Chapter two
Citizen and Citizenship
3.1. Conceptual approach: what is citizenship?
A citizen is a person who has rights and privileges in a country and who is also expected to
render services and overcome duties expected from him/her.
The person could be a native of a certain country or a person who was born elsewhere but
naturalized to a certain country.
Nationals and citizens have slight difference in that a national is a person who is citizen by birth
in the country referred.
But citizen could be a person who is either naturalized (grant citizenship for somebody foreign
birth) or born in the country referred.
Thus we can say a national is a citizen born in a specific country but a citizen may not be a
national.
On the other hand, there is also a difference between citizen and nationality.
Nationality is commonly referred to a persons ethnic origin.
But citizenship denotes the tie or relation of individuality and is used to show how membership
in a certain nation is establishes
The Origin of citizen
In ancient Greece citizen means a person who lives in a town or city. This suggests having the
freedom and membership in political administration.
In ancient states people and state had a weak relationship. The people needed little protection
from the state and the state gained little from the people.
But as society developed and the population increased people needed more protection from the
state and this consolidated the relation between the state and people. This link between the
people and the state is called citizenship.
3.2. Ways of acquiring citizenship
A person acquires citizenship of a state in different ways. Citizenship could be acquired by birth
or through naturalization With respect to the rights and duties of citizens both citizens by birth
and naturalized citizens have the same status.
However, in some instances there may be slight differences example the right to elect and be
elected(?)
3.2.1 Citizenship by birth
Jus Soli (the law (right) of the soil). According to this law all persons that are born with in the
territory of that state is granted the right to get citizenship.
However, this rule does not include children born to foreign diplomats who represent the county
they cam from.
Thus this rule does not consider the origin of the parents of the child. If a child is born within the
soil of that state he/she will be granted citizenship. Most of the developed states accept Jus Soli.
Jus Sanguinis (law (right) of the blood. Jus Sanguinis can be divided into
1. Jus Sanguinis paterni (father) and
2. Jus Sanguinis Materni (mother).
This mode of acquiring citizenship is very common in the developing countries. Here a child
can claim(take) citizenship of his/her parents
3.2.2 Citizenship by Naturalization
Naturalization is a process of obtaining citizenship if the person fulfils the political, legal and
social matters which the host country expects to be accomplished.
Naturalization is a process by which a state confers(give) its citizenship on an individual who is
originally not its citizen as a result of some voluntary acts and intentions of the individual.
There are certain factors that compel a person to change his/her citizenship.
If the territory in which a person lives is taken by another country, the people living in the old
territory will be forced to change their citizenship to the state which has newly taken up the
territory.
Marriage to a foreigner. Until 1930, a woman who married a foreigner was forced to loose her
own citizenship and get citizenship of her husbands country.
The following are requirements to get Ethiopian citizenship by naturalization according to the
Ethiopian law of nationality
Dual citizenship (mixed system)
A person sometimes may have double citizenship due to the existence of different laws of
citizenship.
A person may have one citizenship because of his birth place (Jus Soli) and another citizenship
because of his/her parents citizenship by blood (Jus Sanguinis)
3.3. Modes of loosing citizenship
3.3.1 Renunciation (Expatriation).
Somebody who has left his own country to live another country.. According to UDHR,
citizenship the right to the individual to renounce his/her citizenship seek citizenship of some
other state according to his/her choice
3.3.2 Deprivation (taken away)
a person who is found guilty of committing serious crimes against the state may be deprived of
his/her citizenship. Some of the crimes could be to make access national secrets to alien country
to collaborate with the enemy force in time of war to carry out diplomatic, economic, political
and military intelligence to another state within his/her state.
3.3.3 Substitution
citizenship may be lost when a person original citizenship is substituted by another state, which
he acquires through naturalization(?)on the other side, this may also happen when a particular
territory is annexed by another state. In such cases the citizenship of the conquered people will
be replaced by the citizenship of the subjugators.
3.3.4. Lapse
citizenship may be lost if the person stays outside of his/her country for a long and continues
period example, if an Indian citizen stays out of India continuously for more than seven years,
the person will loose his/her Indian citizenship by the principle of lapse.
3.4. Rights and Responsibilities of Citizens
3.4.1 Rights
Getting protection that is to get his/her life and property protected by the state Getting the
necessary social services that is having access to health, education, water, electricity, housing
and other facilities Right to work in his/her own country (facilitate the working situations) Right
to elect and be elected
3.4.2. Responsibilities
Take part in the political, economic and social activities Respect the rights of other people
Protect the country from any kind of threat or attack Respect the laws and rules that govern the
country Preserve historic and cultural heritages of the country Pay taxes
Accept and appreciate the views, beliefs and arguments of other people (open mindedness) Be
good citizen free from addiction of any kind Follow up what the government is doing or intends
to do.
