What Is CITIZENSHIP?, IT's HISTORY and TYPES Etc

DEFINITION OF CITIZENSHIP

To define citizenship has become a very big problem to many scholars both present and past. We were meant to understand that there is no specific definition of citizenship, for it varies considerable from culture to culture, and even overtime. Some scholars believed that citizenship can be understood depending on the person making the determination, and it has never been fixed or static as it is constantly changing with different society.

After so many research and studies, I have come to say that citizenship is the status of a person recognized under the custom or law of a state, which bestows such person the rights and privileges to participate in all that happens within the state at his / her wish. In other sense, citizenship can also be described as “a bundle of rights that gives a person such a freedom to participate in the political life of the community, also the right to vote, the right to receive certain protection from that same community, as well as obligations”. The point we all will bear in mind and make use of is that citizenship is a “Status” in the society, and even an ideal state as well; because it generally describes a person with legal rights within a given political order. If citizenship is to appear as a concept, then it should be generally hard to isolate intellectually and compare with related political notions, since it relates to many other aspects of society such as family, military service, the individual, freedom, religion, ideas of right and wrong, ethnicity and patterns for how a person should behave in the society.

In a situation where there are many different groups within a nation e.g. Nigeria, citizenship, may be the only real bond which unites everybody as equal without discrimination. It’s important to note that citizenship is a “broad bond” linking a person with the state, and the same giving people a universal identity as a legal member of a specific nation. Many theorists, it was noted has observed that there are two opposing conceptions of citizenship; they observed, the economic conception which can still be referred to as “Liberal Individualist conception” and that of political conception or “Civic-republican conception”.

They treated, or rather emphasized that in the “Liberal Individualist” citizens should have entitlements necessary for human dignity. In accordance to this very view point, citizens are sovereign, morally autonomous beings with duties to pay taxes, obey the law, engage in business transactions and defend the nation when the need arises (under attack); but are essentially politically passive with the primary focus on economic betterment. According to this formulation, the state exists for the benefit of citizens and has an obligation to respect and protect the rights of citizens both Civil right and political rights.

Here in the political conception or rather “Civic-republican conception” citizenship emphasizes man’s political nature, and sees citizenship as an active process not a legal marker. It is relatively more concerned that government will interfere with popular places in order to practice citizenship in the Public Sphere. Under this very conception, citizenship means “being active in government affair” After Observations, we have brought to the knowledge of the world that there’s only one last distinction within citizenship, and that distinction is consent descent distinction.  There, the issue addresses whether citizenship is a fundamental matter determined by a person choosing to belong to a particular state by his or her consent, or is citizenship a matter of where a person was born, that is, by his or her descent. For more simpler way by which a person can understand the difference between the above two conception, it was placed in a tabular form below.

S/N	Liberal- Individual Conception	Civic-Conception
1.	Focus on Man’s economic nature	Focus on man’s political nature
2.	Citizens are sovereign, autonomous beings with duties to pay taxes, obey the law, engage in business, and defend the nation when necessary.	Citizenship is about democratic participation, which can channel legitimate frustration and
3.	Citizenship is based on reason for the pursuit of enlightened self – Interest.	Citizenship happens in the public sphere.
4.	Citizens are politically passive	Citizens are politically active.
5.	May lead to degeneration of public spirit	May lead to the free rider problem in which some neglect citizenship duties.

Before we move further into citizenship, it is better to know the origin and history of citizenship.

BRIEF HISTORY OF CITIZENSHIP

Everything in the earth has its progenitor, Jesus Christ was the Progenitor of Christianity, prophet Mohammed was the progenitor for Islamic and Socrates alongside his ward Plato are one of the progenitors of the immortality of the soul. The history of Citizenship has no definite source, because some scholars believed that citizenship started in the ancient state of Greek; some believed it started in the ancient Israelites, whereas some believed that it’s something that started few hundreds years back.

 ANCIENT CONCEPTIONS:

Jews in the Ancient World: Before we proceed into discussing about the Jews in the ancient world; its better we know this one fact about the Israelites. “The Israelites preserved their identity as a people despite being enslaved by their neighbouring Civilizations, and this sense of ethnic identity has been linked to the development of citizenship” very important to note.

These people (the Israelites) developed an understanding of themselves as a distinct and unique people; showing that they are different from the then Egyptians or Babylonians. They went as far as having a written history, a common language and one – deity, (One religion often described as ethnical Monotheism while most peoples developed a loose identify tied to specific geographic location. The Jewish people despite being physically moved to different lands, such as when they are held captive in the ancient Egypt and that of Babylon, the still held firmly to their common identity. The Jewish covenant with their God Yahweh we all know his been described as a binding agreement not just with a few people or tribal leaders, but with the whole nation of Israel including; Men, Women and Children. The Jews also similar to other tribal groups did not see themselves as citizen per say but, they formed a strong attachment to their own group such that, people of different ethnicities were considering as part of an Out Group. This, if observed carefully and truthfully is in contrast to the modern understanding of citizenship as a way to accept people of different races and ethnicities under the canopy of being citizens of a nation.

THE ANCIENT GREECE

The Polis Citizenship

It was believed, there’s more widespread agreement that the first real instances of citizenship began in ancient Greece. This modern day distinction sometimes termed consent versus citizen by birth was traced back to the ancient Greek.

Thinkers such as P.G.A Pocock suggested that the modern day ideal of citizenship was first articulated by the ancient Athenians and Romans, even at that, he also suggested that the Transmission of the sense of citizenship over two millennia was essentially a myth that enshrouds western civilization. To the ancients; citizenship was a bond between a person and the city. Historian, Geoffrey Hosking made it clear for the world to understand and believe that Citizenship started in the Ancient Greek by delivering his now popular lecture on citizenship. He was trying to portray that citizenship started in the ancient Greek, as the people of Greek were planning to battle the problem of slavery and promotion of freedom to all. He (Geoffrey Hosking) made it sound very clear and loud that, it was because of the growth of slavery that made the Greeks particularly conscious of the value of freedom. He also pointed out that when the Greeks fought together, they fought in order to avoid being enslaved by warfare, or to avoid being defeated and taken to slavery; at that extent, they arranged their political institutions so as to remain free men. At the end point of his lecture, Hosking pointed out that, fear of being enslaved was the central motivating force for the development of the Greek sense of Citizenship.

Another historian, Robert L. Dise. Jr. gave a clear lecture about the life of a Greeks in relation with citizenship. He raised out that, the Greek sense of the Polis in which citizenship and the rule of law prevailed, was an important advantage for the Greeks during their war with Persia. He stated thus during his lecture “The Polis was grounded in nomos, the rule of law, which meant that no man, no matter who he might be, was master, and all men were subject to the same rules. Any leader who set himself above the law was reckoned to be a tyrant. It was grounded in the notion that, the proper way for us to live as citizens in communities under the rule of law is an idea originated by the Greeks and bequeathed by them as their greatest contribution to the rest of mankind and history. It meant that Greeks were willing to fight and die for their Polis”.

Some Philosopher, historians and Scholars who supported Citizenship are;

• Aristotle  “To take no part in the running of the Community affairs is to be either a beast or a god.”
• Geoffrey Hosking “This balance of participation, obligations and rights. Constituted the essence of citizenship, together with the feeling that there was a common interest which imposed its obligation on everyone”
• J. G. A. Pocock “The Person was defined and represented through his actions upon things; in the course of time, the term property came to mean, first the defining characteristics of a human or other being. Second, the relation which a person had with a thing. Thirdly, the thing defined as the possession of some person”
• Plato

TYPES OF CITIZENSHIP

There are only but few types of citizenship; these types of citizenship are as follows;-

• Citizenship by birth
• Citizenship by descent
• Citizenship by Naturalization
• Citizenship by Registration

CITIZENSHIP BY BIRTH:

Citizenship by birth we learnt is adopted and practiced almost all over the world. Here, people are automatically citizens of a state (Country) in which they are born. This type of citizenship is believed to have started in Europe (England to be specific). And today some countries have adopted and practiced it as well as making it part of the constitution; a typical example of such country is Tanzania.

“Any child born within the borders of the united Republic of Tanzania, on or after union day, 26 April 1964 is granted citizen of Tanzania, except for children of foreign diplomats.”

CITIZENSHIP BY DESCENT:

This type of Citizenship also is widely adopted by many countries of the world. Here, every person born outside a given state has right to enjoy his or her citizenship in that particular state provided one of the parents is a citizen of that country either by birth or naturalization. Some African countries like Nigeria, Tanzania, and Ghana practice such citizenship.

CITIZENSHIP BY NATURALIZATION:

This method I must say is practiced at least at the rate of about 70% all over the world. Here, any foreign national with no ancestry or birth ties with a given country could be granted citizenship if, he /she has entered the country legally, and was also granted leave to stay for a specified period of time. In most countries, Naturalization is subject to some certain conditions which may include; passing a test demonstrating reasonable knowledge of the way of life and language of the host state, good character, and potential contribution to social and cultural welfare as well as economic, scientific or technological development, as well as renouncing the prior citizenship; though it has been noted the some countries do allow dual citizenship and do not require naturalized citizens renouncing any other citizenship.

CITIZENSHIP BY REGISTRATION:

This type of citizenship is not welcomed by all, but some countries do accept it. In this type of citizenship, some certain conditions must be attained before being registered as a citizen of that country; conditions like:-

• Getting married to a citizen of the country for a period of at least seven years. In this case, such person is entitled on application to be registered as a citizen.
• The person being lawfully resident of host country for a specified period of time, and has satisfied the conditions prescribed by an act of parliament is likely to apply to be registered as a citizen.
• A child who is not a citizen, but was adopted by a citizen, is entitled on application to be registered as a Citizen.

PROCESSES OF BECOMING A CITIZEN OF A COUNTRY

There are ways by which a person can become a citizen of country for several reasons. It’s good to note that citizenship of the place of birth is automatic. In other cases, some applications may be required.

1. Parents are citizens (Jus Sangunis):- If one or both of a person’s parents are citizen of a given state, than the person may have the right to be a citizen of the state as well. Formally, around seventieth and eightieth century, they might only have applied through the paternal line, but in the late twentieth century sex quality became common. Citizenship is granted and based on ancestry and ethnicity and is related to the concept of a nation state where both parents are citizens, a person born outside a country is also a citizens.
2. Born Within a Country (Jus Soli): Most people are automatically citizens of the state in which they are born. This form of citizenship is believed to have originated in England, where those who were born within the realm were subjects of the monarch. It is also common in common law Countries.
3. Marriage to a Citizen: In some countries when a non-indigene marries a citizen of that country, he / she definitely will become a citizen. Many countries fast-track naturalization based on the marriage of a person to a citizen. Countries which welcome such immigrations often have regulations to try to defect sham marriage, whereby a citizen marries a non-citizen typically for payment without having the intention of living as man and wife. This has caused a lot of troubles in such countries, and with time so scholars believed; such type of citizenship will be extinct.
4. Naturalization: In this method; states normally grant citizenship to people who have entered the country legally and been granted leave to stay; or been granted political asylum, and also has lived there for a specified period of time. In some countries, naturalization is subject to conditions which may include passing a test demonstrating reasonable knowledge of the language or way of the host country; good conduct as well as swearing allegiance to their new state or its ruler and renouncing the prior citizenship.
5. Excluded Categories: This has now become extinct (Past and gone). But it was used in the past, whereby there have been exclusions on entitlement to citizenship or grounds such as skin colour, ethnicity, sex and free status.