Citizenship Status

The chapter examines the corruption, disintegration, and renewal of democracy in relation to citizenship status. It shows that the prerogative of sovereign peoples to control migration and decide their own membership criteria undermines the commitment needed for democracy to sustain over time. Instead of making citizens sentient to how uncertainty travels across borders—and the need for reaching outside existing class affiliations to tame it—it spurs overconfidence in the ability of particular peoples to cope with migration. By basing membership on distinction (qualifications, skills, and resources) and virtue (loyalty to country and law), one reinforces class status over citizenship status, both at home and abroad. The chapter ends by offering a definition of citizenship status able to avoid this dilemma, and transform present-day uncertainties into a call for democratic renewal.