Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology |
Editors | George Ritzer |
Publisher | Wiley-Blackwell |
Number of pages | 4 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781405165518 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781405124331 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 26 Oct 2015 |
Abstract
Citizenship refers to membership in a political community organized as a territorial or national state. The nature and content of citizenship varies with the form of state. Citizenship in the classic Greek polis provided membership to a political elite which controlled the state; modern liberal democratic citizenship provides opportunity to vote in a political cycle dominated by parties which attempt to manipulate and deceive the electorate. The subjective significance of citizenship lies in the benefits it provides: internally, for conditions and opportunities provided by the state's legal and distributive institutions; externally, in unconstrained and secure foreign travel and transit. After considering national citizenship, its global aspects will be examined.