however, still no generally acknowledged, uncontested model of good citizenship, even after centuries of philosophical and academic debates.