This argument is especially interesting as we consider the question of
civil society, because it is those smaller groups, associations, and day-today
patterns of interactions that provide the “social glue” that holds society
together. Michael Walzer points out that citizenship is one of many roles
that members play, but the state itself is unlike all the other associations. “It
both frames civil society and occupies space within it. It fixes the boundary
conditions and the basic rules of all associational activity (including political
activity). It compels association members to think about a common good,
beyond their own conceptions of the good life” (1995, 169). Through the
citizenship role, we may integrate the interests and experiences that we have
in other, less comprehensive realms. Moreover, acting as a citizen, exercising
the civic virtues brings us into a closer relationship with others. It increases
the feeling that people belong to a community. So, “the activity of citizenship
performs an integrative function in two respects, first, it enables the
individual to integrate the various roles he or she plays; second, it integrates
individuals into the community” (Dagger 1997, 101).