How to Be a Citizen - by C L Skach (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The oldest question in political philosophy is simple: What is the best way to organize society? The question used to occupy legal scholar C. L. Skach, too, whose answer was found in crafting good constitutions, until her participation in helping to do so, including in Iraq in 2009, led her to step back from law as the answer. As she argues instead in How to Be a Citizen, the good life in society shouldn't come as an imposition through law but should instead emerge from bottom-up interaction. Skach lays out six principles-informed by everything from civil wars to civil rights struggles, from the responsibilities of bystanders to mutual aid in the pandemic-to help us build small societies of our, and our neighbors', making. The lessons are sometimes deceptively simple: share your tomatoes from your garden, cultivate and spend time in unstructured social spaces, teach children to negotiate their social interactions, rather than prescribe such interactions for them. But the aggregate makes clear that many small steps, in concert, can lead to beautiful things, all without the law. Equal parts personal and philosophical, and unfailingly wise, How to Be a Citizen invites us to see society not as something imposed by law but rather something we create together"--

Book Synopsis

An expert on the writing of constitutions argues that the path to a thriving society begins with forgetting about them: "Not James Madison but Bob Dylan or Annie Lennox should be our guide" (Mark Tushnet).

In 2009, constitutional scholar C. L. Skach went to Iraq to help revise the constitution. She survived a missile barrage in the Green Zone--an event that proved a breaking point in her thinking about constitutions. In short: they don't really work.

In How to Be a Citizen, Skach calls to move beyond constitutions. She argues that just as complex natural systems spontaneously generate order, we can, too. Looking to pandemic gardens, Reggio-Emilia schools, and community-driven safety patrols, she envisions not government by force, but society that is local, cultivated, and true. Grounded in six principles as simple as a call to spend time on a park bench, this book shows how community spaces, education, and markets can be reshaped to nurture cooperation and encourage flourishing.  

Equal parts personal, philosophical, and practical, How to Be a Citizen invites us to see society not as something imposed by law, but rather something we create together.

Review Quotes

"Necessary reading for those who wish to foster civil discourse and societal cooperation."--Kirkus

"Skach convincingly tells us that laws and rules are not sufficient for living together in peace. My hope is that the values she endorses could have a chance, and not just locally, but towards all our brothers and sisters all over the planet."
--Carlo Rovelli, author of The Order of Time

"Skach's remarkable analysis will change how you see our current moment. The picture she paints of the failing rules-based world order is instantly recognisable. And the imaginative solutions for citizenship are lucid and compelling. This book will help you understand the mess we're in while providing a roadmap for a better future."
--Ben Rawlence, author of The Treeline

"From a search for laws that can provide the basis for a good society, Cindy Skach leads us to reexamine the virtues of a good citizen, one whom people can respect and value as a member of their community. To make a better world, she urges, we should teach our children first how to build better communities."--Roger Myerson, University of Chicago, 2007 Nobel Laureate in Economics

"Skach's experience includes advising constitution drafters and observing how constitutions work (too often badly) on the ground. Drawing on that experience and a wide range of studies by social scientists, Skach urges us to move away from relying on constitutional rules and authorities and toward a 'guerilla' constitutionalism in which we rely on our own resources and resilience to solve our problems. Not James Madison but Bob Dylan or Annie Lennox should be our guide. This is an incredibly thought-provoking work addressing the crises of governance we face today."--Mark Tushnet, Harvard Law School

"When a renowned constitutional scholar explains why the law, enforced by a hierarchy of power, is not enough and is sometimes even the problem, we need to listen. Skach describes brilliantly, with compelling examples, six ways to become better citizens and thereby improve our own wellbeing while helping to build a better world from the ground up. I recommend this book to everyone."--Peter Gray, author of Free to Learn

About the Author

C. L. Skach is a professor of political and legal theory at the University of Bologna. She was previously professor of law at King's College London and professor of comparative government and law at the University of Oxford, after having taught at Harvard University for a decade as an associate professor of government. She splits her time between Bologna, Italy, and Oxford, UK.