Citizenship is the Right to have RIGHTS

embedded by Embedded Video

THE MEANING OF CITIZENSHIP.

In a democracy, the source of all authority — the legitimate basis of all power — is the collective body of the people, the citizens of the polity. There is popular sovereignty of the citizens and thereby government by consent of the governed. A citizen is a full and equal member of a polity, such as a democratic nation-state (Mouffe 1995, 217). 

In some states or countries, citizenship, the condition of being a citizen, is based on the place of a person’s birth, which is known as “jus soli” citizenship. In other places, the status of citizen is based on the citizenship of one’s parents, which is known as “jus sanguinis” citizenship. Some countries use both bases for ascribing citizenship. Further, most democratic states have established legal procedures by which people without a birthright to citizenship can become naturalized citizens. Equality before the law is one fundamental right of the citizen; other examples are such political rights as voting and participating in public interest groups. Constitutions may make a distinction between the rights of citizens and of inhabitants of the political community who are not citizens. For example, in the United States of America, only citizens have the right to vote, serve on juries, and be elected to certain offices of the government, such as Congress. All other rights in the United States Constitution are guaranteed to everyone residing in the country, citizens and noncitizens alike. 

The people of a democratic country or nation-state may have various and overlapping identities based on such factors of society as religion, race, ethnicity, social class, and gender. However, the single identity possessed equally by all citizens of the polity, regardless of differences, is civic identity. Held in common by all citizens, civic identity is based on freely given commitment to certain civic principles and values of the democracy. In countries with widespread diversity in religious, racial, and ethnic identities (e.g., the USA, Canada, and Australia), a common and overarching civic identity is the tie that holds citizens together in a single democratic political order. 

WHY CITIZENSHIP IS AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF A DEMOCRACY ?

Citizenship is the social and legal link between individuals and their democratic political community. And the status of citizenship entails very important responsibilities and duties that must be fulfilled; if they are not, democracy is disabled. The duties of responsible citizenship include paying taxes, serving in the country’s armed forces when called upon, obeying laws enacted by one’s representatives in government, demonstrating commitment and loyalty to the democratic political community and state, constructively criticizing the conditions of political and civic life, and participating to improve the quality of political and civic life. The responsibilities of citizenship also involve action to narrow the gap between ideals and realities. For instance, the highest standards for good government in a constitutional liberal democracy are (1) equal security for the rights of all persons in the polity, and (2) government by consent of the governed. Citizens have the responsibility to recognize and overcome contradictions of ideals concerning equality of rights for all citizens, such as unjust denial to certain persons or groups of their rights to participate in government or to fair treatment in the courts of law (Galston 1995, 48). 

If citizens of a democracy would have security for their rights, they must take responsibility for them. First, they must respect the rights of others. Second, they must act to defend their own rights and the rights of others against those who would abuse them. And third, they must exercise their rights in order to make democracy work. The rights to vote, to speak freely on public issues, and to participate in voluntary organizations, for example, have little or no significance in political and civic life unless citizens regularly and effectively use them. 

At present, democratic nation-states are the only dependable agencies for enforcement of their citizens’ rights and for the exercise of their citizens’ responsibilities. “Citizenship is the fundamental institution that connects the individual bearer of rights to the protective agencies of the state. The civic realm of the state provides the main channels through which individuals can participate politically and share in governance” (Klusmeyer 1996, 97).