How to Be a Citizen

Six Lessons for a Brave New World

'When a renowned constitutional scholar explains why the law is not enough and is sometimes even the problem, we need to listen'
PETER GRAY, AUTHOR OF FREE TO LEARN

'Skach convincingly tells us that laws and rules are not sufficient for living together in peace'
CARLO ROVELLI, AUTHOR OF SEVEN BRIEF LESSONS ON PHYSICS

'This book will help you understand the mess we're in while providing a roadmap for a better future'
BEN RAWLENCE

C. L. Skach always believed in the strength of the law – she spent her career in some of the most fractured, war-torn corners of the world, writing constitutions to help fix society. But as she sat alone in a trailer in Baghdad after a rocket attack, she admitted what she’d been denying for years: a good society does not come from governments telling us what to do. It comes from us learning how to be better neighbours to one another.


In How to Be a Citizen Skach lays out six ideas, informed by her ethos of collective responsibility, for how we can be good citizens in a divided age. The result is an optimistic vision for a better future – and a tool for achieving it.