A good citizen
Un bon citoyen
challenges the state
obeys laws and votes
repects the rights of others.
that puts the country before themselves
votes
who contributes to his society
who follow the rules, votes, works hard
who gives back to the community.
who helps others
who is commited to making the community a better place
who is responsible, thinks of the whole community not just themself
who obeys the law, who questions the right and wrong in every situation
who respects and works towards the common good of all citizens.
who upholds the law.
who volunteers, votes wisely
who votes and knows who they're voting for.
who votes, is patriotic, and cares about their community and country.
who votes, who cares about what is going on
who votes, who speaks out on education and for other issues that allow people to better themselves.
who works to improve their country
connaissant ses droits et ses obligations
ouvert d'esprit, qui connait ses devoirs de citoyens envers l'état et envers ses compatriotes. C'est aussi surtout quelqu'un qui respecte la loi et vit dans le restect d'autrui.
qui agit pour l'intérêt de tous et qui n'est pas indifférent à la société dans laquelle il vit, quitte à se rebeller contre les autorités s'il estime que celles-ci abusent de leur pouvoir et ont une activité néfaste pour le bien commun
qui paye ses imôts et qui vote
qui respect les loie de la vie commune
qui respecte la loi, fait ses devoirs et ses droits (comme le vote), respecte les autres et la nature
qui respecte la loi, les autres, l'environnement, ses droits et ses devoirs
qui respecte les lois, qui cherche à faire évoluer les mentalités
qui respecte ses concitoyens ,qui a des droits mais aussi des obligations envers ses compatriotes
qui vote, qui a des convictions politiques et les assume
respecte les autres
vote, s'intéresse à la vie politique de son pays
Discussion
I was surprised by the number of French students who including voting as something
characterizing a good citizen--when you take into account that there are many fewer INT
students than Brown students, the ratio is very similar. We tend to think--or at least I do-
-that participation in democracy is somehow uniquely American, but it's clear that may be
a simplistic assumption.
Pour que tu comprennes un peu mieux la raison pour laquelle le mot "vote" est revenue
de manière aussi récurrente dans nos réponses, tu dois avoir d'autres éléments à l'esprit.
Une première histoire me vient à l'esprit...
Avril 2002. Elections présidentielles. A la surprise générale, le parti socialiste, 2ème parti
le plus important du pays en terme d'influence et d'électeurs se trouve évincé du second
tour des élections pour céder sa place à un parti d'extrême-droite. C'est la
consternation... Les raisons? De nombreux votes constatataires fortement mis en valeur
par l'absentéisme. Parce que les gens croyaient que tout était déjà joué, ils se sont
dits "nous attendrons le second tour pour nous exprimer". Erreur...
Depuis ce jour, je crois que nous avons plus que jamais pris conscience que chaque
vote compte. Une prise de conscience assez forte au sein de la jeunesse française.
Par le passé ce constat ne s'était pas véritbalement fait. Oui on savait que voter c'est
d'une certaine manière participer au débat politique mais on avait pas la même
conscience...
Aujourd'hui beaucoup répondront à la question "Qu'est ce qu'un bon citoyen?"
par "Quelqu'un qui vote"...
Maintenant la citoyenneté se vit aussi à d'autres niveaux : la vie en communauté, le
respect des lois,etc.
I think a similar event occurred in the US during the 2000 presidential
elections, which are still very controversial, and more people may be
voting this election because of that.
However, because of our system of the electoral college- where you win
states not a majority of people, each vote does not quite count the
same, and so it's still difficult for everyone to feel as if their vote counts.
I think the 2000 Elections like YD said, is a comparable example
to PNG's. In the 2000 elections, the number of votes for each
canadate were so close and then there were also those problems
with the voting ballots in Florida. An example like this should show
people, in my opinion, that voting is a quality of a good citizen and is
extremely important. Yes, we do have the system with the
Electoral College, but after the fiasco in 2000, people should realize
their individual votes do and will count. I don't know, however, if
there will be more people in the US that vote in this year's
Presidential Elections compared to those of 2000. I am uncertain of
this fact because I always hear that a lot of people say, "Oh yeah,
I'm voting - of course!" and then I found out later that they never
actually went to vote. Four years is not that long of a time to
completely forget about the impact voting can have relating to our
country's future. I saw in the news recently that there are already
problems with some of the ballots for the upcoming Presidential
election. This should make people think about being a good citizen
and voting, but will it? I think a lot of people think about going to
vote, but a lot of people don't vote just because they are lazy or
are too busy to drive to the voting booths Election Day? Do other
people agree with me that this might be a contributing factor as to
why some people don't vote?
Are there certain groups in France or media announcements that
encourage voting in France? There are TV shows on MTV, for
example, to encourage young people to vote. Are there such
shows in France? Do you think these kinds of shows are effective?
I was intrigued by the comment a Brown student made, "votes
wisely." Do a lot of people in France do a lot of research on the
Presidential candidates when there is an election in France? Do
other Brown students do a lot of research on the individual
candidates? Some of my friends from France here at Brown said
they were surprised at the conventions and "festive" campaign
approaches during a Presidential election here in the US. They
thought it was excessive and makes politics in the US seem like a
joke. What is your opinion?
I thought it was interesting that a lot of Brown students responded
by saying a good citizen is one who, "gives back to the community,
contributes to his society, volunteers," etc. INT students, how do
you give back to the community? Do you think this is a necessary
quality to be a good citizen like a lot of Brown students? A few INT
students responded by saying a good citizen is one, "qui respecte la
loi, les autres, et la nature." Are there certain things people do in
France to actively show their respect or is it more the idea of
following the laws, not polluting, and not causing any trouble or
problems? Do you believe being a good citizen is more actively
participating in the community or more not doing things to disrupt
the present community?
Thanks!
~OP
I agree with OP and YD in thinking that the events of last election make the
word "vote" come to mind in association with a "good citizen". I think, also, that even if
the last election were not so close, the word "vote" would still come to mind. Like we
saw in the word associations for "liberty" and "United States", freedom and democracy
are one of the things we prize most here in America. I think that voting, because we can
vote at all, is important to the idea of a good citizen because it is so important to our idea
of a "good country" as well. Students of INT, are democracy and voting ideas that are
essential to the idea of a well-run country? Or can a country be good to its citizens in
other forms of government?
As a random point of information, I just read that as compared to the
2000 election the percentage of 18-24 year old registered voters has
risen something like 6%...so I guess there is some solid fact behind the
idea of increased voting.
Puisque vous parlez de politique...
pour ma part je pense qu'il faut bien se rendre compte que la droite américaine
(Republicains) est beaucoup plus .. à droite que la droite française (UMP), les
Démocrates ne correspondant pas aux socialistes français (PS) mais à l'UMP... Il y a un
décalage important !
Donc pour moi et cela n'implique que moi, avoir réélu Bush tout à l'heure c'est un peu
comme si on avait mis Lepen au pouvoir en France.. j'avoue que je ne comprends pas
très bien le fondamentalisme qui habite une partie des Américains actuellement, surtout
l'association du religieux à toute chose de la société me choque profondément.. en cela
Bush ressemble beaucoup aux gens qu'il dit combattre, tout ceci me semble donc assez
inquiétant.
Ceci dit, en ce qui concerne "bon citoyen" :
pour moi voter n'est pas nécessairement un acte citoyen.. au contraire je pense que
actuellement en France ne pas voter est un acte citoyen.. ça peut paraître bizarre alors
je m'explique : dans la Constitution française il est écrit quelque part que le peuple a le
devoir de se révolter contre l'establishment si la majorité de la population n'est plus
représentée, or c'est le cas il me semble... comme les bulletins blancs ne sont pas pris
en considération en France, la seule façon de montrer le désaccord avec le système en
place est de ne pas voter. C'est un acte citoyen plutôt que de voter et donc de
cautionner un système qui n'a plus grand chose de réellement démocratique... (pour
moi, la France n'est pas une démocratie, mais une bureaucratie où règne le
corporatisme)
Etre citoyen, pour moi c'est une action de tous les jours, être critique et constructif (par
exemple à travers les associations loi 1901, les propositions locales, ..) et de ne pas
gober pour argent comptant le baratin des média et des politiques...