Citizenship
Summary
Citizenship denotes the legal and political membership that binds an individual to a sovereign state. It has evolved from the ancient Greek ideal of the city-state citizen, defined by public-spirited participation, and the Roman legal concept, which conferred protection and obligations across a wider empire. Modern citizenship typically rests on birth in a territory (jus soli) or descent from citizen parents (jus sanguinis), and it combines civil rights (free speech, property and contract law), political rights (voting, standing for office) and social rights (education, social security). Across democracies, these rights underpin the social contract: citizens pay taxes and accept public duties in return for state protection, legal equality and a share in collective decision-making. Over time, universal adult suffrage, welfare entitlements and non-discrimination norms have broadened who counts as a citizen, though deep debates persist over how to integrate migrants, recognise cultural minorities and secure women’s full public role. Citizenship also carries responsibilities to uphold the rule of law, contribute to community life and sustain democratic practice. In a globalised world, questions of dual nationality, diaspora engagement and rights beyond national borders add new dimensions to the classic state-centred model.
Research from Nature Portfolio
Recent work has highlighted how mistaken beliefs about fellow citizens’ civic commitments can undermine democracy. One study of American adults found that each side of the partisan divide dramatically underestimates the extent to which opponents value core democratic principles, such as free and fair elections. These misperceptions, in turn, are associated with increased tolerance of anti-democratic measures and greater willingness to support political violence, even though most people actually endorse democratic norms themselves. By showing how inaccurate assumptions about out-group values can erode collective trust in democratic institutions, this research points to the crucial role of accurate intergroup understanding in sustaining popular support for democratic governance.
Citizenship publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in citizenship across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Citizenship: Legal status and social belonging in a political community, entailing rights, duties and political participation.
Statelessness: The condition in which an individual lacks legal nationality and thus cannot claim state protection or rights.
Jus soli: A rule granting citizenship to those born on a state’s territory, regardless of parental nationality.
Jus sanguinis: A rule granting citizenship on the basis of descent from citizen parents, irrespective of birthplace.
Dual citizenship: The status of simultaneously holding legal nationality in two or more states.
References
- Misperceptions about out-partisans’ democratic values may erode democracy. Scientific Reports (2022).
- The intimate public of relational welfare in Milan. Ethnography (2020).
- Ignoring people: The micro-politics of misrecognition in participatory governance. Environment and Planning C Politics and Space (2023).
About these summaries
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