Ahmad Malkawi
Writing for Ammon News

Civic activism in a general sense is an intentional participation in the decision making process to achieve social, political, and economic positive ends.

Active citizen participation is considered a principal tread in empowering communities. A study by the World Alliance for Citizen Participation finds that both social activism and volunteering is important strategies in social change and human development. The United Nations Commission on Social Development deems citizens’ involvement as a required tool for promoting social integration.

If improving our world is imperative, then involvement in the affairs of civic society’ is not just a right but rather a responsibility. Accordingly, fostering people’s participation plays an important role in mobilizing individuals to build a better community.

While civic activism varies from one place to another, the most common premise is that all people participation is needed and ought to be welcomed regardless of individual’s social or economic position. Life is not simply run by the elite leadership but it is the work and fingerprint of every citizen. Responsibilities should be divided up so that the people of special talents are engaged in an environment where power of authority is decentralized.

The current generation of youngsters is of special interest. They are growing up with unprecedented access to information and communication tools. In return, it is more than easy for letting their voice be heard on critical life matters. Regardless, civic activism does not mean setting passively and waiting for miracles but rather actively reaches out for participation.

It is worth noting that public involvement is a vital step in any governmental policy making process to ensure a quick, principled, and effective response to events that govern the civil society's constitutional rights. In fact, pertinent decisions made without civic input should be cast off as illegitimate. Furthermore, using fear of foreign influence to justify restrictions on civic association is condemned; democratic governments should not be in the business of introducing legal barriers to civic activism. The effective functioning of any civil society rests on guarantees of the freedom of association and civic engagement.

It should be clear that civic activism has nothing to do with confrontation: it is basically an attempt by active citizens to persuade people to change their behavior or persuade governments to change laws. Nonviolence is a strategy for change that rejects violence as a choice for social protest. In modern times, nonviolence has been Gandhi’s decades-long nonviolent struggle against British rule in India. Also Martin Luther King adopted nonviolent methods in his struggle to win civil rights for the African Americans. The type of required involvement is a transformational activism that opens the minds to new life perspectives that ultimately can benefit the country’s social, political, and economical relations.

Furthermore, activism does not imply dominance by a single organization, group, or philosophy but rather an open format to all concerned citizens to freely participate in the decision-making process. In the quest for change, activist can use the powerful tools of education, persuasion, communication, and mass media outreach. Examples of civic activism including, but not limited to, voting, volunteering, writing a letter to a local paper, sending an e-mail to a member of parliament, participating in a public opinion poll, speaking out at meetings, or supporting the work of an organization.

In order to any meaningful change, the focus should be on building institutions, which conform to local laws and can utilize the supremacy of mass collaboration and collective creativity to increase social justice and reduce the negative impacts of unfair practices.

Civic activism and community engagement should be treasured as a blueprint for a healthy growth and development. Planning the future should be designed to ensure reaching unifying goals and objectives which will systematically strengthen citizens and communities at large.

In conclusion, active civic participation is a crucial step in building empowered and successful communities. Now is the time to commence our constructive civic involvement for a lasting and positive mark on our needs and aspirations.

Dr. Ahmad Malkawi