Citizenship

Rights

Citizenship is predominantly linked to the notion of rights. These can be both negative and positive. Positive rights are permissive and stress, for example, the opportunity for citizens to participate in their polity, vote, stand for office, and join organizations. Negative rights are restrictive and stress the protection of the individual from others, particularly from the state.

For early theorists of democracy, citizens were those who took part in public life. In Aristotle's Politics, he noted that citizens were those (men) who participated in deliberating upon and exercising power. In contemporary society, citizenship has been expanded to include all members of a political community, with the requisite legal standing. However, this understanding of the concept has been expanded. Thomas H. Marshall's influential 1950 study of citizenship in Britain, Citizenship and Social Class and Other Essays, identified three essential rights that comprised citizenship: civic, political, and social. Marshall wrote that all citizens should be considered equal in relation to their rights and duties, which accompany this notion of citizenship. This equality, though, was challenged by a citizen's position in the class system. Marshall highlighted that while rights might be enshrined in legislation, practically, the ability of citizens to exercise these rights may be compromised by their position in the polity. Those disadvantaged by their class status may be unable to participate in a community in which they have legal membership.

For Marshall, civil rights are considered a prerequisite for individual freedom. They provide for property rights; right of contract; the right to freedom of thought, speech, and religious practice; the right of assembly and association; and the right to equality before the law. These are positive rights—they permit action. Civil rights are premised upon the existence of civil society. Government and the state are necessary to maintain and protect these rights. Political rights include the right to vote and stand for public office. These are necessarily underpinned by a commitment to universal suffrage and democratic government. Social rights comprise a basic entitlement to a civilized existence commensurate with prevailing standards in society. This extends the responsibility of the state into areas of economic and social life. The [Page 81]principle embodiment of these rights is in the institutions and policies of the welfare state.

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