Citizens of a democratic nation have a responsibility to be actively involved within their government and to truly understand the rights and demands placed on them. The political-democratic community ideally functions when its citizens participate with informed decisions. It is a machine that works properly when citizens understand their rights and responsibilities within society. Citizens must also be aware of the problems and truths of politics. Democracy is not perfect and that is the reality when working with its citizens to help them understand their place in the political game. Society within a democratic nation functions by understanding the rights of all involved and the allocation of resources within one's community, state and nation. However, the civic responsibilities of people within the nation are not just about the nation they support. but also on a global level. This is a component of citizenship education that is missing from today's teaching, but which is developing as nations become increasingly interdependent on each other and increasingly interconnected. Mansilla & Gardner (2007) discussed in depth the topic of “global consciousness” where students would develop the ability to see themselves and the world around them, being “aware” of global activity and able to “ orient one's actions accordingly." (p. 6) This concept is useful in the practice of global education in schools because it helps students understand the world around them and their place in it, rather than just learning about the world and still being questionable about it all which is on the “outside”. Students must see themselves as active agents in the world and the strengthening effect of...... middle of paper ......y for the constitutional rights of citizens and the status of being created by the people, for the people. Works citedBrunold-Conesa, C. (2010). International education: the international baccalaureate, montessori and global citizenship. 272. Retrieved November 17, 2013, from http://jri.sagepub.com/content/9/3/259.refs.htmlMansilla, V. B., & Gardner, H. (2007). Learning in the global era: international perspectives on globalization and education (pp. 47-66). Berkeley: University of California Press. Sperandino, J., Grudzinski-Hall, M., & Stewart-Gambino, H. (2010). Developing an undergraduate global citizenship program: Definition and evaluation challenges. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 12(1), 12-22.