Concept Of Citizenship Essay

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Citizenship: An Introduction The concept of citizenship is an old as Greek city states. Here citizenship was limited to those few persons who were residents of a city and actually participated in the work of the government. Women, manual workers and slaves, even, though resident in cities, were not considered as citizens because they were not considered capable of taking part in the administration of their country. The concept of citizenship was developed by Aristotle in his book politics. The population of Greek city states was divided into citizens, slaves, women, foreign residents. He heldthe view that man is a political animal and he could reach the full potential off his life and personality only by participation in the affairs of the …show more content…

Similarly, in Rome, citizenship was not determined by residence, but by the possession of certain rights. Those who were living away, the citizenship were conferred upon them by emperor. The ancient concept is not in practice today. Now citizenship is conferred on all residents, men or women, of particular age whether they participate in the political life of the state or not. Citizenship implies membership of a political community called the state. We, as members of the community or society, are social beings; we became political beings only having acquired membership of the state, or having born in a state. Our membership of the state, if we extend the meaning of citizenship, grants us a legal status, a status behind which there are set and well-defined rights and duties. This is not to say that as social being, we are without rights or are absolved of our social …show more content…

Citizen as right-holders: Whereas citizenship as tax payers and soldier are burdens involved in the citizenship relationships, the liberal concept of citizenship emphasized another aspect, citizen as holders of rights. This has been brilliantly conceptualised by T.H. Marshall. He suggests that the citizen/state relationship is an inter subjective one, that an entity possessing interests, resources and capacities of its own on lies at end of the relationship and is accepted and recognized by the other. Every citizen, for example, in India, was granted the fundamental rights and their civil, political and socio-economic rights are safeguarded under Indian

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