Citizenship

From Open Encyclopedia

For other uses, see citizen (disambiguation).

Citizenship is membership in a political community (originally a city but now usually a state) and carries with it rights to political participation; a person having such membership is a citizen. It is largely coterminous with nationality, although it is possible to have a nationality without being a citizen (i.e., be legally subject to a state and entitled to its protection without having rights of political participation in it); it is also possible to have political rights without being a national of a state; for example, a citizen of a Commonwealth country resident in the United Kingdom is entitled to full political rights.

See nationality for further discussion of the properties of national citizenship and how it can be acquired.

Citizenship often also implies working towards the betterment of one's community through participation, volunteer work, and efforts to improve life for all citizens. In this vein, some schools in England and Wales give citizenship lessons – a slight variation of Personal and Social Education.

1 Subnational citizenship
2 Supranational citizenship
- 2.1 European Union (EU) citizenship
- 2.2 Commonwealth citizenship
3 Honorary citizenship
4 Historical citizenship
5 See also
6 External links

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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.

Citizenship as 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. Some countries like Cuba and the United States of America forbid dual citizenship in the other country because of political tensions between the two nations. Nationality most often derives from place of birth (i.e. jus soli) and, in some cases, ethnicity (i.e. jus sanguinis). Citizenship derives from a legal relationship with a state. Nationality can be lost, as in denaturalization, and gained, as in naturalization.

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Supranational citizenship

In recent years, some intergovernmental organisations have extended the concept and terminology associated with citizenship to the international level, where it is applied to the totality of the citizens of their constituent countries combined. Two examples are given below, of citizenship in the European Union, and also of citizenship within the Commonwealth of Nations. As of 2005, citizenship at this level is a secondary concept, with a weaker status than national citizenship.

The ultimate version of supranational citizenship would be some sort of global citizenship; the United Nations does not represent this concept directly, however, being more of an international forum than a structure for expressing individual rights and responsibilities.

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European Union (EU) citizenship

The Maastricht Treaty introduced the concept of citizenship of the European Union. This citizenship flows from national citizenship — one holds the nationality of an EU member state and as a result becomes a "citizen of the Union" in addition.

EU citizenship offers certain rights and privileges within the EU; in many areas EU citizens have the same or similar rights as native citizens in member states. Such rights granted to EU citizens ([1]) include:

freedom of movement and the right of residence within the territory of the Member States;
right to vote and stand as a candidate at elections to the European Parliament and at municipal elections in the Member State of residence;
right to diplomatic and consular protection;
right of petition to the European Parliament; and
right to refer to the Ombudsman.

The right of residence connotes not only the right of abode, but also the right to apply to work in any position (including national civil services with the exception of sensitive positions such as defence).

EU member states also use a common passport design, burgundy coloured, with the name of the member state, national seal, and the title "European Union" (or its translation).

Union citizenship continues to gain in status and the European Court of Justice has stated that Union citizenship will be the "fundamental status of nationals of Member States" (see Case C-184/99 Rudy Grzelczyk v Centre Public d'Aide Sociale d'Ottignes-Louvain-la-Neuve, [2001] ECR I-6193, para 31). The European Commission has affirmed that Union citizenship should be the fundamental status of EU nationals, but this is not accepted by many of the member states of the European Union.

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Commonwealth citizenship

The concept of "Commonwealth Citizenship" has been in place ever since the establishment of the Commonwealth of Nations. As with the EU, one holds Commonwealth citizenship only by being a citizen of a Commonwealth member state. This form of citizenship offers certain privileges within some Commonwealth countries:

Some such countries do not require tourist visas of citizens of other Commonwealth countries.
In some Commonwealth countries resident citizens of other Commonwealth countries are entitled to political rights, e.g., the right to vote in local and national elections and in some cases even the right to stand for election.
In some instances the right to work in any position (including the civil service) is granted, except for certain specific positions (e.g. defence, Governor-General or President, Prime Minister).

Whilst Commonwealth citizenship is sometimes enshrined in the written constitutions (where applicable) of Commonwealth states and is considered by some to be a form of dual citizenship, there have never been, nor are there any plans for a common passport.

Although the Republic of Ireland left the Commonwealth in 1949, it is often treated as if it were a member, with references being made in legal documents to 'the Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland', and its citizens are not classified as foreign nationals, particularly in the United Kingdom.

Canada departed from the principle of nationality being defined in terms of allegiance in 1921 (Nationals Act 1921 (Canada)), in a attempt to prevent non-Canadians (especially of Asian origin) from entering Canada. In 1935 the Irish Free State was the first to introduce its own citizenship (However, Irish citizens were still treated as subjects of the Crown, and they are still not regarded as foreign, even though Ireland is not a member of the Commonwealth; Murray v Parkes [1942] All ER 123).

In 1946 the Canadian Citizenship Act destroyed the common basis for citizenship. The concept of Commonwealth citizenship was introduced in 1948 in the British Nationality Act 1948. Other Dominions adopted this principle, in New Zealand, in the British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act 1948. Citizenship has replaced allegiance, a more than symbolic change. Yet, at the same time, Canada continued to stress the continued allegiance of Canadians to a common Crown. It was just that practical requirements meant that national status had to be based on something other than allegiance, or peoples from throughout the Commonwealth might choose to settle in Canada.

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Honorary citizenship

Some countries extend "honorary citizenship" to those whom they consider to be especially admirable or worthy of the distinction.

By Act of Congress and presidential assent, honorary United States citizenship has been awarded to:

British statesman Sir Winston Churchill (1963)
Swedish humanitarian and diplomat Raoul Wallenberg (1981)
Pennsylvania founder William Penn and his wife Hannah Callowhill Penn (1984)
Macedonian (To Albanian Parents)-born Catholic nun and humanitarian Mother Teresa (1996)
French nobleman and American Revolutionary War ally, the Marquis de La Fayette (2002)

A bill was introduced in Congress to grant such status to the Russian nuclear physicist and prisoner of conscience Dr. Andrei Sakharov in 2002 but it was not made law.

The only people to ever receve honorary Canadian citizenship are Raoul Wallenberg posthumously in 1985, and Nelson Mandela in 2001.

American actress Angelina Jolie received an honorary Cambodian citizenship in 2005 due to her humanitarian efforts.

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Historical citizenship

Historically, many states limited citizenship to only a proportion of their nationals, thereby creating a citizen class with political rights superior to other classes, but equal with each other. The classical example of a limited citizenry was Athens where slaves, women, and metics were excluded from political rights, but the Roman Republic forms another example, and, more recently, the szlachta of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had some of the same characteristics.

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