Citizenship

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.