CITIZENSHIP
Citizenship is a relationship between the individual and *state, in which the two are bound together by reciprocal *rights and duties.
Citizens differ from subject, and aliens in that they are full members of their political community, or state, by virtue of the possession of basic rights.
Citizenship is viewed differently depending upon whether it is shaped by *individualism or *communitarianism.
The former, linked to *liberalism, advances the principle of a 'citizenship of rights', and places particular stress upon private entitlement and the status of the individual as an autonomous actor.
There are socialist and conservative versions of communitarianism, but each advances the principle of a 'citizenship of duty', highlighting the importance of civic *responsibility. Such theories tend to portray the state as a moral agency, and to underline the need for *community and the role of social existence.