: State,

Government and
Citizenship
4.1. Chapter
Introduction
4.2. Chapter
Objectives

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4.3. Understanding
State
4.3.1. Defining State
• state has been
understood in four
quite different ways.
1. Idealist
perspective

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▪ Hegel identified
three moments of
social existence
➢ Family
✓ altruism operates
that encourages
people to set aside
their

3
own interests for the
good of their
children or elderly
relatives
Chapter One: Understanding Civics and Ethics

Defining Civics, Ethics, Morality

Civic Education
 human being have to
respect certain fundamental principles and values to live together
 Johan Stuart Mill: progressive and peaceful setting subsists in a given
society as far as that society develops the qualities of its members and
generates good citizens
 Aristotle: citizens of a State should always
be educated to suit the constitution of a State
 different terms used to describe the educational experiences that deal
with the task of developing democratic minded citizens
 Right Education – in South Africa
 Citizenship Education – in USA and Germany
 Citizenship and Character Education – in Singapore

 Civics and Ethical Education – in Ethiopia

 most cited definition of civic education
 an education that studies about the rights and responsibilities of
citizens of a politically organized group of people

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  the knowledge, means, and activities designed to encourage students
to participate actively in democratic life, accepting and exercising
their rights and responsibilities
 maximal and a minimal civic education
 minimal concept of civic education
 content-led
 teacher-based
 whole-class teaching
 examination-based assessment

 maximal concept of civic education

 comprised of knowledge, values and skills
 prepare students for active, responsible participation
 extends learning beyond the curriculum and classroom
 highly dependent on interactive teaching, which requires
discussion, debate

Definition and Nature of Ethics and Morality

 ethics is used interchangeably with morals precise usage would apply
 term‘s morals and moral – to the conduct itself
 terms ethics and ethical – refer to the study of moral conduct
 morality is related to praxis, but ethics is related to theory

 Ethics:
 branch of philosophy
 explores the meaning and the ranking of different ethical values:
honesty, autonomy
 establish the standards, norms, or codes to be followed by human
beings
 set of normative rules of conduct
 may share common ground with: law, religious belief, popular
opinion, professional codes BUT broader than all of these and
offers a set of tools and values against which their appropriateness
can be evaluated
 Ethical questions are not concerned with what one would do (an
essentially psychological concern) but what one ought to do
 specific set of principles, values and guidelines for a particular
group or organization
 usually associated with a certain conduct within a profession
 critical examination and evaluation of what is good, evil, right and
wrong in human conduct

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  Judgments about such decisions are generally
expressed with words like
 right and wrong
 should and ought
 obligation and duty
 ethics as divided into two fields; normative ethics and non-
normative ethics

 morality:
 dictionary definition: Latin “moralitas”
– manner, character, proper behavior
 the degree to which an action conforms to a standard or norm of
human
 code of conduct one follows accepted in a society, or within a
subgroup of society
 more general term: character of individuals and community
 it becomes ambiguous when defined by different ethnic groups,
especially in the multicultural society
 Morality is, at the very least, the effort to guide one‘s conduct by
reason to do what there are the best reasons for doing while giving
equal weight to the interest of each individual who will be affected
by one‘s conduct
Ethics and Law
 Laws
 norms, formally approved by state, power or national or international
political bodies
 to promote well-being, resolve conflicts of interest, and promote
social harmony
 reasons why ethics is not law:
 some actions that are illegal may not be unethical
 E.g ethical obligation to break the speed limit in order to
transport someone to a hospital
 some actions that are unethical may not be illegal
 E.g lying is unethical but lying is only illegal under certain
conditions
 laws can be unethical or immoral
E.g United States had laws permitting slavery in the 1800s

 we use the coercive power of government to enforce laws like
imprisoned, BUT not for who violate ethical or moral standards
Importance/Goal of Moral and Civic Education
 make individuals responsible and efficient member of their community

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  teaches the values and sense of commitment that define an active and
principled citizen
 producing self-confident citizens who decides on issues based on reason
 creating a generation who has the capability to shoulder family and
national responsibility
 Generally, the necessity of delivering the course emanates from:
1) The need to instill citizens about their rights and duties
 rights and duties co-exist
 what the ideal society needs and wants to be cannot be secured by
coercion, but only through its members (citizens) who have a balanced
understanding of rights and duties
 four issues to look into the interplay between rights and duties:
 one’s right implies the other’s duty
 one’s right implies one’s duty to recognize similar rights of others
 every exercise of right is subject to restrictions. E.g one has the
freedom of speech and expression, but in no way affects the rights
of others
 one should exercise his rights for the promotion of social good
 the State being a nucleus organ needs to take care of the social and
legal interests of all its individuals
 State has the obligation to discharge duties towards its citizens
 As the State guarantees and protects the rights of everybody, one
has a duty to support the State in its legal endeavors
 there must be a balance between citizenship rights and obligations
2) The Need for Participant Political Culture
 Generally, political culture defines the roles which an individual may
play in the political process
✓ three political cultures:
 parochial cultures
 citizens have low cognitive, affective, and evaluative
orientation regarding the political systems
 role of citizens in the political sphere of their countries
is insignificant
 subject cultures
 high cognitive, affective, and evaluative orientation towards the
political system and policy output
 BUT orientations towards input objects (like political parties)
and the self as active participants are minimal
 relatively detached, passive relationship on the part of the citizen
 most compatible with centralized, authoritarian political
structures
 participant cultures

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  high cognitive, affective, and evaluative orientation to the political
system, the input objects, the policy outputs, and
 recognize the self as an active participant in the polity
 compatible with democratic political structures
 qualities and attitudes of citizens determine the health and stability of
a country‘s democracy
 challenges the democracy and democratization process of
countries including Ethiopia
 many citizens lack the competences and knowledge to deal with the
tensions between individually and socially centered norms and
obligations
 small parts of the population support the norm that a citizen should
be politically active
 most citizens still rely on voting only
 people in a democratic country are supposed to have
 in-depth understanding on democratic behavior and able
to behave democratically
 ability to tolerate and work together with others who are different
from themselves
 desire to participate in the political process in order to promote the
public good and hold political authorities accountable
3) The Need for Relevant Knowledge, Skills and Positive Attitudes
 Relevant knowledge is a type of knowledge which is useful in dealing
with a particular problem at a period of time
 knowledge would remain inert unless:
 it is functional or put into practice
 the person equipped with right attitudes and requisite skills
 skillful manpower is a pre-requisite for every nation that wishes to
develop but a skillful manpower without positive attitudes to work is
likely to result in counter production like; corruption, bribery
 civics and ethics can be a useful cure for the “social ills” often associated
with young people: that is, tendencies for anti-social behavior and
political apathy among young people, or, what describe “youth deficit”
4) The issue of fostering intercultural societies
 subject helps overcome discrimination and to nurture genuine, inclusive
dialogue among cultural groups
 tolerating or celebrating each other
 nurturing dynamic exchanges based on
interaction, openness and effective solidarity
The issue of inclusiveness

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 Civics and ethics as a subject nurture new and inclusive relations and
practices in both public and private spaces that recognize gender
differences while ensuring inclusiveness and equity
5) The issue of peace-building
 it can make a valuable contribution to create the subjective conditions
for more peaceful situations
 includes the development of competencies for peacemaking, conflict
resolution, healing, reconciliation and reconstruction
 understanding of nonviolent civil disobedience philosophies, strategies
and skills
 Moral and Civics Education is based on and seeks to promote in
students core moral, ethical, democratic, and educational values, such
as:
 Respect for life
 Respect for reasoning
 Fairness
 Concern for the welfare of others
 Respect for diversity
 Peaceful resolution of conflict
 citizens need to have a combination of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and
values at their disposal enabling them to become an active citizen
 In sum the goals of teaching civics and ethics at any level of educational
institutions is to produce competent, high moral standard
society and responsible citizens