Introduction to Political Science December 6th 2011 - Citizenship and a nation

Citzenship is a legal bond(relationship) to a state. Citizenship - State Publically we are citizens, but in the private sphere we are individuals with different interests and characteristics. Since the 18th century we consider that the political community has to guarantee and protect our fundamental and inalienable rights. Fundamental rights = Rights human beings are born with Inalienable rights = Rights that cannot be taken away In the political community we enter, we are given a guarantee of our rights and they are protected. The political community is not the law made by the individuals who give us rights. The political community only acknowledges the laws, rules and rights. The state is the legal framework within which we exercise our rights and freedom. We are attached to that state through the bond of citizenship. Our souls are not tied to a state. SO far, we have not come up with a new variety of legal framework. The 18th century philosophers have had a limited list of human rights in their minds : the right to live, the right to property, the right to happiness, equal protection in front of the law THE FAMILY OF CIVIL RIGHTS the first generation of rights The French Revolution is widely considered the fundament of the contemporary society. The aristocratic born privileges and the exemption from paying taxes were vanished. Publicly we are all citizens who are equal in front of the law, but individually we keep our private beliefs and conceptions. However, our private life doesnt influence our public life. The naked (with the meaning that he is stripped from his particular features) individual is the public individual.

The French Revolution says that we have our : a. Birth (family, kinship) b. Place/region However, the individual is naked publicly is just an entity who has a legal bonding to the state

The French Revolution says that this equality in front of the law is universal.

The French Revolution is original because it redefines the basis of legitimacy of political power (of the process of governing). It introduces a new political order. The only legitimate government is the one that governs for the well-being of the people. The governing process is exercised over equal individuals (equal in front of the law). In private spheres, these citizens are unequal. The political community must treat us equally. It is only that we are treated equally that we can talk about legitimate political community. The citizenship is universal as opposed to the private specificities of the private individual. Other rights : freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of association. Political rights : The right to vote, The right to be elected, The right to strike

The second generation of rights (the social rights emerged in the 19th century) : The right of employment, the right to free education, the right to get education, the right to health protection

The third generation of rights (eugenics) : The right to live in a non-polluted environment The French Revolution says that in order to make things clear, the people will be called a nation. God is taken out of the political community and transferred to the private sphere.

The trustees (representatives) govern in our name, but we the people or the nation still have the sovereignty.

The French Revolution says that the political body of the people is the nation. As opposed to this French view, the German philosophers and writers said that the nation is the body of those who share the same culture, language, history, identity, religion.

The German philosopher Herder is very upset due to the French view and says that a nation is an ensemble of people who share the same culture, identity, territory, history. The German conception each nation has its own state.

Jus soli, jus sanguini -> the two legal possibilities of becoming a citizen