How to Be a Citizen

C. L. Skach always believed in the strength of the law - she spent her career in some of the most complex corners of the world, reading and writing constitutions, trying to create order where it did not exist. But, as she sat alone in a shaking tent in Baghdad after her camp was hit with a 240mm rocket, she admitted to herself what she''d been denying for years: stable order was an illusion, and laws - while intended to help - often only made things worse. Drawing on her own research, teaching and fieldwork in democratic theory and practice over the past three decades, Skach exposes both the seriousness of the challenges to democracy we face, and a solution to them that is profoundly within our reach. She proposes six ideas across six areas we should care about most - leadership, public education, race and immigration, the environment, community and fundamental rights - and shows us how we can take steps in each of these areas to be better, truer citizens.Skach argues that now - as we bear witness to failing governments, the corruption of constitutions and the continual decline of democracy across the world - is the time to move outside of our inadequate box of laws and rules and leadership, and instead make democracy work a different way. One citizen at a time.>

Préface
A better world starts with you. A fearless international lawyer who has worked in warzones and failed states argues that a good society does not come from following the rules, but by relying on each other.

Auteur

C.L. Skach is Emeritus Professor of Law, King's College London and Professor of Political Science, University of Bologna. She was previously a professor at the University of Oxford and Harvard University. She has taught constitutional law and government, conducted ethnographic and archival research and held visiting professorships on five continents. She divides her time between Oxford and Bologna.

Texte du rabat

Laws and rules are in place to protect us. They are what keeps our societies from descending into madness and chaos. Without them, how we would know our right from wrong, how would we improve our communities and how could we be better neighbours to one another without rules telling us what to do? Cindy Skach feels differently. After years spent in some of the most complex corners of the world, reading and writing constitutions, trying to create order where it did not exist, she has come to realise that laws - while intended to help - often only made things worse. To build a better society we need to rely less on the rules and more on each other. Drawing on Cindy's own research, teaching and fieldwork in democratic theory and practice over the past three decades, How to Be A Citizen is a hopeful handbook for a more egalitarian and democratic world. Cindy proposes six ideas across six areas we should care about most - leadership, public education, race and immigration, the environment, community and fundamental rights - and shows us how we can take steps in each of these areas to be better, truer citizens.

Résumé
'When a renowned constitutional scholar explains why the law is not enough and is sometimes even the problem, we need to listen' Peter Gray, author of Free to Learn 'Skach leads us to re-examine the virtues of a good citizen, one whom people can respect and value as a member of their community' Roger Myerson, Nobel Laureate in Economics 'Skach shows why the only cure for global democracy's present ills is us' Erica Benner, philosopher and author of Adventures in Democracy We believe that rules and laws are in place to protect us. They are what keep our societies from descending into chaos. Without them, how would we know our right from wrong, live comfortably in our communities and be good neighbours to one another? C.L. Skach feels differently. She always believed in the strength of the law - she spent her career in some of the most fractured, war-torn corners of the world, reading and writing constitutions to help fix society. But as she sat alone in a sandbagged trailer in Baghdad after a rocket attack, she admitted what she'd been denying for years: a good society cannot be imposed from above. It comes from leaning less on formal rules, and more on each other. Skach lays out six ideas, informed by everything from civil wars to civil rights struggles, bystander responsibility to mutual aid in the pandemic, to help us build small societies of our own. These ideas sometimes sound simple: share the vegetables from your garden, spend time on a park bench. But taken together they can amount to real, bottom-up change. How to Be a Citizen is a hopeful handbook for a better world - one we can all help build together.