Among the multiple meanings of the concept of culture, the one linked to the symbolic fabric built by the people who make up a community stands out. Said warp is created with the forms of expression, customs and rituals shared by the members of the society in question.
Citizen, on the other hand, is what is linked to the city (an urban area with a high population density, an economy focused on non-agriculture, and significant infrastructure development).
The idea of citizen culture refers to the norms and values shared by the inhabitants of a locality. In this case, citizenship refers above all to the political dimension of people, who have rights and obligations within the framework of the society in which they live.
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Citizen culture encompasses the protection and promotion of these rights, which allow peaceful coexistence among people and safeguard the common heritage. The link between each person and the environment, their behavior in public spaces and their participation in decision- making regarding community interests are part of the orbit of citizen culture.
It could be said that promoting the care of parks and squares and respect for traffic regulations are actions that are part of citizen culture. A person who throws waste in the street or who does not report a crime when he is a direct witness of it, on the other hand, shows shortcomings in his training in civic culture since he does not take care of community well -being.
To delve into the definition of citizen culture, it is possible to approach it from three different points of view: descriptive, normative and prescriptive, so that the concept can be appreciated in all its magnitude. From a descriptive perspective, therefore, citizen culture is understood as the set of customs, rules, actions and attitudes that the individuals of a given community must share as a minimum requirement so that they can live together in harmony and feel that they belong to the same group..
From a normative point of view, on the other hand, citizen culture is nothing more than a constructive and productive vision of coexistence, made up of compliance with the laws, tolerance, the absence of violence, respect for the projects that are carried out in society, the interest in public spaces, the commitment to comply with civic obligations, trust and the will to collaborate with the rest of the individuals.
Finally, there is the prescriptive perspective, which sees citizen culture as a public policy approach aimed at increasing the well -being of the inhabitants of a community through certain behaviors that everyone should respect. It is a point of view that entails a commitment from both citizens and the state to ensure that the former do their part to protect their rights and that the latter demand that the law be followed and fight corruption in all their shapes.
There are various resources that help detect and study strengths and weaknesses in the state of civic culture, and one of the most common is the survey. Through campaigns in which the people are invited to answer a questionnaire on a completely voluntary basis, it is possible to analyze their level of commitment, how much they know about their rights and their obligations to their community, what complaints and suggestions they have for improvement the quality of life, and how much you trust that society can achieve the goals it sets for itself.
It is worth mentioning that the fact of refusing to participate in a citizen culture survey is in itself a fact that affects the general results, even if there are cases of force majeure that prevent collaboration.