Everything about Citizens totally explained
Citizenship is membership in a society, community, (originally a
city or town but now usually a
country) and carries with it
rights to political participation; a person having such membership is a
citizen. Citizenship status often implies some responsibilities and duties. It is largely coterminous with
nationality, although it's possible to have a nationality without being a citizen (for example, be legally subject to a state and entitled to its protection without having rights of political participation in it); it's also possible to have political rights without being a national of a state. In most nations, a non-citizen is a non-national and called either a
foreigner or an
alien.
Citizenship, which is explained above, is the political rights of an individual within a society. Thus, you can have a citizenship from one country and be a national of another country. One example might be as follows: A Cuban-American might be considered a national of Cuba due to his being born there, but he could also become an American citizen through naturalization. Nationality most often derives from place of birth (for example
jus soli) and, in some cases, ethnicity (for example
jus sanguinis). Citizenship derives from a legal relationship with a state. Citizenship can be lost, as in
denaturalization, and gained, as in
naturalization. Citizenship is when a citizen is legally allowed in a country.
The term
Active Citizenship implies working towards the betterment of one's
community through economic participation, public service,
volunteer work, and other such efforts to improve life for all citizens. In this vein,
schools in
England provide lessons in citizenship.
In Wales the model used is
Personal and Social Education.
Subnational citizenship
Citizenship most usually relates to membership of the nation state, but the term can also apply at subnational level. Subnational entities may impose requirements, of residency or otherwise, which permit citizens to participate in the political life of that entity, or to enjoy benefits provided by the government of that entity. But in such cases, those eligible are also sometimes seen as "citizens" of the relevant state, province, or region. An example of this is how the fundamental basis of
Swiss citizenship is citizenship of an individual commune, from which follows citizenship of a canton and of the Confederation.
Honorary citizenship
Some countries extend "honorary citizenship" to those whom they consider to be especially admirable or worthy of the distinction.
By
act of United States Congress and presidential assent,
honorary United States citizenship has been awarded to only six individuals.
Honorary Canadian citizenship requires the unanimous approval of
Parliament. The only people to ever receive honorary Canadian citizenship are
Raoul Wallenberg posthumously in 1985,
Nelson Mandela in 2001, the 14th
Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso in 2006, and
Aung San Suu Kyi in 2007.
In
2002 South Korea awarded honorary citizenship to Dutch football (soccer) coach
Guus Hiddink who successfully and unexpectedly took the national team to the semi-finals of the
2002 FIFA World Cup. Honorary citizenship was also awarded to
Hines Ward, a black
Korean American football player, in 2006 for his efforts to minimize discrimination in Korea against half-Koreans.
American actress
Angelina Jolie received an honorary
Cambodian citizenship in 2005 due to her humanitarian efforts.
Cricketers
Matthew Hayden and
Herschelle Gibbs were awarded honorary citizenship of
St. Kitts and Nevis in March 2007 due to their record-breaking innings' in the
2007 Cricket World Cup.
In
Germany the honorary citizenship is awarded by cities, towns and sometimes federal states. The honorary citizenship ends with the death of the honored, or, in exceptional cases, when it's taken away by the council or parliament of the city, town or state. In the case of war criminals all such honors were taken away by "Article VIII, section II, letter i of the directive 38 of the Allied Control Council for Germany" on October 12, 1946. In some cases, honorary citizenship was taken away from members of the former
GDR regime, for example
Erich Honecker, after the collapse of the GDR in 1989/90.
Historical citizenship
Historically, many states limited citizenship to only a proportion of their population, thereby creating a citizen class with political rights superior to other sections of the population, but equal with each other. The classical example of a limited citizenry was
Athens where slaves, women, and resident foreigners (called
metics) were excluded from political rights. The
Roman Republic forms another example (see
Roman citizenship), and, more recently, the
nobility of the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had some of the same characteristics.
Polis citizenship
The first form of citizenship was based on the way people lived in the ancient Greek times, in small-scale organic communities of the polis. In those days citizenship wasn't seen as a public matter, separated from the private life of the individual person. The obligations of citizenship were deeply connected into one’s everyday life in the polis. To be truly human, one had to be an active citizen to the community, which Aristotle famously expressed: “To take no part in the running of the community's affairs is to be either a beast or a god!” This form of citizenship was based on obligations of citizens towards the community, rather than rights given to the citizens of the community. This wasn't a problem because they all had a strong affinity with the polis; their own destiny and the destiny of the community were strongly linked. Also, citizens of the polis saw obligations to the community as an opportunity to be virtuous, it was a source of honour and respect. In Athens, citizens were both ruler and ruled, important political and judicial offices were rotated and all citizens had the right to speak and vote in the political assembly.
However, an important aspect of polis citizenship was exclusivity. Citizenship in ancient Greece and Rome, as well as Medieval cities that practiced polis citizenship, was exclusive and inequality of status was widely accepted. Citizens had a much higher status than non-citizens: Women, slaves or ‘barbarians’. For example, women were seen to be irrational and incapable of political participation (although some, most notably
Plato, disagreed). Methods used to determine whether someone could be a citizen or not could be based on wealth (the amount of taxes one paid), political participation, or heritage (both parents had to be born in the polis).
In the Roman Empire, polis citizenship changed form: Citizenship was expanded from small scale communities to the entire empire. Romans realised that granting citizenship to people from all over the empire legitimized Roman rule over conquered areas. They also found that taxes were more easily collected and the need for expensive military power in those areas with citizenship was reduced. Citizenship in the Roman era was no longer a status of political agency; it had been reduced to a judicial safeguard and the expression of rule and law.
School subject
In 2002,
Citizenship was introduced as a compulsory subject of the National Curriculum in all state-run schools in the
United Kingdom. Some state schools offer an examination in this subject, all state schools have a statutory requirement to report student's progress in Citizenship.
Responsibilities of citizenship
The legally enforceable duties of citizenship vary depending on one's country, and may include such items as:
- paying taxes (although tourists and illegal aliens also pay some taxes such as sales taxes,etc)
- serving in the country's armed forces when called upon (in the US even illegal immigrants must serve in case of a draft).
- obeying the criminal laws enacted by one's government, even while abroad.
Purely ethical and moral duties tend to include:
demonstrating commitment and loyalty to the democratic political community and state
constructively criticizing the conditions of political and civic life
participating to improve the quality of political and civic life
respecting the rights of others
defending one's own rights and the rights of others against those who would abuse them
exercising one's rights
Bibliography
Further Information
Get more info on 'Citizens'.
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