Conclusion: About Responsibility

Abstract

The preceding chapters explored whether the legal system can provide useful guidance to anyone who wishes to be a responsible citizen in dealing with public issues. The key word is “responsible,” and perhaps the best way to sum up the guidance offered in this book is to say that ultimately it is all about the exercise of responsibility. As was stated at the beginning, if democracy is to be more than a hollow word, we each have a civic responsibility to make up our mind about public issues and to express our conclusions. The point was well stated in a 2012 national report on civic learning: “To be an American means to take responsibility for democratic purposes, practices, vitality, and viability.”¹