Citizenship and Citizenship: What's the Difference?

When discussing how people are connected with their country, sooner or later we come across such concepts as citizenship and citizenship. At first glance, they seem to be identical in meaning. However, it is not. To understand, you should refer to the history of the emergence of terms. Then it will become clear what is different about the concepts of “citizenship”, “citizenship”, when and why they are applied. Let's try to formulate this.

The essence of the problem

When considering what citizenship and citizenship are, it is usually said that the terms describe the relationship of residents with different types of states. The first word refers to monarchies, the second to democracies. But in fact, everything is somewhat deeper. It must be understood that citizenship and nationality differ only in the Russian language. In English, for example, there are slightly different terms that describe ties with the state. Surely this topic also appears in the political science of China and other countries that have not fully adopted the Western model of democracy. The notion of citizenship is now more widespread. They describe the legal norms that characterize the connection with the country, the duties and rights of each of the parties. In contrast to this term, citizenship reflects the relationship between the citizen and the monarch. In the most general sense, these terms are identical. Indeed, in the monarchies of the old type, the Head of State personified the entire system. But the subjects have much less rights. And the duties of the monarch in relation to them are blurred, not standardized. Let's take a little deeper look at each concept.

Citizenship

Persons residing in the territory of any country are endowed with rights and have duties. All this is contained in the institution of a system of norms that describe the mutual duties and responsibilities of people to their state. It is built on certain principles. Among them, it is worth pointing out the equal rights of all people, regardless of how they acquired citizenship. Please note that they may vary. As a rule, children born in the territory of the country, from parents, one of whom has citizenship, receive it automatically. But there is an opportunity to get it by a special procedure. Some countries allow the person who owns it is responsible to each of the countries. And this is a serious burden. For example, it is necessary to pay taxes in each of the states, take part in plebiscites, and perform other civic obligations.

About citizenship

In a sense, this term can be considered obsolete. Even in modern monarchies, the institution of citizenship has already been created and documented. That is, duties and rights are fixed on paper. And this is precisely what distinguishes, by and large, the concepts of "citizenship" and "citizenship". The first, we repeat, speaks of the relationship between a person and the monarch, the second describes his connection with the state. Citizenship initially meant living in a certain territory, and in Russia it also meant belonging to a Christian community. Confusion arose with foreigners. They did not automatically receive citizenship. And the children of foreigners were also considered strangers. To change the situation, Peter I decreed the possibility of obtaining Russian citizenship in a special way. For this, the foreigner was supposed to take an oath of allegiance to the sovereign. This historical fact only confirms that citizenship is a concept that describes the relationship of a person with a monarch. In contrast, citizenship does not depend on the head of state. In addition, a person cannot be deprived of this privilege unilaterally.

About Documents

We live in a formalized world. Any rule of law is reflected in the corresponding document. Here we are faced with another factor that distinguishes nationality and citizenship. In democratic countries, it is customary to issue passports to people of a certain age. This document confirms that a person is a citizen. By the way, in the UK there are also passports. They are received by citizens of the country, who are at the same time subjects of Her Majesty. There is a double norm here, demonstrating the democratic nature of the monarchy. All citizens of the state receive passports. They have a uniform form (in the country). In this way, the principle of single citizenship is respected. He claims that all people have the same rights and obligations in relation to their homeland. By the way, in the last word one can see one more difference between the concepts being described.

Attitude towards the motherland

Patriotism is a rather broad concept. Its essence depends on the mentality of society and its members. That is, different, but similar meanings are invested in it in different countries. Let's, for example, consider citizenship and citizenship of Russia from this point of view. Historically, the inhabitants of this country, no matter how it expands and shrinks, consider it their duty to protect it from enemies. And in this sense, the concepts of citizenship and modern citizenship are identical. In ancient times, the inhabitants stood up with weapons in their hands against those who encroached on their lands. They passed this love on to their descendants. Citizens of the Russian Federation are generally jealous of the greatness of their Motherland, proud of it, striving to protect it from external and internal enemies. In Russia, there is a continuity of concepts. In a sense, it is formalized in the Constitution, which describes the duties of a citizen of the country.

Ways to acquire citizenship

It should be noted that continuity also exists in legal mechanisms. If we carefully consider the citizenship and citizenship of the Russian Federation, we will see that the ways of obtaining it have expanded over time. But the main or most common ones remained the same, they only received legislative consolidation. Citizenship of the Russian Federation can be acquired as follows:

1. Birth recognition.
2. as a result of acceptance.
3. By choice (option), in the course of changing the nationality of the territory of residence (remember Crimea 2014).
4. Others.

The most common is the first method. And it has existed for several centuries. In the same way, citizenship was given in the Russian Empire. Naturalization is also a process of obtaining citizenship, it is initiated by the person himself. Here, once again, we recall Peter I and his decree on the oath. This was the principal prototype of the initiative acquisition of citizenship. During the option, a person also applies to the country with a statement about the desire to become its resident. Sometimes the authorities grant citizenship on their own initiative. This is a way to reward a person for special merits.

Withdrawal from citizenship

There is also a reverse process. The country and the person having citizenship (citizenship) could always break off relations. But it happened in different ways. The monarch single-handedly resolved issues of citizenship and had initiative in this matter. That is, a person could lose the privilege of belonging to a country without his consent. Another thing is citizenship. It is not supposed to be taken away. In the Russian Federation, the principle of inadmissibility of deprivation of citizenship is legislatively enshrined. The person himself has the right to refuse it, but the state cannot initiate such a question. We have not mentioned another principle: the preservation of citizenship. A person living in another country does not automatically lose it. That is, citizenship is fixed on a permanent basis. You can get rid of it only on your own initiative, by submitting the relevant documents to government agencies. By the way, in Ukraine this process is more complicated than in Russia. This was faced by the inhabitants of the Crimea, who, having accepted, basically could not get out of the former.

Conclusion

The concepts of "citizenship" and "citizenship" have a lot of differences. The main thing is that the first speaks of a person's connection with the Motherland, the second - with the monarch. It is worth noting, finally, that the terms have a single historical basis.