4º ESO teoría compl

7/28/2019 4 ESO teora compl

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Introduction

The reality of human life is peculiar. It is not just another thing in the world and

universe. A range of information and different perspectives are necessary in order to

understand, explain, analyse and take it into consideration. What are we? What is the

human being? We could look in a science book for a scientific explanation, or in a

catechism or religious book to find out the religious angle, or an anthropology book to

understand the special socio-cultural characteristics. We could even resort to literature

and cinema to see ourselves as beings full of feelings and passion. While the answer

may be very simple, once we stop and think about it we realise how complicated an

issue it actually is.

The same question we ask about the human being in the general sense - "What

are we?" -, can also be asked by each of us from an individual point of view - "What are

we?" "What am I?" "Who am I?" If someone asks us, "Who are you?", we quickly give

our name, as if that explained everything. But a name is not always enough. I am my

name, but maybe it does not define me. I might have to say something more, talk aboutmy sisters and brothers, my parents, my city, my friends; or I could also describe myself:

tall or short, the colour of my hair, my constitution, etc. Or maybe I have to talk about

my achievements: what I've done, what I've achieved; or maybe, even, what I expect

to do: go to university, have a family, go on an important journey, etc All these things

define us, and, in a sense, none of these things are enough by themselves.

This is just one of the reasons why it is said that personal life, each life - not only

human life as a biological species -, requires many outlooks. It requires us to recognise

and appreciate the integral dimension of human life. Several points of view and

perspectives are needed to contemplate human life, each person's life. The samehappens when we are looking at a landscape or any other object, we only see part of

it, and we need to move around it to see other perspectives, other angles. We are not

just biology, we are not just biography, we are not just feelings, we are not just

intelligence, and we are not just citizens: we are all that, and more.

The study of human beings as citizens, which is the objective of this book,

should not be done in an isolated manner, detached from all the other factors that are

part of us. Human life cannot be split into segments of perspectives. The segment of

an orange is not an orange, it is only part of it; it is an orange when it has all its

segments. The same happens with personal life; it cannot be broken into several pieces

where just one part, one dimension is studied.

Hence the term integral dimension.

2Education for Citizenship and Human Rights. Unit 1

4 ESO Educacin ticocvica


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Contents

1. We are Heirs: Genes and Culture

Origins and Originalities

The human being is a strange reality, the result of the interaction of several realities.

Firstly, we have a body, or maybe we should say that we are a body, and this body we are/have

is the result of the biological evolution of our species, and also of our own evolution, and thatis why it is very important to look after it. But we are not only biological beings. To a large extent,

we are made of culture and of the society in which we live. We are also the result of cultural

influences.

Each of us is heir to a biological trajectory and some cultural influences. The human

being is the result of the interaction between genetics and culture, of both things at the same

time. Our origins consist of genes and culture, the internal and external aspects. But we are not

only the result of this interaction; we are not just a product; we also do things and create

ourselves. Thus, in the same way that we say that we have an origin, we must also say that we

have originalities.


A Great Debate: Nature or Culture?

Hundreds of erudite books and scientific magazines have dealt with the conflict

between nature and culture. This debate is not far detached from our daily life and we must have

heard of, or even discussed it, but perhaps in other ways. On the one hand, we have heard

someone saying hundreds of times, He is like his parents!, Genes always show up in the

end!, The most important thing is biological nature. On the other hand, we have also heard

That comes from experience, There is no such thing as nature, just history and culture. This

can also be debated using the example of twins: think of two genetically equal twins, with the

same socio-cultural factors. Would they be equal? No, because each one is the way he is,

with his own personality. And where does this personality come from? Genetics? Education?

These are the terms of the debate. Present-day science usually gives a complex view.

We are culture, but not just culture. We are also biology, but not just biology. We are bio-cultural

beings.

REMEMBER: This debate, from either point of view, tends to clear the individual of anyresponsibility, because those saying that we are the result of genetics defend that there is

nothing we can do, and so do those stating that we are the result of education. Both arguments

conceal what we are: complex beings, the result of biology and culture, but also people who

decide and act, people who change their own and others' lives.

Human being: each one of usORIGINS ORIGINALITIES

Nature (biology, genetics)

+

Culture (society)

- what we do, say

* the fruit of our: freedom and responsibility

ACTIVITIES:

1. Which of the following do you think is the most appropriate word to define what we are? (Look it upin the dictionary and give your reasons: human being, person, individual, man, conscience,citizen.

2. Choose one of these options: Are we the result of our inheritance (nature) or of our life circle (society,

culture)? Or both? Or none of them? Give your reasons.3. Think about a situation in which you turn to nature or culture to justify something you have done butdo not want to admit to.


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2. We Are Many Things: A Plural Identity

As we have seen, there are many terms that define human life, many dimensions, and

when we threaten it, when we threaten a person's dignity, we reduce it to just one dimension

and deny diversity.

If the human being is plural and diverse, the way in which we approach him or her

should also be different. Many times, we try to explain it from only one point of view, like when

we try to define an object by just observing one of its sides.

Bearing in mind all of the previous ideas, and in order to simplify this difficult matter a

little, we could say that there are four main dimensions to the human being and, consequently,

four perspectives, four different ways of explaining what he is, what we are.

The human being can be seen from four perspectives: from above, from inside,

from outside and from below.

1) From above: the spiritual, religious or transcendental part of the person; according to this

perspective, the human being is willing to transcend;

2) From outside: the socio-cultural dimension or "citizenship"; the human being is defined

as a social being by his relationships and sense of belonging;

3) From inside: this perspective

concentrates on the

deepest part of the person,

the personality itself, and

tries to ignore the external

part: the human being is a

psychological, emotional

and internal being.

4) From below: the physical or

biological perspectives

(genes); the human being

is an element of nature, a

biological species, another

living creature.

These four dimensions are correct but separate. In a complicated way, we are all of

them. Nowadays, many of the ideas on this matter reduce human richness to one unique

dimension; this is a mistake.


ACTIVITIES:

1. Human life occurs within these four dimensions. All human activity may be seen from the perspectiveof these four dimensions. According to this statement, how could we define friendship from eachperspective?

2. Which do you think is the most important dimension? Why? Are basic dimensions and importantdimensions synonyms?


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3. Creating our Biography

Biology and Biography

Human beings not only have a fundamental biology, but also a biography. We could

say that biology is what we have, while biography is what we do with the resources we have,

from biological to cultural factors. Human life, each life, is not made; each person has to build

his life, hence the importance of thinking about these matters. Being a citizen means being a

person, but we cannot be a person without an identity. Strangely enough, one needs the other,

in other words, we also need other people to achieve a personal identity. This is why this matter

is so important and transcendental.

To write our biography we need three major elements:

- what we are, our qualities, our aptitudes and abilities

- what we aim to be, our life project, our vocation

- our circumstances

We all have some resources and possibilities, and this is why we - helped by education

- have to discover our abilities; they might be related to sport, they might be artistic abilities, or

a capacity for scientific investigation, among others. Thus, it is important to know ourselves

and value what we have. But it is also important to know what we want to be, in other wordshow we are going to use our abilities: to know our vocation, what attracts my attention, what my

calling is. It is also important to be aware of ones physical and social circumstances.

If some of these factors fail, feelings of frustration and unhappiness arise.


Like a Novel

Human life, our biography, could be compared to a novel. Novels have a plot and

suspense, just like our own lives. We create the plot from our experiences and from the

characters we come across. Our life makes sense when we tell it, when we narrate our

experiences. We like telling people about our life and listening to others talk about theirs. We

like stories, tales, adventure films; we like to identify ourselves with their characters and heroes.

We also have to create a character in our life, so we must think a lot and choose the character

we want to play, the story we want to tell about ourselves. Therefore, we must pay attention to

our life, our wishes, our motivations, and to others.

BIOGRAPHY

Abilities

+

Vocation

+Circumstance

ACTIVITIES:

1. Of the three factors that make up

biography, which do you think is the most

important? Why?2. Look for the biography of an important

person like Velzquez. How are these

three factors expressed through his life?

3. If you had to write your biography or CV,

what would you say? How would you

organise it? What are your abilities,

vocation and circumstances?


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4. Motivation, Autonomy and Health

Being Autonomous

Writing our biography is a way of being autonomous. An autonomous person is

someone who decides for himself, who makes his own rules. Meanwhile a heteronomous

person is someone who lives through others and not through himself. Of course, being

autonomous does not mean living without counting on others; an autonomous person counts

on others, listens, takes advice and knowledge from others. Autonomy is not the same as

independence; it's about making your own decisions, but not in opposition to others.To be an autonomous person we need to organise our wishes, our motivations or, as

was said before, our vocation. What do we want in life? What do we value? What do we want

to achieve?

Human Motivation

The psychologist A. Maslow designed a pyramid of human motivation that became

famous. This pyramid organises human wishes, from the most basic to the most important. It

is also an organization of human needs. Lets look at this pyramid.


Biography and Health

Building our life means taking care of all that we are. This

involves looking after our biography (the importance of reflection,

criticism, etc), but also our biology. As human beings, we need to help

each other and comply with some rules. This does not mean an end to

our freedom, rather it is the path to total freedom, to be able to develop

our biography and climb the steps of the pyramid. We can help others

by taking care of ourselves, because, in a very basic way, this is part of

mixing with other people. This can be reflected in terms of personal

hygiene or respect for others; when a colleague is speaking, forinstance, we wait our turn to speak. Good personal hygiene is also

essential when mixing with others.

ACTIVITIES:

1. Look up in the dictionary the following

terms: self-fulfilment, self-esteem,

social acceptance.

2. Everything we do, or almost everything,

can be found within this pyramid. Try to

think of an example of each step from

your own experience.

3. How would you explain that a personremains on one of the first steps and

doesnt aim higher?

4. What relationship could be established

between this image and the dimensions

of human life?

5. Who do you think is a happy person?

What does happiness mean?


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Introduction

In order to be aware of what is at stake when talking about citizenship, it is

important to know the origin of this word. We use the term citizenship in order to

describe the condition of being a citizen, that is, the person who lives with other people

and shares common spaces with them. Although its etymological origin relates this

word to civitas (city), it is not applied to the people who live in a city in order to

differentiate them from the ones who live outside of the city - in the country, or outside

of the city. We are not describing a geographical space, rather an ethical, political and

cultural one, a space where rights, obligations and values are found. This is a common

space among human beings, a very special biological species that has always been

described as an intermediate species between animals and gods throughout the history

of civilisation. This intermediate condition turns the human being into a vulnerable and

dependent animal and that is why we can say that man is a social animal.

In order to satisfy his necessities, the human being depends on others; he is not

fulfilled by himself alone. This idea becomes even clearer if we have a look through thefirst and the last years of human life. Necessities are fulfilled through actions. For

instance, the need to eat makes us look for food, we work in order to get it, we learn

how to prepare it in a healthy way or even organise the day according to the different

meals.

Life in the ethical, political and cultural space that we call citizenship is not a

result of the sum of actions carried out by all the individuals who want to satisfy their

needs. Not everyone does everything at the same time. Rather than a sum of actions,

society is an interaction of actions whose aim is to fulfil common needs. This interaction

has been described using many metaphors: a mosaic, a puzzle, a net, an organism, amachine, etc. In every case there is always productive interaction between two

important elements: person and community, fraction and totality, individual and city. The

ethical, political and cultural space is a result of that interaction. For instance, the values,

rules and symbols that rule the different spaces where our daily life is developed

family, neighbourhood, school, friends come as a result of interaction, that is, actions

from people who count on others. This counting on others is the basis of citizenship.

The following could be the formula for coexistence:

Coexistence = feeling + arguing + acting

From this interaction, society is born as a space where some people count on

others. However, citizenship exists when we count on others in order to coexist.

Citizenship describes a project of coexistence because there is a common life plan that

is not just limited by biological survival (surviving on other species) neither by plain

zoological coexistence (the coexistence of other species). There is a plan of

coexistence where the coordination of goals, aims and means is established. In other

words, coexistence exists when we count on others when feeling, arguing and acting.



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Contents

1. Keys to Creating Our Citizenship

In the same way that none of us were born knowing what physics or chemistry were,

so none of us were born knowing how to coexist. Coexistence requires a learning period and

that is why we say that citizenship requires learning. It is not a matter of learning values, rules

or symbols, but learning how to count on others within that common space. There are a coupleof key elements that could help us to build this citizenship.

Learning to differentiate between the groups we belong to and fit into. Social

Philosophy has always differentiated between primary and secondary groups. For the first

group, they use the word community and for the second one they use the word association. The

table below could help us to specify the meaning:


Citizenship cannot be built without the primary groups conviction and the secondary

groups cooperation.

Second key element:We should know the history of

values, rules and symbols. The interaction thatmakes citizenship possible is the result of a

coexistence produced throughout time. The

history of the idea of citizenship can teach us

that there is always some tension among

natural and artificial elements. For example,

our parents nationality, the place where we

were born or the institutions we have been

integrated into without being asked our opinion

(our name, the registry, childhood habits).

They are all natural elements in conflict and

interaction with our will or personal life plan. In

that way, citizenship in the ancient world

was more focused on citizenships natural

condition than on consent. Meanwhile,

consent, meaning peoples free will, is the

most important thing in the modern world.

Even if we are born in a certain country and

have the legal condition of belonging to that

country, we may not identify ourselves with

that country and want to change citizenship

because we are not convinced by its values,

rules or symbols.

Primary GroupsCommunity

Secondary GroupsAssociation

Based on natural links, on shared feelings.

The relationship is spontaneous and personal,

based on values

Family, Clan, Tribe, etc.

Based on interest and rational calculation

The relationship is impersonal and formal,

based on rules, regulations and laws

Schools, Companies, Hospital, etc.

ACTIVITIES:

1. Search for some everyday expressions

containing the words listed below and classifythem depending on their relationship withcitizens.

Urbanity, from Latin urbanitas,-atis, it meanscourteousness, courtesy, attention and goodmanners.Civility, from Latin civilitas, -atis, it meanssociability and urbanity.Civic-mindedness, a term originating in Francethat has two meanings, (1) zeal for one'shomeland, institutions and interests, (2) respect

by the citizen of the rules of public coexistence.Manners, term with different meanings (1) Theway something is executed or occurred; (2)Someones bearing and manners, (3) Skill,ability, cunning; (4) Peoples quality or class.Legality, (1) Prescribed by law and in line with it,2. adj. Belonging or related to law. 3. adj. True,precise, loyal and straight when carrying outone's positions functions.4. adj. Loyal or formalin one's behaviour.Rough: Rude, unpolished, uncultured, withoutdoctrine or teaching.


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2. Organising Citizens: Institutions and Participation

Social Rules: From Interaction to InstitutionSocial interaction is not produced spontaneously, rather it happens in a culturally and

socially regulated way. This regulation is complex and fills the ethical, political and cultural

space with rules, regulations, symbols and values. In the same way that we need to learn the

traffic rules if we want to drive a car, we also have to learn citizenship's rules if we want to drive

through it. Not all of the rules are the same nor are they equally important.

Rules do not appear by magic, rather they are the result of repeated interaction that

has been recognised. When this happens, interaction creates an institution. For instance, if

someone has a specified skill and it is recognised by others, the rest of society accepts that that

person deals with that task and accepts him as having that function or playing that role.

Sports are a good example, because there are some rules whose existence we have to accept

in order to count on others. Without those rules, sports would not have any sense or value.

Through sports we check that rules constitute the activity of playing: chess, football, basketball,

etc. The game is based on the players participation and skills, but also on the rules they are

submitted to. It also happens in society: there is no game (citizenship) if there are no players

(citizens); and at the same time there is no coexistence (participation) if there are no games

(social institutions).

Socialisation, Participation and RepresentationThe process through which people are integrated into a society is called socialisation.

Through the citizenship terms of social, political and cultural life, social integration is a process

through which we learn roles or functions in which the rules of citizenship are visible. Let's use

the theatre metaphor to better understand it. Social life is like a play where there are some

roles. The people playing the roles are no longer individuals, they are characters. The plot

stops being a written script and becomes action. The distribution of time and the knowledge

of roles generate a series of rules that everybody has to respect for the play to be successful.

If the actors do not play the role they have been assigned, they will not be integrated and the

play might fail. If the people who make up society only think about themselves while coexistingwith others, social disintegration will take place and we will find socials atoms instead of

citizens.

Primary socialisation has its origin in the family and that is why family life is the first

common social space through which we access the group of social institutions. The first time

citizenship is learned happens in the family and it will be developed through other experiences

in educational, professional, religious, cultural and political institutions. For integration to be

complete, people have to learn to participate. If there is no participation, there will be no

integration. There are spaces in social life where integration is only possible thanks to direct

participation by those affected. There are also spaces where participation is carried out by

representatives.


Types anddimensions ofCitizenshipPolitical

Social

Economical

Civic

Intercultural

Membership, participation and integration into the different spheresof human life

PoliticalRelated to political institutions such as parties, unions and proxies

Related to social institutions such as neighbourhood, educational and health

associations.

Related to economic institutions such as companies, the stock market and

consumption.

Related to civic institutions such as trade associations, maritime guilds or

professions.

Related to cultural, recreational, charitable and religious traditions.


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3. A Royal Family

There are many examples of family that we can come up with. A good example, well

known by everyone would be the Spanish Royal Family. The Spanish Royal Family is very

important, but it is formed like most families: a generation, values (love, devotion, etc...),

dedications, activities, etc.


ACTIVITIES:

1. Visit the webpage of the Spanish Royal

Household and make a table containing

all the members of the Royal Household.Describe them briefly, add some

information and, above all, find out what

kind of work they have been assigned

(their occupations).

2. Your family is another example, the one

you have closest. Make a table the more

complete, the better containing, as with

the Royal one, all its members. They also

deserve a description and write down

their occupations (what kind of work, what

they studied...)

CONSTITUCIN ESPAOLA

Artculo 56. 1. El Rey es el Jefe delEstado, smbolo de su unidad y

permanencia, arbitra y modera elfuncionamiento regular de las instituciones,

asume la ms alta representacin del

Estado Espaol en las relaciones

internacionales, especialmente con las

naciones de su comunidad histrica, y

ejerce las funciones que le atribuyen

expresamente la Constitucin y las Leyes.

2. Su ttulo es el de Rey de Espaa y podr

utilizar los dems que correspondan a la

Corona.


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4. Out into the World, Loaded with Values

As we are seeing, human life is a relationship, and human relationships are not moved

just by biological and physical forces, but also by values. A value is a thing we appreciate, an

important thing for us, the reason why we do things. Values are usually expressed with abstract

words such as solidarity, freedom, comradeship, but they are fed by concrete actions, by

little actions that give them meaning. Values mark our relationships with others and with

ourselves. Carefully look at the table of values below. These values are reflected in attitudes

and actions that we all can adopt.


ACTIVITIES:

1. Here you have a list of values. You can surely think of some more. Focus on thevalues related to family, friends and neighbours. Complete the following table inyour notebook (adding some more values):

VALUESDEFINITION(dictionary)

I THINK IT ISIMPORTANTBECAUSE

AN ACTION WHERE ITIS PRESENT,and thatI can undertake IS

respect

sincerity


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Introduction

To talk about citizenship automatically suggests talking about coexistence. We

have already seen the complexity of human life in the previous units; to set out the

citizenship issue cannot be undertaken of the entire person. And a person is basically

communication, society, and being present with and for others. The human being is, as

the ancient Greeks once said, a social animal.

Referring to society is not making an allusion to something unknown. In the

previous unit we already learnt that the fundamental constitution of society is family,

friends, neighbours, etc. Therefore, society is the group of relationships within which we

move, which allow us to develop and live, even though they may, at times, cause us

difficulties.

We can live in society thanks to the effort of all of its members. Each of us has

a function in society, and we are able to live, and even enjoy, thanks to society and its

social, political and cultural institutions. Society works thanks to rules or laws; they are

not merely tools of oppression, punishment or sanction. Thanks to rules we can domany things, thanks to rules we can be free as rules give us possibilities. Rules (or

laws) can be compared with paths in the jungle; it could be said that it is annoying that

one should go along these previously drawn paths, that they are inhibiting us, but if it

werent for those paths we would not be able to reach the other side or move inside the

jungle. To live our lives immediately suggests that we use the paths and rules that are

given to us and that we give ourselves. Imagine what might happen if every day when

we woke up we had to invent the rules that might be useful for that day (from the most

elementary to the most complex)! Surely we would waste a lot of time (and we wouldn't

get anything done), and even moreso if we imagined that the next day we would have

to invent them all over again. Therefore, it is useful, good and very healthy to use therules or paths that are at our disposal. And this does not stop us from questioning some

rules, as nothing guarantees that a path is always valid or that there are no alternative

paths.

On the other hand, human coexistence is not always harmonious or friendly.

There are times when conflict arises. It also happens that there are persons who, by

using the freedom and the possibilities that coexistence offers, act for their own benefit

or interest. They are people who want to impose their point of view and their lifestyle.

Imagine, for example, a thief who steals money from a person, or a terrorist group that

wants to impose its criteria on the majority by using weapons and violence. This is

precisely why the existence of rules and laws is necessary, as they do not only attack

this selfish, unsupportive or violent behaviour, but also, and more importantly, they

guarantee everybody's freedom. This is precisely the function of law: to guarantee

everyone's freedom. The lives of citizens cannot do without rules. We can call this the

normative dimension of civic responsibility.



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Contents

1. The Organisation of Freedom: Conflict and Cooperation

From Freedom to Freedoms

In the social organisation of human interaction, the Law plays an important role. When

Law is studied it is always divided into two parts, on one hand private law, which groups the

subjects related to citizens' private lives as well as family relationships, property, agreementsand the acquisition of citizenship. On the other hand, public law groups subjects related to

citizens' public life, such as participation in public activities, the election of individuals to public

office, the management of public assets and in general, the regulation of common activities.

These two parts of the Law are only understood when there is a general reflection about the

meaning of laws and justice, that is to say, when there is an ethical reflection that provides

arguments on issuing the best laws, organising them in the best way within the different codes

and applying them most justly. Within this overall reflection about general interests, the common

good or common standards, there is a central idea around which all the others revolve: the

harmonising of individual freedom with the freedom of other individuals. Therefore, learning

about citizenship can be defined as learning about everybodys freedom, not only that of one

individual but of a group of individuals. Without this harmonising of freedoms there are onlyindividuals and no citizens.

On top of this reflection on the freedom of all people, the Law distinguishes between

"freedom" in general and "freedoms". And it deals with "public freedoms" when analysing,

regulating and encouraging the public dimension of personal freedom. For example, the first

things that dictatorships and tyrannies do is annul the most basic "public freedoms", such as

freedom of conscience, thought, freedom of speech, the right to protest, and freedom of

association and participation. Exercising citizenship is to promote and defend these public

liberties, within the double meaning of the liberties of all people and the liberties of all

dimensions of human life.

Regulating Conflict and Social CooperationThe interaction of liberties is carried out through a double movement, on the one hand

through disintegration, separation and confrontation, what we might call conflict dynamics. On

the other hand, through the movement of integration, unification and cooperation, we have what

we might call cooperation dynamics. Both movements have positive and negative aspects. The

Law adopts these dynamics as regular so that higher standards of liberty, justice, equality and

pluralism might be socially applied. The following table shows us this double possibility:


Positive aspects Negative aspects

Conflictdynamics

Cooperation

dynamics

- Outrage and rebellion in the face of

unjust situations.- Individuality and critical capacities of

citizens.

- Social change and dynamism.

- Coordination of individual actions.

- Integration of differences into common

projects.

- Achieving of common purposes and

aims.

-Disorder and breaking of rules,

regulations and laws.- Sacrifice and heroic behaviour not

considered by laws.

- Personal suffering and pain caused by

fighting and confrontation.

- Risk of the levelling out of

responsibilities.

- Complacency with mistakes.

- Projects are always carried out in

groups.


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2. Authority, Legality and Legitimacy

From Power to Powers

Learning about citizenship does not only consist of learning about how political

power functions. Although it is necessary for us to analyse the close relationships

between political power and citizenship, it is important that we extend the reflection on

citizenship to other spheres of power. In this way, citizenship is not only exercised in theface of political power but also in the face of any despotic, tyrannical or abusive show

of power. It is important to extend the reflection on power to other fields of daily life, such

as the financial, professional, civil, family or educational aspects, where we often

confuse power with other qualities that are necessary for the organisation of these

activities. This way, we can at least distinguish the following types of powers:

POWER-COERCION (force); capacity to make someone do something by force.

POWER-CONTROL (power); capacity to convince without forcing someone's will.

POWER-AUTHORITY (exemplary); capacity to convince by guiding someone's

will through example. POWER-LEGALITY (democracy); capacity to convince and make someone

comply with the laws, harmonising the liberty of all by seeking the common good.

From Authoritarianism to Authority

In closed societies, the greatest risk in terms of the use of power in all its guises

is authoritarianism, that is to say, to abuse the authority that one has. Sometimes, in

sports teams the behaviour of captains or coaches is authoritarian, they abuse the

power they are given or the trust deposited in them in order to promote their own

interests instead of general or common interests.

Active citizenship is one of the best ways of ending any sort of authoritarian

behaviour because it promotes the capacity to criticise, participation and joint

responsibility in the exercising of freedom. In fact, active citizenship helps us to

distinguish, in all elements of life, between power (and its forms) and authority (and its

perverted form of authoritarianism).

Ways of Recognising Authority: Legality and Legitimacy

Even though power and powers arise from the interaction of liberties, we, the

citizens do not accept just any sort of power or authority. We demand that powers and

authorities have an ethical, political and cultural foundation or basis. This basis or

foundation is called legitimacy. According to Max Weber, legality is one of the ways oflegitimising political power and it has become the most accepted way of breaking away

from all sorts of authoritarianism, thus promoting spaces for democratic citizenship.


TYPES OF LEGITIMACY FOR POLITICAL

POWER ACCORDING TO MAX WEBER

Traditional legitimacy

Charismatic legitimacy

Legitimacy based on constitutional legality

Characterised by:

Tradition is the source or basis for power; doing things as they

have always been done.

Personal charisma is the source or basis for power: because of

his charisma or personal qualities.

The rule of law, laws or the constitution are the source or basisfor power: in line with the law.


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3. The Promotion of Justice: Rights and Responsibilities

The Law: Between Law and Rights

Learning about citizenship is directly related to the learning of laws. This does

not mean that those who know all the laws by heart are better citizens than those who

do not know them. We mean that active participation in a social and political

organisation is supported by or based on (legitimised by) an ordered set of laws. This

systematised and ordered set of laws receives the name of Law. Unlike the socialhabits, customs or right or wrong forms of social behaviour, this is about written rules,

structured and organized according to the subject they regulate. For example, the

highway or traffic code gathers in a written, structured and organised manner the laws

that regulate driving. In the same way civil or criminal codes bring together the laws

that regulate property or crimes against a person's life.

Law is also referred to in terms of the right to make a claim for a just cause, for

example when we say "I have the right to X, as if it says: it is justice that I am granted

X". In this sense, the term rights describes the pretensions of justice that people or

citizens claim before legally constituted authorities.

Justice: Between Responsibility and Responsibilities

Learning about citizenship is also directly related to learning about

responsibilities. In the same way that we cannot separate heads from tails on coins,

neither can we separate rights from responsibilities. Any claim of a just cause entails a

responsibility exercised by the person who carries it out. If some neighbours demand

sports facilities for their neighbourhood because they have the right, they have to do it

in a responsible manner, that is to say, using the adequate methods, attending to the

corresponding institutions and, above all, taking joint responsibility for the claim. That

is why we speak about responsibilities in plural, as, apart from legal responsibilities,

there are others, which can be social, cultural or civil.


ACTIVITY: Good citizens or well-behaved citizens?

At the end of the 18th century the philosopher Immanuel Kant was posed an

important problem related to citizenship. What is the relationship between a good person and

a good citizen? Is it necessary to be a good person (in moral terms) in order to be a good

citizen (in legal terms)? Kant was so convinced about the value and importance of citizenship

that he asserted that even a town of intelligent devils would be interested in coexistenceamong citizens.

Man is obliged to be a good citizen although he is not obliged to be a morally good

man. The establishing of a state has a solution, even for a town of devils, as surprising as it

might sound, whenever they are intelligent, and the problem can be formulated as follows:

Organising a crowd of rational human beings who, for their conservation, jointly demand

universal laws, even when each one tends internally to evade the law means establishing a

own constitution so that, although their particular feelings are the opposite, they please both,

so that the result of their public behaviour would be the same as if they did not have such

inclinations. (Kant, Perpetual Peace, Tecnos, Madrid).

- Do you agree with Kant? Can a good person be a bad citizen? Can a good citizen

be bad person? Find reasons for your answer.


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4. LEARNING CITIZENSHIP THROUGH COEXISTENCE AT SCHOOL

The Most Familiar Spaces for the Participation of CitizensBesides learning about rights and responsibilities, learning about citizenship is

learning about feelings. Even though they appear in writing in a code or document,rights and responsibilities are not part of a lesson of civic responsibility that we have tolearn by heart. They are part of a lesson of civic responsibility that has to be performed

during our daily lives and, above all, in those spaces where we usually exercise ourfreedom.We do not study the constitution or human rights in order to know them by heart,

rather we study them in order to be better citizens. This means that citizenship has avital and practical dimension that is a task, a training programme, and an exercise. Inthe same way as before playing a game or carrying out a sporting activity we have toperform warm-up exercises to be in shape and give the best of ourselves to the team,so we have to understand and train in the rights and responsibilities of our most familiarspaces.

The School: A Space with Rights and Responsibilities

In order to perform this warm-up it might be interesting to know the rules thatgovern coexistence in the schools to which we belong and in which we participate. Let'sremind ourselves of this dynamic of rights and responsibilities through the followingtable from which we have taken some articles:


ACTIVITIES:

1. Observe how the rules and regulations of your school are organised. Analyse the

number of articles, titles and sections of these rules and regulations and observe

the progression and development being used.

2. Read the rights and obligations that we give you here as an example throughly.Summarise them in your own words. What are the standards that are underlined

and defended?

De los derechos de los alumnos y alumnas

Art. 15. Derecho a una formacin integral.

1. Todos los alumnos y las alumnas tienen derecho a

recibir una formacin integral que contribuya al

pleno desarrollo de su personalidad.

2. Para hacer efectivo este derecho, la educacin delos alumnos y las alumnas incluir:

a) la formacin en valores y principios recogidos en la

normativa internacional, Constitucin Espaola y enlEstatut dAutonomia de la Comunitat Valenciana.

b) La consecucin de hbitos intelectuales y sociales,

y estrategias de trabajo, as como de los necesarios

conocimientos cientficos, tcnicos, humansticos,histricos y de uso de las tecnologas de la

informacin y de la comunicacin.

c) La formacin integral de la persona y el

conocimiento de su entorno social y cultural

inmediato y, en especial, de la lengua, historia,

geografa, cultura y realidad de la sociedad actual

[]3. Los alumnos y las alumnas tienen derecho a que sus

padres, madres, tutores o tutoras velen por su

formacin integral, colaborando para ello con lacomunidad educativa, especialmente en el

cumplimiento de las normas de convivencia y de las

medidas establecidas en los centros docentes para

favorecer el esfuerzo y el estudio.

De los deberes del alumnado

Art. 24. Deber de estudio y de asistencia a clase.

1. El estudio es un deber bsico de los alumnos y las

alumnas, que comporta el desarrollo y aprovecha-

miento de sus aptitudes personales y de los

conocimientos que se impartan.2. La finalidad del deber al estudio es que, por medio

del aprendizaje efectivo de las distintas materias que

componen los currculos, los alumnos y las alumnasadquieran una formacin integral que les permita

alcanzar el mximo rendimiento acadmico, el pleno

desarrollo de su personalidad, la adquisicin de

hbitos intelectuales y tcnicas de trabajo, la prepa-racin para participar en la vida social y cultural, y la

capacitacin para el ejercicio de actividades profe-

sionales.

3. Este deber bsico, que requiere del esfuerzo, de la

disciplina y de la responsabilidad por parte de los

alumnos y las alumnas, se concreta en las siguien-

tes obligaciones:a) actitud activa, participativa y atenta en clase,

b) Participar en actividades formativas

c) Asistir con material y equipamiento necesariod) Realizar las tareas encomendadas por los profesores

[]

f) Respetar el ejercicio del derecho y el deber del estu-

dio de los dems []

Decreto 39/2008 del Consell de la Generalitat Valenciana


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Introduction

The exercising of our citizenship is always done in a historical context that is always

evolving and changing. Therefore it is important to approach the exercising of citizenship from

a historical point of view. That means, knowing that our pretentions to citizenship are not the

first and will not be the last.

In recent decades, moral philosophy and politics have not approached citizenship only

in legal terms, as if the practise of the citizenship was only reduced to the relation between the

people and the legal systems or legislation itself. Nowadays, as well as speaking of legal

citizenship, we use terms such as social, cultural, economic and even intercultural citizenship.

In order to refer to all of these things as part of peoples' democratic life we shall speak of

"democratic citizenship".

In this unit we will look at how the concept of citizenship has changed, and to what

extent it has been related, from the very beginning, to political organisation. Sometimes we

refer to political organisation in terms of government (polis, republic) and this is the reason why

it is important to understand the relationship between citizenship and types of states. Nowadayswe only speak of true citizenship when there is a state ruled by laws, values and human rights.

We also describe political organisations as democracy, describing not only the forms of

government, but also a form of participating in public matters, of identifying with a political

community and promoting a worthwhile existence for all human beings.

One of the most important institutions in the development of democratic citizenship is

the Public Administration. It is a part of an executive power, not only in a national sense, but also

in the context of an autonomous region and in a local sense. Nowadays, democratic citizenship

is not only practised on a national level. On the one hand it is open to a cosmopolitan

citizenship, where the people in a country consider themselves as citizens of the world; for

example the way people in Spain are citizens of the European Union. On the other hand,democratic citizenship is open to an environment of proximity in which local and autonomous

powers participate. In Spain, the city halls and autonomous regions are institutions that

administer increasingly more public services every day. This idea of service has developed

historically as the ideas of separation of powers and social justice have become part of citizens'

democratic convictions.



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Contents

1. The Historic Conquest of Citizenship

Athens and Ancient Citizenship

The concept of citizenship appeared in Greece in the 5th and 4th centuries before

Christ. It describes the way free individuals, who because of their condition could take

responsibility for the dealing with public matters, participated in city life. These cities wereactually medium-sized towns called polis. This term refers to a city-state, which means, not

only the union of citizens but also the way in which they were organised. Not everyone had the

condition of citizen (polits), because women, children and slaves were not considered capableof taking on the responsibility of running the city. The ones who had the condition of citizens

were obliged to participate in the running of the city, holding positions in equality and changing

positions from time to time.

Rome and the Limits of Laws

Another important moment in the history of citizenship came with the expansion of the

Roman Empire. Rome developed the Greek idea of citizenship and spread it throughout the

Mediterranean. Roman Law developed the procedures for taking part in the life of the Republicand obtaining citizenship. To be a citizen of Rome was a privilege and honour people from other

places could achieve if they obeyed the laws of the Empire or the Republic. From the first

century before Christ to the third after Christ, the concept of citizenship changed, not only

because it spread throughout the Mediterranean, but because it raised a very important

problem: could only those who obeyed Roman laws be citizens? Was it possible to have another

law, another Republic and another way of being a citizen?

Stoic philosophers like Seneca and Cicero set out an interesting transformation of the concept

of the citizen and extended it to individuals capable of submitting to the laws of reason, as if the

city in which they had to live was not a real city as had been seen up until then, but rather a

virtual city in which all human beings could participate.

National Citizenship, Modern Citizenship

This tension between the real citizenship imposed by Rome and the virtual citizenship

in which one took part only by using reason and considering himself to be part of the world,

would mark the birth of the modern concept of citizenship. Apart from this tension between

written and unwritten laws, from the 6th century onwards, the concept of citizenship would be

directly related to the new ways of understanding the Republic which, from then on, would

receive the name of nation. Citizenship became national and was limited by the state of

belonging to a territory, by the link to a sovereign power and by the achievement of certain

benefits in exchange for certain responsibilities. With the appearance of modern nations,

sovereignty was the responsibility of the nation as a whole (national sovereignty) or of the

people defined as a group formed by all individuals (popular sovereignty).


ACTIVITIES:

1. Create a little history of the idea of citizenship:

Citizenship in

was characterised by..

ATHENS ROME MODERN


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2. Citizenship and the Rule of Law

From the State of Nature to the Rule of Law

From the 17th century onwards a concept of citizenship was consolidated that has

lasted until today. It is a citizenship we can call legal because it is related to the capacity to

submit to laws or the Law and transform both laws and the Law. This double movement of

observance and transformation of laws defines the concept of modern citizenship.

To describe this double movement political philosophers thought it was important todifferentiate between two ways of understanding the organisation of social and political life. On

one hand, there is the primitive and gregarious form in which individuals are all in conflict

because they consider each other as wolves (homo homini lupus). This form is called the state

of nature and is not the state of civilised and intelligent people. On the other hand, there is an

evolved and educated form in which individuals cooperate and are capable of giving way in

their ambitions so that everyone can be a part of the project of the city. This form receives the

name of rule of law, because the relation between laws and the Law is a criterion to measure

the level of civilisation. The state of nature (barbarity) is in complete opposition to the rule of law

(civilisation).

The Rule of Law and the Social ContractThis leap from barbarity to civilisation happens when individuals are capable of

submitting to the rules of a contract. The citizen is the person who is ready to make this leap

and assume the consequences. The rules, norms, laws and values that are treated in this

contract form a rule of law.

Citizenship according to Two Modern Philosophers: Locke and Rousseau


ACTIVITIES:

1. Define the following expressions: State of nature, rule of law, social contract.

2. Read Locke and Rosseau's texts carefully. What stands out in each of them? How do they

understand political association (contract)?

J. Locke

Essay on Civil Government

Being men free, equal and independent by

nature, none of them can be withdrawn from

this situation and submitted to political power

with his consent. This is given by an

agreement celebrated with others to meet

and integrate in a community destined to offer

them a good, safe and peaceful life together.

Two Treaties of Government

J. J. Rousseau

The Social Contract

This act of association creates a moral and

collective body, composed of as many

members as the assembly contains votes,

and receiving from this act its unity, its

common identity, its life and its will. This

public person, so formed by the union of all

other persons formerly took the name of city,

and now takes that ofRepublicorbody politic;

it is called by its members State when

passive, Sovereign when active, and Power

when compared with others like itself. Those

who are associated in it take collectively the

name of people, and several are calledcitizens, as sharing in the sovereign power,

and subjects, as being under the laws of the

State.

The Social Contract. Or Principles of Political

Right


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3. From Liberal State to Social State

The Liberal Rule of Law

After the liberal revolutions of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, the rule of law was

called liberal rule of law. This form of political organisation made individual freedoms the centre

of democratic citizenship. These are the true freedoms, because public powers have the

obligation to guarantee, consolidate and strengthen these individual freedoms as the basis of

democratic citizenship.

Social State and Welfare State

After the socialist revolutions of the 19th and 20th centuries, the rule of law was called

social rule of law. This form of political organisation makes social conditions, material

necessities and economic resources the centre of democratic citizenship. So that fundamental

rights were not just formal rights or rights only recognized on a paper, the defenders of the

social state proposed equality as the centre of democratic citizenship. The social state did not

promote equality of results but it did present equality of opportunities, so that the less capable

citizens could participate as equals in public life. This concern for equality produced some new

rights called social rights. Among these we can find the right to education, healthcare and

cultural training. The social state not only protected citizens, it also trained them and promoted

them in order to encourage their welfare. This is why we can say that we have passed from asocial state to a welfare state.

Social and Democratic Rule of Law

The Spanish Constitution was one of the last European constitutions of the 20th

century. When it was written it adopted aspects of the liberal and social state. This summary of

political traditions is one of the biggest efforts of the constitution because liberal- and socialist-

inspired traditions can rule from it. A summary that does not refer to the existence of rights and

laws but to the recognition of values that are not the property of any political or ideological

tradition therefore receive the name of higher values.


Artculo 1 de la Constitucin Espaola

1. Espaa se constituye en un Estado social

y democrtico de Derecho, que propugna

como valores superiores de su

ordenamiento jurdico la libertad, la justicia,

la igualdad y el pluralismo poltico.

2. La soberana nacional reside en el pueblo

espaol, del que emanan los poderes del

Estado.

3. La forma poltica del Estado espaol es la

Monarqua parlamentaria.

Artculo 10 de lEstatut dAutonomia de la

Comunitat Valenciana

1. La Generalitat defender y promover los

derechos sociales de los valencianos que

representan un mbito inseparable del

respeto de los valores y derechos

universales de las personas y que

constituyen uno de los fundamentos cvicos

del progreso econmico, cultural y

tecnolgico de la Comunitat Valenciana. []

4. La Generalitat, en el marco de sus

competencias y mediante su organizacin

jurdica, promover las condiciones

necesarias para que los derechos sociales

de los ciudadanos valencianos y de los

grupos y colectivos en que se integren sean

objeto de una aplicacin real y efectiva.


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4. Social Justice and Division of Power

Democratic Citizenship and Social Justice

Without the rule of law democratic citizenship is impossible. There can be other forms

of citizenship (legal, social, economic, global), but without a social and democratic rule of law

there are no guarantees that individuals can develop within all the dimensions of their lives as

citizens. They could do it as voters, as consumers, as patients, as believers, but democratic

citizenship allows a complete development of all dimensions of life. One can be citizen in a

non-democratic state, but citizenship would be limited and restricted. When we speak ofdemocratic citizenship we describe the conditions of belonging to a political community and

also the conditions of participation.

The level of integration and participation facilitates the application of the values of

liberty and equality. Furthermore, they make the justice within which they are expressed be not

just a nominal or virtual justice, it also measures up to the people and is a justice with a human

face, receiving the name of social justice.

Democratic Citizenship and Separation of Power

Unlike restrictive concepts of citizenship, democratic citizenship is a citizenship that

limits power in general. When there is a real consciousness of democratic citizenship it is difficultto exercise power in an arbitrary or tyrannical way. Democratic citizenship is the best tool

against despotism and tyranny because it promotes the separation of power.

The three traditional powers are legislative power (creation of laws), executive power

(governs according to the laws) and judicial power (applies laws and justice). The separation

of power is what we could call a principle of democratic health, because it allows some powers

to correct the others and these powers do not last over time.


ACTIVITIES:

1. What is democratic citizenship? Why is the separation of power so important?

2. Read the texts by Tocqueville y E. Daz carefully. What title would you give each of them?

What ideas are the authors defending?

Allowing citizens to be in charge of the administration of small matters, rather than presenting

them with the governing of bigger matters means you interest them in the public good and

you make them see the need that all people work to produce this good. First you occupy

the general interest and, by working for the wellbeing of fellow citizens, they acquire the habit

and love of serving them.

Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America.

El Estado de derecho no es slo una cosa de juristasel Estado y el derecho no son sino

medios oportunos, puede que imprescindibles para un fin ms esencial: no se hizo el hombre

para ellos, sino ellos para el hombreA quienes en rigor ms importa que aqul exista,

funcione y sea real y formalmente respetado, no es tanto a los gobernantes sino a los

ciudadanos, a sus derechos, a sus libertades y a sus necesidades; y muy especialmente les

interesa a aquellos que pueden protegerse menos, o nada, por sus propios medios,

empezando por los de carcter econmico.E. Daz, Filosofa del derecho. Legalidad y Legitimidad


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Introduction

Human rights have become the ethical, social and political reference of our

time. Their proclamation has meant new attitudes and a new mentality towards social,

political and cultural issues. They are major principles and ethical values which ethically

guide our behaviour from a social point of view. As we know, in a human being we

cannot separate the social and individual aspects, so we could say that they are like an

ethical lighthouse for our behaviour. They are not just ethical references for political

constitutions and legislations in different countries; they also help and promote people's

social and political activities. Human rights are therefore the backbone of active

citizenship.

Nevertheless, the use of human rights is often questioned due to their lack of

credibility. It seems that writing human rights into laws and constitutions is enough,

but it isn't. It is not enough that human rights are approved in laws; they have to be a

part of the social and political life of our countries, because if that does not happen they

lose credibility and trust. What does it matter if they are written but not applied? Whatis the point if they are protected only by words and not actions? Apart from a crisis of

credibility, there is also another problem: that they are just used for protesting and as a

way to solve conflicts. But we forget that they are also used as a way of building a

responsible and active citizenship, they can help create shared projects in which rights

are not just used for protest, but also as a means of imagining a shared life together.

Human rights are an ideal that can encourage the realisation of social life. They

are often great principles, norms or values that are rendered useless, but we also have

to look at the positive side: they teach us what we can achieve by changing laws and

rules. They let us withdraw from our conventionality and pull away from the idea thatlaws are fine as they are. Human rights are a motor of change, not only so that we can

protect them in words, but also as a means of inventing laws that will make them real.

When human rights form part of a constitution - the legal project of countries

and regions -, they are the legal form that guarantees the bond of citizenship. By

recognising ourselves in human rights, we recognise ourselves as sharing a common

dignity upon which we have the right to insist. In addition, and this is important, this

dignity can belong to everyone, not just a few. Thanks to human rights we can aspire

to an international and global citizenship But, as mentioned previously, they must be

human rights that help, guide and plan, thus becoming the duty and reponsibility of all

states and every one of us. The human rights, human duties and human responsibilities

of every one of us can become the heart of a common mission.



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Contents

1. Human Rights

What are they?

Human rights are a way of acknowledging

and demanding the dignity of all human beings.

Human rights are not just a series of values we havemore or less agreed upon. They bear a lot of

responsibility because each right creates obligation

and duty. If we recognise and accept the right to

work as a right this means that we need to organise

society so that we create conditions that guarantee

work for everyone. This, of course, bears a great

responsibility for all, every single person and

mankind in general. That is why we must speak of rights, duties and responsibilities.

Human rights are not a "fairytale" we should tell from time to time and neither are they

a mere imposition from the Western world. They are a grand ethical project that can bring

together citizens at all levels.When were they founded?

World War II (1939-1945) saw some of the greatest acts of cruelty in the history of

mankind. After the war, states considered that it was necessary to have a series of legal and

institutional rules so that such a crimes could not happen again. With that purpose, the

Declaration of Human Rights was written in 1948, which was in part based on the Declaration

of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen from the French Revolution in 1789. The different

countries that would later form the United Nations reached a consensus and the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights was created.

On what are they based?

To base something on something else means to explain it, to give reasons for why it

was done that way and not another. In this case the question is: why these rights and not otherones? We agree and reach a consensus because these values are desirable and defensible.

It is not that they appear to be good because we agree, because agreeing on something does

not necessarily guarantee its goodness.

In the Declaration of Human Rights we can find three ways of justifying and explaining

these rights:

1. Individualist justification (anti-state); human rights are individual and natural, prior

to the State and therefore claimed by individuals and groups in the face of the State;

States must acknowledge these rights.

2. Statal justification (contractual); rights are the result of a contract or agreement

between the governors and governed, rights depend on the authority of the State.

3. Statal justification (historical); rights appear with the different forms of State of the

modern era. There are no rights prior to the State. The State, in its various forms,

is the one that proclaims them.

Maybe human rights can be considered as invariably human and therefore have to be

protected, guaranteed and promoted by States.


ACTIVITIES:

1. Write a short history of the devising of human rights. Pay attention to these three dates:

1776, 1789, 1948.

2. What is the difference between saying something is good and therefore we agree, and

saying that as we agree therefore it is good?

3. What would you base human rights on? How would you justify them? Why have they to be

obeyed?


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2. The Three Generations of Rights

The affirmation of human rights was not something instantaneous and isolated. It was

the result of a historical process. Therefore, we speak of the generations of rights. In other

words, moments in which human rights appeared, or rather, when rights were recognised. It is

the story of a mankind that has given the human being increasingly more safeguards for certain

basic values.


ACTIVITIES:

1. Which of the three generations of rights is most important to you? Why?

2. Look for the terms "freedom", "equality" and "solidarity" in the dictionary. Why are they the basis for

the Declaration of Human Rights?

3. Look for or imagine an example of a violation of freedom, equality and solidarity.

THREE GENERATIONS OF

HUMAN RIGHTS

FIRST A fundamental moment in the

recognition of human rights is the French

Revolution (1789). Its ideals of freedom,

equality and fraternity are a guide for the

different generations of rights. The first

generation, the one in which the French

Revolution took place, has liberty as a

symbol. It was the recognition of civil and

political rights. People had the chance to

participate in decision-making, they arerecognised as people with the capacity to act.

SECOND The second generation of human

rights completes the first one. Rights referring

to individual freedom are not enough; it is

necessary to also proclaim those rights

related to the social and community

dimension. These rights refer to equality and

justice. A big step is taken towards social

responsibility in terms of these rights. It is not

enough to allow a laissez faire attitude. It is

necessary to promote, protect, guarantee ormotivate certain rights.

THIRD Nowadays, even though legally

protecting rights is still difficult, there has

been a call for a third generation. This would

be the modern version of fraternity and it is

called solidarity. It was created to promote

human interests such as peace or a clean

environment and implies a global

understanding of mankind. This set of rights

would complement the United Nations

Declaration of 1948.

Basic principles:

Civil and political rights:Right to live, to property, to

freedom of conscience and

expression, the right to freedom

of movement and association,

the right to participate in

politics, etc

Economic, social andcultural rights: The right to

culture and education, the right

to healthcare, the right to work.

The right to a clean social

environment, the right to

peace.

Main value

Freedom

Equality

Solidarity


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3. Reading Your Rights

On the 10th of December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly approved the

text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It has a preamble and 30 articles. You can

find the full declaration easily. Here we offer you a selection of articles. Read them carefully:


Article 1All human beings are born free and equal in

dignity and rights. They are endowed withreason and conscience and should acts towardsone another in a spirit of brotherhood.Article 3Everyone has the right to life, liberty and securityof person.Article 4No one shall be held in slavery or servitude;slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited inall their forms.Article 5No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel,inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 171. Everyone has the right to own property aloneas well as in association with others.

2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of hisproperty.Article 18Everyone has the right to freedom of thought,conscience and religion; this right includesfreedom to change his religion or belief, andfreedom, either alone or in community withothers and in public or private, to manifest hisreligion or belief in teaching, practice, worship

and observance.Article 19Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion andexpression; this right includes freedom to holdopinions without interference and to seek,receive and impart information and ideasthrough any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 211. Everyone has the right to take part in thegovernment of his country, directly or throughfreely chosen representatives.2. Everyone has the right to equal access topublic service in his country.

3. The will of the people shall be the basis of theauthority of government; this will shall beexpressed in periodic and genuine electionswhich shall be by universal and equal suffrageand shall be held by secret vote or by equivalentfree voting procedures.

Article 251. Everyone has the right to a standard of living

adequate for the health and well-being of himselfand of his family, including food, clothing,housing and medical care and necessary socialservices, and the right to security in the event ofunemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood,old age or other lack of livelihood incircumstances beyond his control.2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled tospecial care and assistance. All children,whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy thesame social protection.Article 261. Everyone has the right to education.

Education shall be free, at least in theelementary and fundamental stages. Elementaryeducation shall be compulsory. Technical and

professional education shall be made generallyavailable and higher education shall be equallyaccessible to all on the basis of merit.2. Education shall be directed to the fulldevelopment of the human personality and tothe strengthening of respect for human rightsand fundamental freedoms. It shall promoteunderstanding, tolerance and friendship amongall nations, racial or religious groups, and shall

further the activities of the United Nations for themaintenance of peace.3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kindof education that shall be given to their children.Article 291. Everyone has duties to the community inwhich alone the free and full development of his

personality is possible.2. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms,everyone shall be subject only to such limitationsas are determined by law solely for the purposeof securing due recognition and respect for therights and freedoms of others and of meeting the

just requirements of morality, public order andthe general welfare in a democratic society.3. These rights and freedoms may in no case beexercised contrary to the purposes andprinciples of the United Nations.

ACTIVITIES:

1. Read the articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (you can use the ones shown

above or look for the full Declaration). After that:

- summarise each article with a word or sentence;

- explain each one in your own words;

- choose the most important one (and the reason for this);- choose the least important one (and say why);

- imagine you had to reduce the list to 10. Which ones would you keep?

- try and write a new article


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4. The Rights, Duties and Responsibilities of Citizens

Human Rights are not mere instruments of protest. They imply a commitment by the

people to respect and care for them. This means that in the same way that rights are expressed,

so are duties and responsibilities. They are demands that I can make and commitments I must

accept. Try to fill out the chart of rights, duties and responsibilities following the examples given.

MAFALDA


ACTIVITIES:

What do you think this Mafalda cartoon means? Write a brief comment on it.

Article

3

5

17

18

RIGHTS

Everyone has the right to life,liberty and security of person.

No one shall be subjected to

torture or to cruel, inhuman ordegrading treatment or

punishment.

1. Everyone has the right to ownproperty alone as well as in

association with others.2. No one shall be arbitrarily

deprived of his property.

Everyone has the right of thought,

conscience and religion; this right

includes freedom to change his

religion or belief, and freedom,either alone or in community with

others and in public or private, to

manifest his religion or belief in

teaching, practise, worship andobservance.

DUTIES

Therefore I mustnot attack the life or

integrity of any other

person.

I shall not criticise

anyone for having a

different religion or

belief to mine.

RESPONSIBILITIES

I have the responsibility to ensurethat this does not happen and if I

saw it happening I should report it to

the authorities.

I have to take care that that person,

for example a classmate, can

express his opinion freely.


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Introduction

Unlike the ancient world, where the exercising of political power and the organisation

of society were related to features or characteristics of certain people in positions of authority,

the modern world is radically different. Power and society are structured by laws written in

documents that are within everyones reach. These texts or documents regulating political

power and describing the way institutions function according to certain values, moral ideals orphilosophical principles are called constitutions.

These documents are not just compilations of laws or political institutions. Theyre not

just books containing the legal system of a place, theyre documents expressing a model of

citizenship. In this unit we will study the Spanish Constitution of 1978 and well see how the

foundations for the promotion of democratic citizenship are established in it.

The Constitution expresses the will of the people, and what is technically considered

as the general will or majority will of the people of a nation, town, country or certain society is

recorded in it. The origin and organisation of power is clearly described in the constitution. The

1978 Constitution is democratic because it states that the Spanish people have the power, inother words, power is in the hands of citizens who are considered free and equal before the law.

The Spanish Constitution promotes a model of democratic citizenship. In other words,

it promotes a model ofactive citizenship where the people who make up the socio-political

community can build democracy. This means two things: in the first place, it means that the

constitution can structure the daily life of citizens and thats why we talk about a lived constitution

instead of about a written one. Also, it means that the constitution not only regulates and

structures duties, but also responsibilities. The organisation of rights and duties is not arbitrary,

it does not depend on the arbitrary decision of any authority but on an ethical horizon of superior

values present in the first article of the constitution, which reads: Espaa se constituye en un

estado social y democrtico de derecho, que propugna como valores superiores de suordenamiento jurdico la libertad, la justicia, la igualdad y el pluralismo poltico.



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Contents

1.From Transition to Constitution

The 1978 Constitution was the result of a historic process called the transition. SinceFrancos death in 1975 until the promulgation of the Constitution in 1978 a certain amount oftime passed which marked the leap from dictatorship to democracy, from a non-democratic

political system to a democratic one. This movement from one political system to another onereceived the name transition because it didnt happen through political reform. Theprotagonists of the period debated between three possible solutions:

Involution, mantaining the principles of the former system.Revolution, breaking with everything in order to create a new system.Reform, a progressive change from one system to another.Although the term transition is used to name the political period, it actually describes

all the political, legal, social and cultural changes. All these changes led to a process whoseresult was the constitutional text.

The process began some months before Francos death, after the assassination ofAdmiral Carrero Blanco (13th of December 1973), when the new president, Carlos Arias

Navarro made a political speech proclaiming that social conditions in Spain had changed. Thelegal predictions of the Fundamental Laws (former regime) had ignored political realities(expectations of change). Although it was said that everything was well tied down, theFundamental Laws were unclear and open to interpretation. Arias Navarro said that the formerpolitical system was based on joining things together and the new one on participation.

The new government consolidated the expectations of change when the law on localadministration was enacted. It accepted, without exception, universal suffrage and a decreelaw of association that would be tolerant to organised groups. Until then associations were notdefined as the exercising of a citizen's right, rather they were a means of political control.

After Francos death on the 22nd of December 1975, theParliament and the Council of the Kingdom met in order toconstitutionally proclaim the King. After the changes that followedFrancos death, the government of Arias Navarro suffered a crisis,which saw Adolfo Surez Gonzlez come in as the new president. Anew strategy appeared in which a fundamental law was substituted bythe authorities and new instruments (Parliament, Referendum) thatcould be presented as the will of thenation were created. On the 15th ofDecember 1976 the Law for

Political Reform was brought to referendum. This was adecisive instrument of the political transition because:

- The people became a decisive element of politicalreform.

- The parliament would be a representative organand have two chambers that would write the newconstitution.

- A pluralist system of parties was established and for the Constituent Parliamentaryelections, held the 15th of June 1977, a new system was established.


ACTIVITIES:

1. Define the "transition" in your own words.

2. Look for more information about the "personalities" mentioned on this page.


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2. The "Fathers" of the Constitution

The elaboration of the Constitution was made possible because of the understan-ding and will to listen and get on with each other shown by the different political forces of thetime. Without this spirit of respect, tolerance and agreement on fundamental values theConstitution would not have happened. But political forces are not anonymous entities; the-yre moved by the effort and hard work of individuals. Among those individuals seven, to beprecise, wrote our constitution. Theyre called the fathers of the Constitution.


ACTIVITIES:

1. Extend the information about the fathers of the Constitution. What did each one of themcontribute to the Constitution? Which points were most important for them?2. Why is it important and significant that theyre called Fathers?3. What is the spirit of agreement? Why is it a value that should not be forgotten?

DECLARATION OF GREDOS: On the 7th of October 2003, in honour of the 25th anniversaryof the popular referendum on the Spanish Constitution, the authors of the Magna Carta, the so-called Fathers of the Constitution, with the exception of Jordi Sol Tura (who because of illnesscould not assist, rather he subscribed to the act from his home)-, met in the National Parador

of Gredos, the same place where, in 1978, the guidelines of the Spanish Constitution wereagreed upon. They signed and read, as a demonstration of their "pride and joy at theconfidence that the citizens and their respective political parties placed in them, a text in whichthey asked for the values, principles and ground rules established in 1978 to be maintained,insisting that possible changes to the constitutional text should be done with the same spirit ofconsensus that existed back then.


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3. The Higher Values of the Constitution

The Constitution, as we know, is not just a compilation of laws. Theyre laws based on,inspired and guided by values, the so-called higher values. But what is a higher value? It's bestto find out first what a value is.

A value is whatever makes something preferred, desired. It is something that guidesour behaviour. A value is something that, if it disappeared from the world, we would think thatsomething important and irreplaceable, for example, beauty, harmony, truth, etc has

disappeared. In terms of social life and citizenship, values are whatever guides and provides afoundation for social and civic life. The "higher values" are the basic, fundamental ones fromwhich other less important ones will be derived and on which the laws of the Constitution arebased. These laws cannot go against these values, rather they have to develop and guaranteethem.

What are the fundamental values of the Spanish Constitution? Theyre clearly statedin article 1.1 of the Ttulo preliminar:


ACTIVITIES:

1. These four fundamental values have a clear and exact reference in the Declaration ofHuman Rights. Remember this subject, referred to previously, and look for the exactHuman Rights to which they are related. The articles of the Constitution develop thesevalues. Look in the Constitution for an article that discusses each of these values.

2. These values guarantee and provide a basis for coexistence among citizens both at anational level and also in smaller areas. Coexistence in school, high school, class, etc

also has to be based on these values, especially in the first three. Write an example ofthese values applied at school and pay attention to the necessary harmony that has toexist between them:

Espaa se constituye en un Estado social y democrtico de Derecho, que propugna

como valores superiores de su ordenamiento jurdico la libertad, la justicia, la

igualdad y el pluralismo poltico

Freedom in cl

Documents

4º ESO teoría compl