Explain What It Means To Be A Citizen

1. What does it mean to be a citizen?

The term "Citizen" is defined in the compact Macquarie Dictionary as, "a member, native or naturalised, of state or nation". This paper intends to question what it is that constitutes a member or citizen, of state or nation. Many concepts and theories are promoted by political theorists and practitioners alike that are varied and many in response to defining a "citizen". The expanse of these theories ranges from the all-encompassing endorsement of world citizenship where nation or state borders are invisible, to limited conditional nation based citizenship, which for example, may discriminate against a citizen 's nationality in applying for government office positions.

Whilst citizenship in a legal context can be defined objectively and focuses on the formal status of an individual in the community, such as permanent or temporary residency it is the social definition of citizenship that becomes varied. Diverse as the theories are regarding citizenship, as noted by Heywood there is a correlation amongst the theorists that citizenship is the relationship between the individual, state and society. It is this relationship and surrounding values that defines the rights and responsibilities of citizenship that becomes complex.

It is the
Social exclusion refers to the situation of people who do not have access to the goods and services enjoyed by the majority and extends to how we conceive and organise our response to this inequality. This exclusion can be through economic and/or social disadvantage such as non-English speaking migrants, the disabled and women etc, and is exacerbated in areas where these groups are under represented or disadvantaged within the community