Citizenship: Categories and Traditions
Categories to Consider for the Concept of Citizenship
In the constitution of the concept of citizenship, one must take into account both the historical genesis and the different models and categories that help us understand the different classes of citizenship:
1. Membership
Membership expresses the formal status of belonging to a political community. This community may be the nation-state, a multinational state, or a cosmopolitan world state. It depends on the rights and duties that each community recognizes and guarantees its citizens.
2. Integration
Integration expresses the integrative function that the condition of citizenship takes place in every political community; citizens are members.
Social integration includes cultural and political dimensions that cater to political rights and duties. There are two types:
- A) Integrated Citizenship: Requires universality and uniformity of rights and duties of citizens, excluding minorities.
- B) Differentiated Citizenship: One in which recognizes and guarantees specific rights for community groups.
3. Participation
Citizenship status does not imply that citizens participate in the management of the republic, both in support and in the increase of democratic and participatory dimensions.
- A) Passive Citizenship: Minority, alone with his vote and little else.
- B) Active Citizenship: Whether the participation of citizens is higher than the minimum activity.
4. Inclusion and Exclusion
It expresses a legal framework is the recognition of citizenship.
- A) Citizenship Limited to: Whether the legal framework is universal and homogeneous, without recognizing the cultural differences of minorities (as part of citizenship status).
- B) Inclusive Citizenship: If included in the citizenship status of minority rights and multicultural issues. It is multicultural citizenship.
Related Traditions: Liberal and Republican
Liberal Tradition
It is based on the following theses:
- The individual and his individual lifestyle must be protected against the encroachments of state power.
- Power-individual rights and claims the priority of the individual over the state.
- The distinction between private and public spheres early wins a significance.
- It says that the priority of the private sphere is policy.
- The state should be the minimum state, the need to ensure the individual rights of citizens.
- The state has a role as a means for individual subjective ends.
- The city remains outside the state and political community.
- Emphasizes negative freedom and the individual.
- Citizens are free and equal participants in social cooperation.
- It points to a more participatory liberalism.
Republican Tradition
It is based on:
- Citizenship is fundamentally participatory in life and public action.
- There are no private areas but as a reduction of the public sphere.
- The essential dimension of the person’s public and political space.
- Far from a minimum feature size and the state, the Republican city commits to their interests.
- The answer is everybody’s business is public, and not just politicians.
- In republican citizenship, the freedom of an individual is linked to the freedom of others, not only negatively, by mutual limitations.
- It is active citizenship through public deliberation in the exercise of the responsibilities of all.