'Citizenship Without Illusions': update

It's been two months since I reported on my contract with IVP Academic to write a third book, provisionally titled, "Citizenship Without Illusions." It's time for an update. By the start of this calendar year I had already written three chapters but in a different format than the one I am working with now. Since signing the contract, I have written most of seven chapters, with two more to go. The table of contents will look something like this:

1. Introduction

2. To Be a Citizen

• Growing into citizenship
• The office of citizen
• Citizenship: the backstory
• A world of independent states
• Dual nationality
  

3.  How to Be a Citizen

• Obedience to the law
• Keeping informed
• Thinking local
• Responding when called
• Citizenship under less-than-ideal circumstances

4. When Kingdoms Collide

• Obeying God rather than men
• Resisting injustice: civil disobedience
• Resisting the political illusions of our day

5. How to Vote

• Voting: the backstory
• On not wasting votes
• Making every vote count
• Faith-based political parties?
• Holding our noses

6. Mobilizing for Political Action

• Starting at the local level
• The virtual illusion
• Getting involved
• Living out the kingdom in politics

7. Progressives and Conservatives

• Understanding progress and conservation
• Pluriformity as norm: urban renewal and marriage
• Progress, progressivism, conservatism
• Affirming norms and accepting pluralism

8. Global Citizenship

• Patria and cosmopolis
• Co-operation across borders
• Responsibility to God and neighbour

9. Prayer and Politics

• Biblical precepts
• Liturgical resources
• The sovereignty of God and the kingship of Christ

10. Final Thoughts 

Writers of fiction sometimes tell us that, once they start a story, the characters take on a life of their own and surprise the author at times. I have had a similar experience with this book in that, once I had begun writing, I discovered that I was emphasizing local action more than I had intended. After all, the local level is where we are likely to have the most immediate impact, seeing the results of our efforts on the communities closest to us and our families. Naturally I have not excluded our wider communities, including our nations and beyond.

As I have not yet begun to write the last three chapters, the projected headings within them are likely to change before I am done. More updates to come.