HUMR4501-05
Nils Butenschøn
Political responses II: Theory
The citizenship approach
(multi-diciplinary)
• The study of the contractual relationship
(in the broadest possible meaning of
contractual) between the state and the
inhabitants under its jurisdiction.
A process of gradual socio-political
integration (Marshall)
• 1. Civil citizenship: Equality before the law
(18th century)
• 2. Political citizenship: Political
participation (19th century)
• 3. Social citizenship: Social equality (20th
century)
• Modern citizenship is “inclusive and
complete”.
Citizenship in IHRL
• Is there a human right to obtain
citizenship?
(Cfr. Schram, G. and Ziemele, I. (1999), ”Article 15” in
Alfredsson & Eide (eds.), The Universal Declaration of
Human Rights: A Common Standard of Achievement,
The Hague: Kluwer).
The problem of terminology
• ‘citizen’ - ‘national’
• ‘citizenship’ - ‘nationality’
• “When the word “nationality” is used in
IHRL, it can be assumed that the word
national is synonymous with citizen unless
there is clear evidence to the contrary”
(Eide 2000:104).
The right to nationality in IHRL
• UDHR, Article 15:
“Everyone has the right to a nationality. No one
shall be deprived of his nationality, nor denied
the right to change his nationality.”
• The Convention on the Rights of the Child
(1989, Article 7).
• The European Convention on Nationality (1997).
Exceptions:
• UDHR, Article 21 (1)/ CCPR, Article 25 (c):
Everyone has the right to take part in the
government of one’s own country.
• UDHR, Article 13/ CCPR, Article 12:
Everyone has the right to move freely,
reside in and leave any country, but the
right to enter a country is limited to one’s
own country.
No one should be left stateless
• Since “everyone” has a right to citizenship,
persons who do not have rights in one
country as citizens (with reference to
UDHR Articles 13 and 21) are considered
to enjoy those rights in another country
which they have the right to enter (Article
13), since no one should be without a
nationality/citizenship or arbitrarily be
derived of that status (Article 15).
The politics of citizenship
• Since citizenship is such an important right
– it is the right to have rights – and since
there is no legally binding convention on
citizenship, many governments seek to
limit the access to citizenship through
mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion.
Principles of distribution of rights
Singularism
Discriminatory: Hegemonic
systems
Pluralism
Non-discriminatory:
Consociational democracy
Universalism
Non-discriminatory:
Majoritarian democracy.
Group-based
distribution of rights
Individually based
distribution of rights
Yash Ghai’s typology
• 2. The ”ethnic” state
– Hegemonic (singularism)
– Consociational (pluralism)
• 1. The liberal democratic state (universalism)
• 3. Mixed/multicultural state (pluralism)
Political Organisation of State Territories. A Typology
Territorial Principles
Constitutional
Principles
The Unitary State
The Non-Unitary
State
Separate
Territories
Singularism
Ethnocratic
systems
Imposed/dominated
self rule
Ethnic
”Homelands”
Pluralism
Consociational
systems
Cantonization,
ethnic federation
Partition/separate
states along ethnic
lines
Universalism
Majoritarian
systems
Regionalisation,
functional
federation
Partition/separate
states along
functional lines
Alternative demographic foundations for claims of self-determination in Palestine