Being an active citizen is complex and time-consuming. First, it involves being sufficiently informed to know what's going on in the world, what matters personally and what matters globally, how government works and how language is used both to illuminate and obfuscate political realities, where to access reliable information and how to compare sources so that rival perspectives can be transformed into useful knowledge. Second, active citizens need to arrive at judgements about who and what can be trusted. Can one party or politician be trusted more than another? Are elected representatives and governments able to do what they promise at election time? How far can friends, neighbours and strangers be depended upon to engage in the kind of collective action that might bring about desired changes? Can the existing constitutional system be trusted to serve the interests of all people, or should active citizens be thinking about working around the system, creating their own rules of engagement? Third, active citizens need to make their voices heard and their presence felt. This involves using whatever skills and resources are available to develop networks of collective self-organisation, contribute to the political discourse and make a tangible impact upon the ways in which political power is exercised.