Citizenship: From Ancient Greece to the Enlightenment
1. The Concept of Citizenship
Citizenship is a legal-political status recognizing rights and freedoms. It defines the relationship between an individual and their state, governed by the state’s substantive law.
2. Nation and State
Nation
The term “nation” has two meanings:
- Cultural/Ethnic Nation: A community sharing cultural traits (language, religion) distinct from neighbors.
Nationalist ideology principles:
- Cultural identity endures over time.
- Every cultural nation has a right to nationhood and political sovereignty over its territory.
Nationalism is ideological, based on the flawed premise of isolated, unchanging cultural nations.
State
The state is a political nation, a community occupying a territory defended against other states. It comprises political institutions enforcing laws and administering services (army, police, judiciary, parliament, healthcare, education). The state’s main objective is exercising political sovereignty over its territory.
Sovereignty
Sovereignty means the executive can enforce laws within the territory and defend national borders. The relationship between community members and the executive can be of two types:
- Sovereignty resides exclusively in the executive: community members are subjects without legal recourse to enforce their rights.
- Sovereignty resides in the nation: community members are citizens who can participate in shaping their state’s constitution.
Citizenship implies sovereignty resides in the people, not an absolute monarch, allowing them to exercise rights and control executive power.
3. Citizenship in Ancient Greece: Aristotle and the Stoics
Aristotle
In “Politics,” Aristotle defines citizenship similarly to Greek democracies. In Athens, citizenship was for adult males descended from free citizens. Ancient Greek freedom was positive freedom: the right to participate in political deliberation. Aristotle limited citizenship to free citizens with a minimum income, excluding the poor. The ideal political community aims for a good life, not mere subsistence, and is a moral community sharing values. The state should promote virtue through just laws. Aristotle favored a mixed aristocracy and democracy, supported by a middle class of landowners with time for political deliberation. Aristocracy is defined by virtue, making aristocrats best suited for political leadership. The common good is the ultimate goal of the political community.
The Stoics
The Stoics (founded by Zeno of Citium) believed all humans have equal rights due to their capacity for reason (logos). They condemned slavery and legal inequities as artificial. Political boundaries are also artificial; the wise are citizens of the world (cosmopolitans). Stoic ethics is deontological, emphasizing reason governing passions. Stoic ethics is universal, providing a moral foundation for their political views.
4. Citizenship in the Enlightenment: Rousseau and Kant
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
In “The Social Contract,” Rousseau uses historical fiction to explain the origin of states. In the state of nature (similar to Rawls’ Original Position), humans had natural rights and sympathy for others. The social contract, unanimously approved, aimed to ensure the free exercise of natural rights, not end disputes (as Hobbes argued). This led to a political society where natural rights were preserved. Laws came from the General Will, a metaphysical entity representing the fair and rational will of all community members. The General Will is not the majority’s will (which can be corrupt) but the source of universal laws guaranteeing freedom and equality. A powerful state is necessary to ensure all citizens’ participation.
Immanuel Kant
Kant accepted the General Will principle. A just constitution adheres to:
- Freedom of individuals.
- Dependence on common legislation.
- Equality of all citizens as subjects.
Kant called this a Republican constitution, derived from the original contract. All legal norms must be based on this contract. Citizenship includes the right to vote, ideally reserved for adult males with a certain income level. A Republican constitution is based on the separation of powers; any other form is despotic.