CITIZENSHIP

🔷 Introduction

Citizenship denotes the legal and political status of an individual as a full and responsible member of a sovereign state. It defines the reciprocal relationship between the individual and the state, where:

• The state grants civil, political, and social rights, and
• The individual fulfills duties and obligations toward the state.

Thus, citizenship is both a status and a practice, involving participation in public life and identification with a political community.

📚 Important Definitions

Thinker	Definition
Aristotle	“He who has the power to take part in the deliberative or judicial administration of any state is said to be a citizen.”
Gettel	“Citizenship is the status of an individual due to which he enjoys civil and political rights in the state and is ready to fulfil his obligations.”
Harold J. Laski	“Citizenship is the contribution of one’s instructed judgment to the public good.”
William Boyd	“Citizenship consists in the right ordering of loyalties.”
T. H. Marshall	“Full and equal membership in a political community.”

🧑‍⚖️ Who is a Citizen?

Citizenship is acquired primarily through two principles:

• Jus Sanguinis (Right of Blood)
  Citizenship by birth to citizen parents.
• Jus Soli (Right of Soil)
  Citizenship by being born in the territory of the state. (Followed historically in the UK and US)

🧠 Theories of Citizenship

1. Liberal Theory

Key Thinker: T. H. Marshall

Book: Citizenship and Social Class (1950)

Core Idea: Citizenship ensures equal rights and duties—civil, political, and social:

• Civil rights – 18th century (freedom of speech, property, justice)
• Political rights – 19th century (voting, participation)
• Social rights – 20th century (education, welfare)

🟢 John Rawls added the idea of redistributive justice for the least advantaged.

2. Libertarian Theory

Key Thinker: Robert Nozick

Book: Anarchy, State and Utopia (1974)

Citizenship is based on individual choice, market exchange, and voluntary association.

Citizens are rational consumers of public goods, not passive recipients of state benefits.

💡 Margaret Thatcher's Britain is a real-world example—priority to market over welfare.

3. Marxist Theory

Key Thinker: Anthony Giddens

Works:

• A Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism (1981)
• The Nation-State and Violence (1985)

📌 Citizenship rights are products of class struggle.

Focus on welfare capitalism shaped by labour movements.

Giddens blends Marxist and liberal ideas—citizenship can be realized in a liberal state if civil rights of workers are ensured.

4. Communitarian Theory

Key Thinkers:

• Hannah Arendt (The Human Condition, 1958)
• Michael Walzer (Spheres of Justice, 1983)
• Benjamin Barber (Strong Democracy, 1984)

📌 Citizenship is tied to community identity and active participation in public life.

Focus on common good over individual rights.

Emphasizes group rights and moral obligations.

🛑 Critique of Liberalism: Overemphasis on individualism undermines collective responsibility.

5. Feminist Perspective

Key Thinkers: Iris Marion Young, Carole Pateman

Citizenship remains gendered. Legal equality doesn't translate into social or political equality for women.

💬 J. S. Mill: “An egalitarian family is a more fertile ground for equal citizens than one organized like a school for despotism.”

📌 Feminists argue:

• Women are second-class citizens in practice.
• The state must recognize gender-specific disadvantages.
• Citizenship must include equal participation of women in public and private spheres.

⚖️ Conclusion

Citizenship is not a monolithic concept—it varies across ideological, social, and economic contexts. While liberal theory emphasizes rights and legal status, communitarian and feminist critiques stress active participation and inclusivity. A comprehensive understanding of citizenship today must be intersectional, participatory, and justice-oriented.