FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

CONTACT:

William K. Dustin
7171 Mid Oaks Ave.

Stillwater, MN 55082

651-430-3933

dusti001@maroon.tc.umn.edu

http://www.ethicofcitizenship.com

 

 

RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOK GIVES NEW MEANING TO THE CONCEPT OF CITIZENSHIP

 

January 15, 2000 Stillwater, MN

 

Toward an Ethic of Citizenship Creating a Culture of Democracy for the 21st Century

 

In this recently published book the idea of citizenship is developed as the mediating mechanism that will establish the necessary balance between the individual and community which will make the emergence of a culture of democracy possible in the next century. The book is distinguished by its argument that the institution of election must be replaced with representation which is the highest obligation of citizenship. While written for an academic audience, the book should appeal to anyone interested in developing a genuine democratic citizenship in the United States.

 

The author was educated at Amherst College and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines and has traveled rather extensively. He is currently employed with the State of Minnesota and is contemplating retirement to pursue additional writing. The idea for this book arose out of a little known political scandal, referred to as “phonegate”, that occurred in Minnesota in the early 1990’s in which a number of legislators were found to have been abusing their phone privileges. The author had been called for jury duty the year before this scandal, and that experience gave him the idea that service in the legislature ought to be a duty of citizenship like jury duty. Although the idea of the citizen legislature goes back to Aristotle, serious consideration of it raises the questions of what is meant by citizenship and representation. The book addresses those questions and related issues.