Imagine if the US Congress was willing to explore these issues?!
From: "Tim Hughes" <t...@involve.org.uk> Date: Jul 25, 2017 12:25 PM Subject: [opengovuk] Select Committee on Citizenship and Civic Engagement: Call for evidence OGN Members,The House of Lords Select Committee on Citizenship and Civic Engagement has launched a call for evidence. The questions its considering are copied below. Deadline is 8 September.More details, including how to respond, are at: http://www.parliam Respond by replying above this line or visit http://forum.opengovernment. org.uk/conversations/1046 *Did you know…* You can search past conversations <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/groups/opengovuk> of this group. Like this post <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/conversation_posts/59777efb874aa000ebb1ffe0/like> OGN Members, The House of Lords Select Committee on Citizenship and Civic Engagement has launched a call for evidence. The questions its considering are copied below. Deadline is 8 September. More details, including how to respond, are at: http://www.parliament.uk/ documents/lords-committees/Citizenship-civic-engagement/ Citizenship-civic-engagement-call-for-evidence.pdf Best, Tim ------------------------------- 1. What does citizenship and civic engagement mean in the 21st century? Why does it matter, and how does it relate to questions of identity? 2. Citizenship is partly about membership and belonging. Are there ways we could strengthen people’s identity as citizens, whether they are citizens by birth or naturalisation? Could citizenship ceremonies or events throughout the educational process play a role? Should pride in being or becoming British be encouraged? 3. Civic engagement can be seen as both a responsibility and a right of citizenship. Beyond the existing legal framework, should citizens have additional formal rights and responsibilities? How do you see the relationship between the two? Should they have the force of law individually or be presented as reciprocal duties between citizen and state? How should they be monitored and/or enforced? 4. Do current laws encourage active political engagement? What are your views on changes to the franchise for national or local elections, including lowering the voting age? Should changes be made to the voting process or the voting registration process? 5. What should be the role of education in teaching and encouraging good citizenship? At what stages, from primary school through to university, should it be (a) available, and (b) compulsory? Should there be any exemptions? Should there be more emphasis on political participation, both inside and outside classes? How effective is current teaching? Do the curriculum and the qualifications that are currently offered need amending? 6. Do voluntary citizenship programmes such as the National Citizen Service do a good job of creating active citizens? Are they the right length? Should they be compulsory, and if so, when? Should they include a greater political element? Should they lead to a more public citizenship ceremony? Are they good value for money? What other routes exist for creating active citizens? 7. How can society support civic engagement? What responsibility should central government, devolved and local governments, third sector organisations and the individual have for encouraging civic engagement? What can the Government and Parliament do to support civil society initiatives to increase civic engagement? 8. What are the values that all of us who live in Britain should share and support? Can you identify any threats to these values, which affect the citizenship of, for instance, women or various minority groups? If so, how can their citizenship be strengthened? 9. Why do so many communities and groups feel “left behind”? Are there any specific factors which act as barriers to active citizenship faced by different communities or groups - white, BME, young, old, rural, urban? How might these barriers be overcome? 10. How do you see the relationship between citizenship and civic engagement on the one hand and social cohesion and integration on the other? What effect does the level of diversity in schools and workplaces have on integration in society as a whole? How can diversity and integration be increased concurrently? 11. How important are levels of English proficiency for first and second generation immigrants and what could be done to increase them, including through support for ESOL classes? Are there particular barriers faced by newcomers to Britain? Could the naturalisation process, including the citizenship test, be improved and if so, how? 12. Can you give examples of initiatives and role models that have helped promote a positive vision of British Citizenship within a tolerant and cohesive society? 1. <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/accounts/543d1354333633000b0a0000> Tim Hughes <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/accounts/543d1354333633000b0a0000> - Member of ogp <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/groups/ogp>, opengovni <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/groups/opengovni>, opengovuk <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/groups/opengovuk>, democraticsector <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/groups/democraticsector>, wales <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/groups/wales>, opengovscot <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/groups/opengovscot>, infoaccess <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/groups/infoaccess>, anticorruption <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/groups/anticorruption>, participation <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/groups/participation>, opendata <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/groups/opendata>, accountability <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/groups/accountability>, innovation <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/groups/innovation>, opencontracting <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/groups/opencontracting>, and Open Government Pioneers Project <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/groups/opengovpioneers> - Director at Involve <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/organisations/5442636b36303400080f0000> - Coordinator at UK Open Government Civil Society Network <http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/organisations/54777824393830000b090000> ―― View topic http://groups.dowire.org/r/topic/2L7gkkdWVMi6UA4yenfnrs Leave group mailto:newswire@groups.dowire.org?subject=Unsubscribe
