Institutional-Collective Components and Citizenship Culture (Case Study: Citizens of Sanandaj)

Participation of citizens in community affairs and the quality of their participation are considered a social necessity, an important indicator of progress and a sign of the development of countries. The social and cultural contexts along with the diversity of cultures shape different meanings in the society. Citizenship culture is a comprehensive framework of appropriate behaviors for the development of country and the rights and obligations of citizens. This research was conducted with the aim of structural analysis of citizenship culture and its impact on the implementation of citizenship rights and duties among Sanandaj citizens by a descriptive and survey method. The researcher-made questionnaire with appropriate validity and reliability was distributed through a multi-stage cluster sampling among 400 citizens aged 18 years and above in the city of Sanandaj. The findings show that the mean scores of citizens in Sanandaj in terms of the attitude toward the status of citizenship and belonging to it (subjective assessment of citizenship and belonging to it) in the Iranian society is lower than the average of other components of citizenship. In the next rank, we observe that the average score of membership and sense of belonging to the Iranian community (the measure of objective citizenship) based on subjective situation is below the average, indicating that the citizens of Sanandaj are mainly and primarily identify themselves with local community rather than the Iranian community. The findings of the study also show that the independent variables of responsibility and participation, social identity, legality and citizenship education have a direct and significant effect on the citizenship culture of the citizens of Sanandaj. Also, the citizenship culture itself has had a significant effect on respect for citizenship rights and citizenship assignments.