UNIT ONE: UNDERSTANDING CIVICS AND ETHICS

UNIT ONE

1. UNDERTANDING CIVICS AND ETHICS

INTRODUTION

Civics and Ethics or civic and ethical education is an emerging field of the study in the
field of science. After 1990s, the official launching of democracy and democratization
process among countries which were, hitherto ruled under dictatorial regimes across
nearly half part of the world revived the significance of civics or civic Education. In some
country it is included in the official curriculums as citizenship Education. In some
countries it has been named under-citizenship for Democracy. And in most cases it has
retained the name of Civics or civic Education. In our country Civics and Ethics or civic
and Ethical Education is the title given to it. Despite variations in nomenclature, there
have been foundational principles and values that are treated under the discipline. The
issue of constitutional democracy and Human Rights has been the core values and issues
are the common denominator across countries. The emphasis on the rights and duties of
citizens however varies. In some countries the focus has been on the civil and political
rights of citizens and the reciprocal relationship among citizens, between citizens and
states. In country such as Ethiopia the scope and dimensions of citizenship is
comprehensive covering wide range of issues and domains of society.

This unit thus, focuses on the meaning, scope and dimension of citizenship, the rational
and objectives of civics and ethics, and the competences of good citizens. The unit is
organized in to three lessons. The first Lesson, deals with the meanings of civics and
Ethics, and the scope and dimensions of citizenship and the historical evolution of civic
education in Ethiopia. The second lesson deals with the objectives and the fundamental
values of civics and Ethics. The third part of the unit focuses on the minimum and
maximum competences of good citizenship

Unit Objectives

At the end of the unit students will be able to:

 Identify different dimensions of their rights recognized by the constitutions

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 Realizes that duties and rights are correlative

 Identify the basic objectives and rationales
 Differentiate the competences of good citizenship

Resources

 Heywood, Andrew (2005) Political theory: An Introduction. New York

 FDRE (1995) The Constitution of The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

LESSON ONE: UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING AND SCOPES OF CIVICS

AND ETHICS

Introduction

Civics and ethics deals with the reciprocal relationships of rights and duties established
among citizens, and between citizens and the state. It deals with the reciprocal roles and
privileges that state and citizen have with respect to the economic domain, cultural
domain, social domain, developmental domain and environmental domains of the society.
This lesson provides conceptual frameworks and describes the different scopes, and
dimensions of civics and Ethics in Ethiopia.

Objectives
At the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
 Define the meanings of civics and Ethics
 Describe the historical development of civic education
 Identify the scopes of civics and Ethics
 Describes the different dimensions of citizenship in Ethiopia
 Identify the duties and responsibilities as defined in the constitution

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Dear learner! What do you understand by the phrase Civics and Ethics?

Civics and Ethics and citizenship education are synonymous words that are widely used
across countries. As evident in different countries, Citizenship education primarily deals
with the rights and duties of citizens in a state or political system. It deals with the
reciprocal relationship of state and citizens with respect to the legally defined rights and
obligation. In some countries, citizenship education primarily focuses on the civil and
political rights of citizens and the respective obligation as well as rights of state as
defined by the constitution. In such countries the rights of citizens are only limited to
civil and political rights. As such the right to elect and to be elected, the right to hold
political views and freedom of expression, association, right of privacy, life, security, the
right to be treated equally and so on and so forth. These rights presuppose the non
intervention of the state in the social and economical conditions of the society. And hence
the only obligation that is expected from the state and citizens is not to infringe the rights
of other individuals. Beyond respecting the rights of citizens the state is required to
enforce peace, order and stability. So, the state does not have obligation to full fill the
needs of the citizens such employment, social services and provisions.

In some other countries the scope of rights are extended to social and economic rights.
Some countries, especially Scandinavians regions are said to be welfare. Such welfare
state do have obligation to fulfill the social and economic needs of the citizens. Thus, In
addition to ensuring peace and stability and order, such kinds of states do have social and
economic responsibilities to its citizens.

In countries like Ethiopia the scope of rights and duties are vast. As indicated in the third
chapter of the constitutions, the state has economical, social, environmental and
developmental obligations. In addition to ensuring peace and security, law and order at,
the state has also cultural responsibilities. Citizens, on the other hand do have civil,
political, socio-economic, cultural, developmental and environmental rights.

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The constitution has recognized group rights in addition to individual rights. Accordingly,
there are bundles of rights given to children, women, Nation, Nationalities and Peoples,
Labor, pastoralists, and farmers of Ethiopia.

Activity: 1
1. Please go through the FDRE Constitution and try to list out the rights
of women and children?

Dear Learner: when we see the pattern of the distributions of rights and duties, they are
shared reciprocally among citizens, and between citizens and the state. Horizontally,
rights and duties are reciprocally correlated among citizens. That is a persons right can
fully be enjoyed if he/she respects the rights of other persons.

When we see the vertical relations, that is, between the citizens and the state, rights and
duties are reciprocally shared. For example, citizens are entitled to have access to
education; the responsibility to fulfill this service lays on the state. In this regard the state
claims the right to collect taxes/revenue/ from citizens. And hence citizens do have
obligation to pay taxes.

So, there is definitely fair distribution of burdens and rights among and between citizens.
In some political systems, like monarchies, and dictatorships, we have seen in the past,
rights and duties have not been shared. Indeed the state had more rights over the citizens.
And citizens had only mere obligation than rights. As evidenced in the monarchical era of
Ethiopia, the peoples did not have citizenship status. They were referred as subjects.

F Subjects are peoples who hardly have rights but have duties to fulfill.
During the Emperor Hailessilassie time Moral Education had been offered with the
purpose of creating passive ``citizens”. The term citizen is a misnomer because the
people did not have any political or social or economical rights to claim. The appropriate
term which was evidently used by the 1931 Constitution was Subjects-to mean the
people. As the king claimed to be the ``Elect of God``, the peoples did not have political
rights to elect and get elected on the basis of universal franchise. The very purpose of

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moral education at the time was to thus, inculcate the divine right theory and the
Solomonic legend so that people would accept his kingship without any claim against his
absolute power.
During the Durgue time, citizens hardly had political and civil rights. As a matter of fact
the Durgue ruled the country with out any constitution. For about 10 and more years the
country was ruled under mere force and arbitrarily enacted proclamations. We can say
that physical force-coercion was the source of the government power than consent of the
people. Political education had been given with aim of indoctrinating the ideology of the
government. Socialism was the guiding ideology that the citizens needed to learn about it.
Due to this the people’s economic rights, let alone political rights, had been infringed
upon.

Dear learner, the concept of citizen and citizenship is related to democracy. Because
when we talk about citizen we are referring a person who has right and of course with
duty. And citizenship is a status that is established between citizens and the state with
regard to the sharing of rights and duties. In democracy, citizenship, then, implies the
sharing of duties or burdens and rights. However in undemocratic systems citizens enjoys
no or little rights but are expected to fulfill duties.

Activity: 2
1. In democracy rights and duties are shared among citizens and the
state?

As explained above the scope and focuses of civics and ethics-citizenship education
varies from countries to countries. It reflects the concrete legal, social, political and
economic conditions and the visions of respective society. And civic and ethical
education of Ethiopia reflects the social, cultural, political and economic realities and the
visions and future prospects of the country.
In Ethiopian context Civics and Ethics is a multidisciplinary field of study that primarily
deals with the duties, rights and expected roles of citizens and the state in the social,
economical, political and cultural affairs of the country. Its focus is not limited to the

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legal rights and duties of citizens, but also extends to the moral rights and duties of
citizens and the state.

Activity: 3
1. Can you distinguish between legal rights and moral rights?

Civics and Ethics thus teaches citizens about the socio-cultural, economic and political
conditions, challenges and prospects of the country.

F Ethics and civics deals with the reciprocal relationships of rights and
duties that is established between citizens and the State, and among
citizens themselves with regard to political, cultural, social, economical,
environmental and developmental affairs of the country or the society.
Accordingly one can identify at least five categories of citizenship in the Federal
Democratic Republic Ethiopia Constitution: political citizenship, economic and
developmental citizenship, social citizenship, cultural citizenship, environmental
citizenship.

Cultural citizenship implies the rights and responsibilities established among cultural
groups and individuals and state. One of the cultural rights, for instance is related to the
equality of language. In this regard, Article 5 proclaimed that all languages shall enjoy
equal state recognition.
F As stipulated in Article 39 (2) every nation nationality and people in
Ethiopia has the right to speak, to write, and develop its own language;
to express, to develop and to promote its culture; and to preserve its
history.

As indicated in Article 41(9) the state has the responsibility to protect and preserve
historical, cultural legacies, and to contribute to the promotion of the arts and sports.

Activity: 4
1. Can you explain the duties of citizens that are associated or correlated

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with cultural rights?

Political citizenship involves the reciprocal relations ship of rights and duties which are
established among citizens and between citizens and states with regard to the political
affairs or domains of the country.

In this regard, for instance, Article 38 stipulated that every citizen has the right to vote
and to be elected. Here the obligation of the state is to ensure peace and order, and thus
the state is not expected to intervene in the election process.

Activity: 5
1. Can you explain the duties of citizens that are associated or correlated
with cultural rights?

Another dimension of citizenship is social citizenship. The whole notion of economic

and social citizenship has been captured by the following provisions as revealed in
Article 41 from sub articles one to eight.
1. Every Ethiopian has the right to engage freely in economic activities and to
pursue a livelihood of his choice anywhere within the national territory.
2. Every Ethiopian has the right to choose his or her means of livelihood, occupation
and profession.
3. Every Ethiopian national has the right to equal access to publicly funded social
services.
4. The state has the obligation to allocate ever increasing resources to provide to
public health, education and other social services.
5. The state shall, within available means, allocate resources to provide
rehabilitation and assistance to the physically and mentally disabled, aged, and to
children who are left with out parents or guardians.
6. The state shall pursue policies which aim to expand job opportunities for the
unemployed and the poor and shall accordingly undertake programs and public
works and projects.

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Activity: 6
1. Dear learner: all the above provisions aim at improving the economic
and social conditions of citizens. Do you think the obligation to fulfill
and realize such goals falls on the state only? What are the expected
duties of citizens in this regard?

Another important dimension of citizenship is developmental citizenship. This notion of

citizenship has been reflected in Article 43 of the constitution. The following are the main
provisions:
1. The people of Ethiopia as a whole, and each Nation, Nationalities and People in
Ethiopia have the right to improved living standards and to sustainable
development.
2. Nationals (citizens) have the right to participate in the national development and,
in particular, to be consulted with respect to policies and projects affecting their
community.
3. All international agreements and relations concluded, established….shall protect
and ensure Ethiopia’s right to sustainable development.
4. The basic aim of development activities shall be to enhance the capacity of
citizens for development and to meet their basic needs.

Dear learner, what do you think is the duty of citizens? You know poverty and under
development undermine the freedom of citizens to live a descent life-free from hunger,
malnutrition and diseases. So, citizens have an obligation to be come hard working and
industriousness. It is when the efforts and citizens are combined that citizen can won
economic freedoms-or freedom from poverty. So, developmental citizenship shares
obligations and burdens fairly among citizens, between citizens and the state.

What do you think will be the role of civil societies and international donor organization
in ensuring sustainable development? You know fighting poverty and hunger has
becoming the responsibilities of all actors at each level of human association. The family,
the community, the local government, the federal government and the international
organizations have moral obligations to eradicate poverty from the scene of the world.

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Developmental right presupposes, among other things, the solidarity and cooperation
among all actors concerned from the local to international level.

1. All persons have the right to a clean and healthy environment

2. All persons who have been displaced or whose livelihoods have been adversely
affected as result of state programme have the right to compensation, including
relocation with adequate state assistance.

As indicated in sub article one, citizens have rights to live in a healthy environment. Such
notion of citizenship is similar to developmental rights in sense that the realization of it
requires all concerned bodies starting from each individual citizen to international
organizations or international communities.

The last but not the least, category of citizenship is what is referred as environmental
citizenship. Article 44 of the constitutions provides that:
1. All persons have the right to a clean and healthy environment
2. All persons who have been displaced or whose livelihoods have been adversely
affected as result of state programme have the right to compensation, including
relocation with adequate state assistance.
Activity: 7

1. What are the roles/obligations of citizens to ensure healthy

environment which is free from pollutions and all that?

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LESSON TWO: RATIONALES OF CIVICS AND ETHICS

Introduction

The very purpose of learning Civics and Ethics is to create good citizens. Good citizens
are not right-based only. They posses duties also. Citizens do have correlated duties that
particularly emanates form the nature of the citizenship rights. In this lesson, an attempt
is made to introduce students about the very purposes and rationales of learning civics
and Ethics in the country. Attention is given to the ELVEN VALUES of Civic and Ethics

Objectives
At the End of the Lesson, Students will be able to:
 Identify and inculcate the Eleven Values
 Identify their roles in different affairs of the society
 Develop positive values towards democracy, its values, principles
 Develop positive values to diversity

 Dear Learner! Why we learn Civics and Ethics?

F Democracy needs to be reborn in every generation and education is its

midwife. John Dewey

As you know the concept and practice of democracy is foreign to Ethiopia. In order to
build up democracy, citizens need to know about democracy, its principles, values,
processes, structures, challenges and prospects. In addition to such knowledge, citizens
are required to up hold democratic values and exercise them in their day to day decision
making processes. As the saying goes democracy with out democrats will not sustain.
The commitments and democratic qualities of citizens are most required to having a well-
functioning and sustainable democratic system in the country.

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Democratic citizens are not born but they are created through education. So we learn
civics and Ethics to up hold democratic principles and values and exercise them. Indeed
civics and Ethics teaches you about self government.

Dear learner! There are different levels of self government. The primary level of self
government is the individual realm. In democracy citizens are required to govern
themselves with the external impositions and coercions. The family could be taken as the
secondary level wherein democracy could be exercised.

Activity: 1
1. Would explain how democracy is being exercised in your schools?
Please identify the challenges if there is any?

The second major rational why we learn civics is to have good knowledge and awareness
about the social and economic conditions and challenges of the country. As a matter of
fact Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world. The country has been hit by
famine and food shortage. Its economy has been vulnerable to climate change and erratic
whether condition. For long the country has been aid dependent because of low economic
performances. As the society lives under extensive poverty for many decades, and
perhaps, centuries, this definitely has adverse effect on the democratization process.

So, the creating citizens who ensures their freedom from poverty, disease and ignorance
requires knowledge and awareness about these facts. In civics and ethics we learn thus,
about the socio-economic conditions of the country. This definitely will scale up the
general knowledge of citizens which would motivate them to become hard working and
economical citizens.
Activity: 2
1. What do we mean by self-reliant citizen? Can you describe a hard
working and self- reliant citizens?
Dear learner: These are only few of the reasons why we learn civics and ethics. We can
generally say that the ultimate rational for learning civics and ethics is to create good
citizenship.
Before we see the qualities of good citizens, what do you think citizen mean?

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Citizen refers to a person who has rights and duties with bound of a certain political
system or country. A person can automatically acquire citizenship status at birth through
either of birth place or blood line. So, becoming citizen is a base line but is not a
guarantee to become good citizen.
 Who do you think is a good citizen?

A good citizen is one who:

 Up holds democracy and support the democratic system

 Pursue wisdom
 Respects law
 Actively participates in the cultural, socio-economic and political affairs of the
society
 Develops culture of saving
 Is hard working and industrious
 Is patriotic for his country and peoples
 Responsible
 Up holds and fights for the realization equality of groups and individuals
 Stands for justice and fairness
 Is self-reliant and confident

As indicated in the table one important indicator of good citizen is that the positive
tendency and effort of the citizen to up hold democratic values, principles and structures
of the political system. As you know democracy implies a political system whereby the
supreme power vests on the people. The source of the government power is the people
and the people are the government. Do you remember the Abraham Lincolns definition of
democracy?

Democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people. This
definition tells you three important things:

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1. In democracy the sources of government power is the people themselves. It is not

the divine power or force that leads to the formation of democratic government.
2. People can exercise democracy directly or indirectly. i.e. the government requires
the participation of the people.
3. The ultimate purpose of government is to serve the people not vice versa.

Upholding democracy means, therefore, accepting the view that the people are the source
of political power. Citizens need to believe that the government is made up of themselves.
Election is the tool to form government.

Activity: 3
1. Do you think that having a democratic belief is enough to build up
democratic system? Discuss the expected role of the citizens?

Another important quality of which expected from good citizen is his/her tendency and
action to be governed by the law of the country. In democracy, the constitution is the
highest law that both the officials and the peoples should observe. In line with the
constitutions there are hierarchy of laws that governs the actions and behaviors of
citizens. And good citizen not only respects laws, but also fights those who violate laws.
So, a good citizen is not a bystander when he/she comes across a person doing illegal
activities.

F A good citizen not only respects laws, but also fights those who violate
laws.
Activity: 4
1. What are the mechanisms that citizens expose illegal persons? Can
you list them?

Good citizens are also active participants in the affairs of the society or the community. In
the country like Ethiopia, where problems are compounded, the role of citizen should go
beyond political participations. As we mentioned earlier, no doubt, democracy requires
the participation of citizens, not only, during election but also before and after elections.

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How ever that is not enough citizens are expected to engage them selves in community
services.

Activity: 5
1. Can you mention some areas that citizens, especially the youth and
students can go for community service?

Another cardinal quality that good citizens need to develop is equality. You know there
are different forms of equality: Gender equality, equality of Nations, Nationalities and
Peoples, equality of individuals are some, but very essential values which are recognized
by the constitution. Citizens are expected to up hold and show commitment for the
realization of theme.

Activity: 6
1. Can you mention some of the rights that are considered to be the
manifestations of Nations and nationalities and Peoples of Ethiopia?

Good citizens are also expected to stand for justice and fights any form of unfair
discrimination in the society. As you have learned in lower schools there are three types
of justice:
1. distributive justice
2. corrective justice
3. procedural justice

As you know procedural and corrective justice are concerned with the fair or the equal
treatment of the individual with respects to giving equal access to information, and
attaching penalties or rewards in the compensation.
Distributive justice however implies the fair distribution of resources and benefits to all
sections of society. It involves affirmative action policy intervention so as to ensure
equality principles.

Activity: 7

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1. Can you explain the relation between equality and justice?

Dear Learner, as you might remember in your lower grade, good citizens have also a duty
to improve themselves. Ignorance is one manifestation of poverty. Good citizens are
those who fight ignorance. Education, both formal and informal is critically significant to
boost of our thinking horizon. In these competitive world citizens are expected to be
capable and skillful. Knowledge can be broadening not only in schools or universities;
citizens have ample opportunities to upgrade themselves. One source of knowledge and
information could be internet. Another could be books, media, and others.

Knowledge is critical in democracy. As you know decisions are made on the basis of
discussion and persuasion. To persuade your colleagues, you need to be informed, and of
course articulative. Knowledge helps you develop skill of critical thinking. What is
critical thinking? It is a stage where a person argues or counter argues with evidences and
reasons. Here emotions and passions, and mere opinions are not manifestations of critical
thinking.

Some of the challenges of critical thinking involves: Resistance/ alishenef bay/,

distractions, personal abuse and the like. In any dialogue and discussion, citizens should
not attack the personality of the discussants, rather it is expected that citizen attacks the
view or the position. Attacking the personality of the discussants might lead to conflicts.
Activity: 8
1. Can you identify some other challenges of critical thinking?

To sum up, the ultimate purpose of civic and Ethics education is to create competent and
responsible citizen who can effectively participate in the social, cultural, economical,
environmental and political affairs or domains of the country. In short, we can say that the
purpose of the course aims at creating good citizenship. So, active participation is the
manifested qualities of good citizen. But you have to bear in mind that any kind of
participation my have dysfunctional. All activities and participation of good citizen are
always justifiable and responsible. That is, the activities of citizens need to be justified
morally and legally. Thus, good citizens need to make sure that their actions and activities

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in the society are inline with the cherished values and norms and legal rules of the
country.

LESSON THREE: COMPETENCES OF GOOD CITIZENS

Introduction
Active or effective participation of citizens in the multifaceted problems of the society is
an imperative. Any kind of participation may not be successful and bring change in the
society. What is required is informed decision and action. For that citizens need to have
competences which include civic knowledge, civic skills and civic attitudes. This lesson
describes the competences required from good citizens, including civic knowledge, civic
skills and civic dispositions.

Objectives
At the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

 identify virtues of good citizens

 inculcate the civic attitudes
 grasp the need to have civic skills

Dear Learner: What are the competences that are expected from Good citizen? As we
have indicated above, mere membership to a certain state or political society does not
qualify a person to be good citizen. Every one us are having Ethiopian citizenship states
just because we are born from our parents. Good citizenship needs qualifications beyond
mere membership to a country.
F Dear students there are two ways of acquiring citizenship: Birth place/
jus soile/ and Blood Line/ jus sanguiness/. A child can automatically
acquire citizenship of one country where it is born. This is commonly
applicable in western countries as well as U.S America. In countries
like Ethiopia and many African countries, a child automatically acquires
the citizenship status of his parents, irrespective of the birth place.

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As the roles of good citizens are multifaceted and many, there are minimum competences
that are required from them. These are civic Knowledge, civic skills and civic attitudes.
Civic knowledge implies general information and awareness about the social, Cultural,
political, environmental, historical and economical conditions and realities of the past and
the present and also the challenges and prospects ahead of the country. Citizens need to
know their country, its peopling, history, culture, resources and the like. To that end,
knowledge of history, politics (democracy, constitutions, state and government),
sociology, globalization, environment, philosophy, and economics is very valuable.

Dear learner, the sources of information is not limited to formal education where you
learn through reading books and documents. Informally you can also get information,
through media, internet, attending meetings, and so on.

Activity: 1
1. Dear Learner, in developing countries citizens, specially educated
ones are having difficulties to know their own countries realities and
conditions. More often, talking about the west films, foot ball starts,
and the like seemed to be easier than talking about foot ball stars and
film stars of their home country. What do you think the problem lays?
Can we say that such persons have civic Knowledge?

F The pursuance of knowledge for the sake of knowledge doesn’t infer

civic knowledge. Civic knowledge is instrumental to bring change of
attitude and ultimately leads to taking appropriate action. So, we learn
not for the sake of learning, but we learn for action.
Another component, which required from citizens, is what we call civic attitudes. Civic
attitudes involve those character traits, or dispositions which are engrained in the mind of
citizens. Civic attitudes or orientation will develop once citizens acquired civic
knowledge. In order to discharge ones responsibility, for example, community service,
citizens need to develop positive outlook and concern for the community. Altruistic
qualities are required to help the poor and vulnerable ones in the community.
Can you mention some of the civic attitudes required from good citizens?

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The first and primary disposition that is required from good citizen is tolerance. Political
tolerance and cultural tolerance is critical to build up democratic system in our country.
In democracy, peoples are allowed to hold and express their own political view. As result
of such freedom, different view are circulated and reflected in the society. That is the
beauty of democracy. Citizens will have options to choose in such political markets. In
order to ensure the freedom of expression an assembly, the culture of tolerance is a pillar.
So, tolerance could mean accommodation of political differences. At societal level,
tolerance would mean, for instance, a peaceful co-existence of different cultural,
linguistic and religious communities. In Ethiopia where you have more than 80 linguistic
communities, tolerance becomes critical. It would include, then, accepting diversity,
valuing diversity and respecting diversity.

F Accepting diversity: it refers to recognizing the fact that Ethiopia is

diverse and plural having different cultural, linguistic, religious and
social structures.
Valuing diversity: implies that citizens need to appreciate diversity.
Diversity is natural and hence need to be valued positively. It provides
options for citizens, too.
Respect: diversity need to be respected. Respect is the key principle to
live with difference.
Another vital disposition of good citizen is open-mindedness. It implies citizens’
readiness to enter dialogue, listen others and change positions consequently. In dialogue
the stronger idea wins! A related, but different disposition is what we all it civic
mindedness. This implies citizens’ readiness to scarify their individual interests and
values for the sake of promoting the collective inters tot common good. It involves the
altruistic qualities of citizens. So, good citizens always stand for the public interest and
die for it!

Loyalty is another element of civic dispositions. Loyalty involves things like keeping
promises or keeping ones words, keeping relationship. Loyalty is required at different
capacity of citizen. For example an office holder or official is expected to be loyal to the

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people that voted for him. Similarly the civil servant is expected to serve the public
loyally. In doing so, a public servant or employee is expected to respect the rules and
regulations of the employer.

Activity: 2
1. Let assume that you are ordered to hire the wife of your boss in
certain organization with out vacancy announcement. You know that
the rules to employ new employee requires announcement of vacancy.
What are you going to do? Are you going to do it or refuse your boss?
Does loyalty always mean enforcing the decision of the boss?

In addition, good citizens are expected to govern their own behaviors with out fear of
external actors. As the saying goes virtuous citizens’ act virtuously!

Aristotelian notion of virtue implies the ability to do the right thing at the right time in the
right way for the right purpose. Citizens are expected to act virtuously at any
circumstance of life. We know that a robber would act rightly in the presence of police.
But we know that the Robber might do his business -robbery after the police leave the
place.

Activity: 3
1. Identify other dispositions and get to know the meanings of each?

Civic Skills: Civic skills are the third elements which are required from good citizens.
These involve skills of decision making, communication, conflict resolution,
compromise, persuasion, creativity and the like. The following can be listed in this
regard:

 To take part in political discussions; consciousness of current political issues; to be

able to evaluate a position or decision, take a position, defend a position
 To resolve conflicts in a peaceful way
 To interpret the media messages (interests and value systems that are involved etc.)

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 To have media skills to look, choose, and ‘use the buttons’

 To have language competence, reading and writing;
 To be capable in critical handling of information and information technology;
 To possess communication skills
 To know how to vote; to monitor and influence policies and decisions
 To use the media in an active way (not as consumer, but as producer of media
content)
 To participate in voluntary organizations;
 To build coalitions; to co-operate; to interact
 To be capable to handle multiculturalism

In order to participate effectively, thus, Citizens are required to have competence of civic
knowledge, attitude and skill.

Dear Learner! Minimally expected forms of participation might include the following:

1. Political participation. This could involve voting during elections at different levels of
government, be it at kebele, wereda, Regioal and national level. Influencing the
decision making when opportunities are offered or via informal ways. It can also
involve another form. Citizens can come up for their own interest by contacting civil
servants of politicians.
2. Social participation: Citizens becoming a member of voluntary associations, take
active participation in that association.
3. Cultural participation: this might include citizens’ participation to fight exclusion and
discrimination and promote social cohesion. Fight exclusion and discrimination,
Promote social cohesion and inclusion.
4. Economic participation: Contribute to the production process, consume or buy
national products, save money.

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Dear learner: if we expect citizens to vote, to participate in local decision-making, to be

active in civil society, that they do not discriminate, and be active in their work place
what minimal information, attitude and skills does a citizen then need?

Vote: In order to be able to vote, citizens need knowledge and insight in the essence of
the political system; in the way the representative system functions in a parliamentary
democracy; how the separation of powers is organized; what the role is of political
parties; know the differences between political parties; read party programme;
understand how election campaigns function; they should know how votes are cast, how
the counting and allocation of seats in parliament works, how to establish a political
party, how a new government is formed after elections.

Influencing Decision making: Citizens need to know how the formal and actual policy-
and decision-making takes place (at local, state and federal level, what the role is of civil
servants, the elected, the (local) government, advisory councils, ways of influencing
policymaking; know how to contact officials, collect information, contact interest groups
and political parties; know how societal wishes are transferred in political demands;
what the role is of the media; know how the implementation of decisions can be
influenced.

Bureaucracy: Know what institutions or organizations to contact for specific problems.

Civil society: Know what organizations play a role in society in between government
and the society. What their role is in the democratic process. How to become a member
of voluntary associations. Know how the boards of these associations function.

Exclusions: Fight discrimination in personal relations at the workplace, in the

neighborhood, at school etc.

Underdevelopment: Worry about third world poverty. Fight inequality. Know what role
national and international organizations play in relieving poverty. Know the role of
voluntary organizations in this field.
Activity: 4

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1. What do you think the maximum competences that citizens should

show up?

UNIT SUMMARY

In this unit we have discussed that civics and ethics deals primarily with the reciprocal
relations ships of rights and duties which are established among citizens, between citizens
and the state with regard to political, social-economic, cultural, developmental and
environmental domains of the society. The ultimate purpose of learning civics and ethics
is to create good citizenship. And a good citizen is the one who up holds democracy,
respects the laws of the country, hardworking and self-reliant, responsible, patriotic,
seeks knowledge and stands for justice, equality and truth. To be come good citizen, then
one has to have good knowledge-civic knowledge, skills and attitudes. The goodness of
citizens are tested in terms of their participation and caliber to solve societal problems.
Good citizens are those who actively participate in the social, cultural, political,
economical, developmental and environmental issues and problems of the society.

To that end, citizens need to have good knowledge about the socio-economic, social,
political and environmental condition of the country. Besides, they are required to show
commitments and positive tendencies or inclinations to promote the public interest, to
help the poor and the disabled, to uphold equality of groups and individuals. On to of
these civic skills are critical to undertake ones mission successfully. Skills related to
communication, problem solving, persuasion, debating, peaceful ways of conflict
resolutions and the like.

CHECK LIST

S.N ITEMS YES NO

1 Can you define civics and Ethics
2 Can you identify and distinguish the scope of citizenship
Ethiopia
3 Can you list out the Eleven Values of Civics and Ethics
4 Can you distinguish the competences of good citizenship
5 Have you understood the reciprocal nature of rights and duties

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6 Can you identify some civic attitudes of good citizen

7 Have you understood the essence of civic knowledge
8 Can you mention at least five skills-civic skills

If your answer for the above question is NO then please go through the reading
material again!

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