Authors: Kuper & Kuper
Summary: The entry presents the concept of citizenship strictly related with that of state, then describes the nature and the ancient forms of the different rights a citizen is entitled with, it passes to his/her duties and concludes underlying the appropriation of this concept by very different ideologies.
The concept of citizenship does not exist without a state which grants for it, being the former "a legal status defined by each state". At the same time it is not conceivable in contemporary democracies a second class citizenship based on e.g. race, gender or caste.
Civil rights denote modern citizenship together with other modern entitlements called social rights. However also ancient polities gave sort of guarantees or entitlements to their recognized members. Civil rights, constituing the real core of democracy, have been considered for centuries as "natural possession of individuals", while social rights are "popular aspiration, not always enforceable".
The civic duty of the citizen is to obey the laws of the state and serving it in different ways, from paying taxes to military service. But, in turn, the state exists to serve the citizens who can therefore have a political control on it in order to balance their duties and rights.
Three different ideologies advocate citizenship as central principle: nationalism, intending a devoted participation of citizens and excluding the non-patriots; democracy, which requires the same devotion but rejects in this case the non-democrats; and welfare state ideology which "emphasizes a passive, consumerlike citizenship". These overlappings and controversies, having the juridical notion of citizenship and its implications at their centre, will probably last long in the public debate.