Role and Responsibilities of Citizenship

The ancient Greeks are credited with laying the foundation for the concept of citizenship. Especially in Athens, citizenship came to the fore when people were willing to deal permanently with the state for a comfortable life. But citizenship at that time, which was a code of honor, did not include women, slaves and foreigners. Although the concept of citizenship appeared later in the Roman Empire, it did not take a universal form. By the Middle Ages in European cities, citizenship was a concept that only belonged to the clergy, courtiers, and high officials of the administration. After the American Revolution of 1776 and the French Revolution of 1789, citizenship came to be regarded as a concept that represented a plurality of people. With the consolidation of democracy in the nineteenth century, the concept of citizenship also broadened. In the modern era, citizenship is practiced as a concept that includes every individual without discrimination. Along with this, the concept of citizenship is changing due to the influence of globalization. In this background, the important issues that we as Indian citizens need to understand about the concept of citizenship are highlighted below.