Two broad approaches to cosmopolitan
citizenship have been discussed in this
chapter. The first maintains that citizenship
properly so-called only exists within the
nation-state. This is the only form of political
association in which the core ideas of
citizenship – the willingness to make personal
sacrifices for the sake of the wider societal
good and the willingness to participate in
political life – are realised. There is no
emerging counterpart in world politics.
Appeals to world citizenship which urge
individuals to take global moral responsibilities
seriously may be persuasive but they
empty citizenship of all meaning. The
essence of this argument is that citizenship
refers to political dispositions and practices
which are possible only within established
political communities.