Chapter Three Understanding Citizenship

Chapter Three: Understanding Citizenship WOYAHA, DELH, FTVETI
CHAPTER THREE
UNDERSTANDING CITIZENSHIP
UNIT 3.1: CITIZENSHIP
Contents
3.1.1 Introduction
3.1.2 Aims and Objectives
3.1.3 Definition of Citizenship
3.1.4 Origin and Development of Citizenship
3.1.5 Citizenship as the Totality of Rights, Duties and Responsibility
3.1.6 Full membership of citizens
3.1.7 Nationals, Citizens and Subjects
3.1.8 Aspects of Citizenship
3.1.9 Ways of Acquiring and Loosing Citizenship
3.1.9.1 Modes of Acquiring Citizenship
3.1.9.2 Modes of Loosing Citizenship
3.1.10 Who is entitled to Citizenship status?
3.1.11 Check your progress
3.1.12 Selected references
3.1.1 INTRODUCTION
Dear learner, when the term citizen is properly used, it means a legal and political member of the state. And
the legal and political status of the citizen is termed as citizenship. In this unit you will be familiarized with
concepts like citizen, citizenship, subjects, law, duty, responsibility and rights. The unit begins with the
etymological meaning of citizen and citizenship. This is followed by an explanation concerning the
characteristics of citizens. There is also one subunit that is dedicated to treat the similarity and difference
among the terms nationals, citizens and subjects. Citizenship can also be understood as the legal and
political relation between the state and citizens. It is the political little that citizens possess. So its acquirable
not with which we are born. The last subunit deals with the two ways and means of acquiring citizenship.
Civic and Ethical Education (CEE 101) -1-

3.1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The very goal of this unit to raise your awareness concerning who you are in relation to the state (Ethiopia) in
which you are the citizen. As citizens you are charged with some duties and responsibilities, and entitled to
some rights which you enjoy. Those who properly discharge their duties and responsibilities and enjoy their
right are good citizens. Are you such type?
At the conclusion of this unit you should be able to:

 explain the relation between state and citizens.
 identify and examine some problems likely to arise in situations where there is an absence of rules or
other effective authority.
 explain the definition of the terms citizen and citizenship.
 describe the characteristics of a citizen.
 appreciate and enjoy the advantages of being a citizen.
 take part in a problem-solving activity in which you learn of various forms of political participation
3.1.3 DEFINITION OF CITIZENSHIP
There is no coherent and accepted definition of citizenship and only exists conflicting descriptions under
different law of state. Generally, international law leaves conditions for the grant of citizenship (nationality) to
the domestic jurisdiction of state.
Accordingly, some of the generally formulated definitions of citizenship are:

 Etymologically, the word citizenship implies a member or a citizen of a city. The word citizenship was
explained in connection with the residence of a city. Therefore, citizenship means full membership in
a city.
 Citizenship refers to rights and duties of citizens. The concept of citizenship is important since it
determines the benefit to which persons may be entitled and the obligations , which they must
perform.
 Citizenship is a political and legal relations established between the individual and the state. Directly
and indirectly every individual has political relations with a state, which is reflected in different forms
and practice. That link connecting the state and the people within a territory is provided by the
principles of citizenship.

 It is a politico-legal method of identification. The unity and legality of individuals is expressed by the
application of citizenship principles and practices. The contractual relations established between
state and individual reflects the right of a person to change his/her citizenship status. Citizenship
cannot be perceived as inflexible status established ‘once for all.’
 Citizenship is a mode of identification. It serves as a way of identifying nationals found in territorially
defined countries. The citizen of different nation state systems are identified one form to other when
every nation-state enacts laws related to citizenship status.
 Citizenship is membership in a political community (originally a city or town but now usually a
country) and carries with it rights to political participation; a person having such membership is a
citizen.
 A citizen is an individual who is legally recognized member of a state.
 Citizenship is basically a contractual relationship between the individual and the state.
 Citizenship creates bond between the individual and the state of a certain country.
States cannot be understood in the absence of citizens and citizenship. In the same way, citizenship cannot
be explained without the state. Thus, the notion of citizenship is important both to the state and to individuals,
since it denotes a basic relationship between the state and its individual members. In this context, citizenship
thus refers to the broad study of rights and duties of citizens. It is the official recognition of an individual’s
integration in to the political system by denoting the status of a person as a member of a particular country.
Put differently, without the status of citizenship, a person would be “stateless” and hence would loss official
recognition to exercise citizenship rights and fulfill responsibilities.
“Citizen,” as it is defined by Encarta Reference Library 2003 E-Encyclopedia “in its most general sense, is an
individual member of a given political society or state; by extension, a citizen is one who owes allegiance to
and may lawfully demand protection from the government of that state.” The more specific sense of the term
citizen is closely in accord with the original meaning of the word. In the free republics of classical antiquity,
the term citizen signified not merely a resident of a town but a free, governing member of the state, just as the
Latin term civitas, from which the English word city is derived, signified not merely a local municipality but the
state as a whole.
As it has been mentioned in the chapter one under unit two , “Civis “a Latin term that has the English
meaning “citizen” refers to those free individuals who were the full members of the civitas and the right to
participate in political decision making process. Here by full membership we should understand that the term
civis was used to refer those who had the right to participate, directly and fully in the socio-economic and

political affirs of their Civitas, city-state, political community or state to which they were Civis or citizens. This
shows the legal and political relation between the citizens and the political unit (State) to which they are full
members. This political and legal relation or status that citizens have with the state is termed as citizenship.
Generally the term was applied to those free individuals who were able to take part in the law making
(legislating) implementing (executing) and interpreting (judiciary).
However, citizenship in all states is not the same. For instance, while non-democratic states usually reduce
their people to mere subjects that have very limited or no rights but only duties in democratic states, on the
other hand, people govern themselves and thus enjoy equal rights in all aspects of life. What this broadly
implies is that the historical development of democracy and democratization (from Greek- Rome- Western
Europe-USA- elsewhere in the world today) has very much affected the historical development of the
meaning, scope and content of the concept of citizenship.
3.1.4 ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF CITIZENSHIP
Ancient Times: In ancient states people and state had a weak relationship. The people needed little
protection from the state and the state gained little from the people. But as society developed and the
population increased people needed more protection from the state and this consolidated the relation
between the state and people. This link between the people and the state is called citizenship.
The idea of citizenship was developed in the cities of ancient Greece and Rome about 700 BC. The early
Greece and Romans thought of cities mainly as communities, rather than geographic places. These
communities consisted of citizens linked by such ties as friendship, family relationships and participation in
government. The city-states of ancient Greek has citizens, slaves or serfs, aliens and non-citizens. Although
the Greece were the first founder of classical civilization and exercised democracy for the first time had not
opened the door of democracy for all members of the city states and it was not all the members which were
provided with equal rights. Their political system was discriminatory, in the sense that ‘citizens (male adult
citizens)’ alone enjoyed exclusive social, economic and political rights.
Greek laws and tradition gave citizens who are few in numbers many privileges and held almost all power
within the society such as directly participate in public affairs and decision making processes, they had the
right to elect and be elected, to own private property, to debate and make political speeches, to attend the
assembly, to serve as juries, to but also imposed on them heavy responsibilities. Citizens were expected to
vote, to give military service etc. The plebeians were free members of the society; they did not enjoy political

rights. They owned little property, depending on their labor for earning their living and constituted the lower
class of the society. The slaves were not free and had no political rights what so ever. They were considered
as properties of their owners. Aliens had almost none, but aliens did have personal freedom and the
protection of the law.
Some philosophers of ancient Greek called Stoics (advocates of the philosophy of stoicism) regarded all men
as brothers. They did much to promote the expansion of citizenship from the few to the many. Christianity
with its idea of equality of men also influenced the growth of the idea of citizenship. The Romans also
extended citizenship and promote liberty to free men though the goal was different.
Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher expressed the Greek idea of citizens and citizenship. He expressed
citizens are those free individuals who had the right to participate in both the legislative and judicial functions
of their political community. This right was carefully guarded and was rarely conferred on anyone of foreign
birth.
In ancient Rome two classes of citizens were recognized. The first possessed the rights of citizenship,
including the privilege of voting in the public assembly; the other possessed these rights and the additional
right of holding offices of state. In the first category, the citizens had limited political participation. They were
excluded from holding political power in government office. They had no chance to participate in a direct
decision making process except in the case of giving vote. They were negatively discriminated. It will be
difficult to say that they were full members of the empire, because they had no right to be the member of the
legislative body and to make laws. In the second category, the citizens were positively discriminated. These
had extra rights including the right reserved to the ordinary citizens (the right to vote). These were the favored
section of the empire or state, having both the right to elect and to be elected which is the important right of
citizens. As in our state Ethiopia, the United States and other modern states, citizenship in Rome, although
usually acquired by birth, could also be attained by naturalization, or by special grant of the state.
Naturalization is a way of acquiring citizenship with out birth related cases. It requires legal processes to be a
citizen of a given state. We will see this when we deal with ways of acquiring citizenship in the coming sub
unity.
Middle Ages: the idea and practice of citizenship declined with the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of
feudalism in Europe. Millions of people become serfs, vassals who owed service to the lords of the land.
Each serf owed allegiance (duty or loyalty) to the feudal lord, whom in turn owed loyalty to the king. Under

this system, there was little thought of citizenship. The political and legal relationship between the serfs and
the king (assumed as state) was non-existent. Rather, the people were considered as subjects than citizens.
Modern Times: the modern notion of citizenship is highly related with the rise of the demands of the people
for escalated freedom and involvement in political, economic, cultural and social affairs of their respective
state. Magna Carta, the French Revolution and the American War of Independence had indeed considerable
contribution for the development of citizenship. Through course of time, the notion of citizenship came to be
accepted as an instrument to enhance individual liberties, popular government, political equality and
participation. Citizenship became the most pertinent political cohesion that related the individual with the
state. This means that the status of citizenship grew from city-state to nation-state implying a resident of one
state.
Accordingly, as national government grew in power, the people of each country begun to owe allegiances
directly to one person, the king. With the spared of democracy, development of the economic sectors and the
movement to secure rights, people transferred their allegiance from the king to the state, to the political body
than the individual. Citizens of kingdoms were called subjects during allegiance to a king. But later on, the
term citizens and natives replaced the term subjects.
The definition of the term citizenship, if it is considered from its historical perspective, it implies that a citizen
was subject of a ruling class, which means servant/tenant. On the other hand, nationality which is derived
from nationhood or nationalism, was narrowly used to indicate a status of a person. The word citizenship is
derived in connection with the residence of a city. Gradually, the status of citizenship developed from city-
state to nation-state implying a resident of one state. Nationality is a narrow concept whereas citizenship is
more technical and broad. Therefore, the text uses citizenship more frequently.
The development of the concept citizenship (nationality) presupposes the emergence of nation-states and a
system of international relations. The making of citizenship rule has no importance in the absence of
international relations with other states. In the absence of other states and a system of international relations
citizenship will not have any meaning and its application is unthinkable.
States exist interconnected more and more within a system of international relations. The problem arises
when doubt occurs as to whether an individual belongs to one state of another happened with the
introduction of compulsory military service and the universalization of national political rights.

Do citizenship questions be determined by international law? The history of the concept of citizenship rules is
a recent phenomenon. International law has not yet developed concrete rules to govern matters of
citizenship. International law simply recognizes that each state has the right to determine under its own law
who its nationals are.
3.1.5 CITIZENSHIP AS THE TOTALITY OF RIGHTS, DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITY

“It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in
political affairs.”
Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955), 'Treasury for the Free World,' 1946
Citizens are charged with some rights, equalities, freedoms generally, benefits that citizens enjoy because
they are all both human beings and legal as well as political members of a political community or state. They
have also duties and responsibilities that they are required to discharge, what they have been charged as
citizens. Citizens discharge their duties and responsibilities when they properly fulfill what they are expected
to perform by the law of the state. When somebody charges whatever rechargeable battery he is loading
power which enables the device to accomplish certain tasks. Analogy to this fact, citizen is loaded (charged)
with those legal and moral obligations.
A citizen is a person who is acknowledged as a legal member of a community (usually a nation). A person
obtains this status through birth, the nationality of a parent or parents, or by going through the “naturalization”
process through which he/she is legally made a citizen. It is presumed that a citizen shows loyalty to a
country. Citizenship refers to the status of citizens being a member of a state. Citizenship implies that people
owe allegiance to the government and are entitled to its protection and political rights. In general, citizen is a
legal and political member of the state. And citizenship is the legal as well as the political status of citizens.
Citizenship refers to the political and legal relation that the citizens have with the state.
“It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen. “
Aristotle, 'Nicomachean Ethics,' 325 B.C
3.1.6 FULL MEMBERSHIP OF CITIZENS
Being a citizen is not simply limited to having a legal document like passport from the country in which one is
born, or being a resident of a particular city, state, or country. Citizenship implies certain rights (e.g., legal,
economic, political, and social); it also implies responsibilities, including placing the well-being, or common
good, of society before private and personal interests.

We divide responsibilities into two areas: personal and civic. Personal responsibilities include taking care of
oneself, accepting responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions, taking advantage of opportunities to
become educated, and fulfilling responsibilities to one’s family, friends, and neighbors. Civic responsibilities,
on the other hand, comprise obeying laws, respecting the rights and opinions of others, paying taxes, serving
in the military, voting, and being informed and attentive to the needs of one’s community and nation. Civic
responsibility can also include the obligation to be honest, compassionate, tolerant, fair, trustworthy,
respectful, open minded, and open to negotiation and compromise.
Responsible citizens are often said to be active socially and politically. Social activity might entail joining
citizens’ groups that are devoted to solving societal problems, such as homelessness, social relations, or
neighborhood crime; social activity could also involve volunteering in a local hospital, school, homeless
shelter, or helping disabled individuals.
Political activity is quite different from social activity. Political activity usually refers to more than the simple act
of voting in periodic elections. It might entail talking about public issues; writing letters to public official;
presenting a problem to a governmental council; staying informed about important issues by reading the
newspaper, listening to television news, or attending public meetings; or getting involved in a political
campaign.
Recent discussions of responsible citizenship have taken on new dimensions and have expanded to include
the concept of worldwide citizenship. As international travel, communication, and exchanges have become
easier and more common, citizens of different countries are becoming more dependent upon one another.
This interdependence has given birth to the notion of world citizenship that is, being a citizen of the world. In
general, world citizens are concerned about issues that affect all nations and all people, including
overpopulation, the mismanagement of natural resources, and pollution. World citizenship, as a new type of
citizenship, requires new sets of individual responsibilities.
3.1.7 NATIONALS, CITIZENS AND SUBJECTS
Nationality refers to, in law, condition or status of belonging to, or having legal identity with, a nation or state.
In various political systems a distinction is made between nationality and citizenship; the latter represents a
higher political status, usually involving rights to full participation in governmental affairs. Nationals were
classed as citizens and non-citizens in ancient Greece and Rome, with citizens often forming a minority of the
population; this distinction still prevails in some countries. Although the term national is not used in the U.S.

Constitution, the law recognizes as nationals of the U.S. all citizens and certain groups of non-citizens who
owe permanent allegiance to the U.S.A.
Nationality is a legal relationship existing between a person and a state. The person becomes subject to the
state's jurisdiction even while not on the state's territory; in exchange the subject becomes entitled to the
state's protection and to other rights as well.
The nationals of a state generally possess the right to reside in the territory of the state they are nationals of,
though there are some exceptions (e.g. British Nationality Law that made distinction between subjects and
privileged individuals or citizens).
British nationality law has its origins in mediaeval times. There had always been a distinction in English Law
between the subjects of the monarch, and aliens or outsiders. The subjects of the monarch owed the
monarch allegiance, and were either natural born subjects (those born in the monarch's realms), or those
who later gave their allegiance to the monarch (naturalized subjects).
During the period of the monarchic administration, the Ethiopian people were treated as subjects not citizens.
The following articles which are taken from the 1955 Revised Constitution of Ethiopia indicate this fact.
The first Article of Chapter I states…”All Ethiopian subjects, whether living within or without the Empire,
constitute the Ethiopian People”. From this article we can understand that the people of Ethiopia are all
subjects.
Chapter III. Article 38. “There shall be no discrimination amongst Ethiopian subjects with respect to the
enjoyment of all civil rights.” The term ‘Ethiopian subjects’ is found else where in the Revised Constitution.
The 39th article of Chapter III made distinctions of subjects as it has been made by British Nationality Law:
1. Born subjects 2. Naturalized subjects.
Chapter III, Article 39. “The law shall determine the condition of acquisition and loss of
Ethiopian nationality and of Ethiopian citizenship”. According to this article Ethiopian nationality
refers to born subjects whereas Ethiopian citizenship refers to naturalized subjects (those who
later became subject to the monarch. The Amharic version of this article translates the later as
‘zegenet’ referring the naturalized one and the former as ‘tewelagenet’ referring the born
subjects.

When the British Empire came into existence, there remained a single category of nationality: British subject.
British subjects included not only persons within the United Kingdom, but those throughout the British Empire,
in the colonies and the self-governing dominions (namely Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and
Newfoundland). The law on nationality was spread across many statutes, and much of it was unwritten.
Nationality must be distinguished from citizenship: citizens have rights to participate in the political life of the
state they are a citizen of, such as by voting or standing for election; while nationals need not have these
rights, though normally they do.
Traditionally under international law, determining who its nationals are was the exclusive competence of the
state in question. However there were nonetheless many similarities in the laws of each nation, and today the
law of nationality is increasingly coming under regulation, e.g. by the various conventions on statelessness,
and the European Convention of Nationality.
Nationality can generally be acquired by jus soli, jus sanguinis or naturalization. These are discussed next. A
person who is not a national of any state is referred to as a stateless person. The nationality of a legal person
is generally the state under whose laws the legal person is registered.
3.1.8 ASPECTS OF CITIZENSHIP
Despite all these walks of historical evolution, the concept citizenship has now come to be universally
understood in terms of the following three basic aspects. These are:
The social aspects of Citizenship: this refers to the rights and duties of citizens that are directly related to
social and cultural norms and values. In other words, it refers to a situation in which citizenship can be
attained for example through parent’s nationality, adoption, marriage etc which are all products of social
processes. That is in the case of adoption, for instance, the full rights and responsibilities of parenthood are
transformed from natural to social parenthood and the child’s social and kinship position is also transformed
from the biological childhood to social hood. In this case, a social person is created by appropriation and
people became parents in every sense other than the genetic factor. Therefore, the social aspect of
citizenship discloses that the rights and duties associated with citizenship status are socially determined and
also distributed.
The legal aspects of Citizenship: this aspect can be best understood from the statement which reads
“citizenship entails a relationship between an individual and a state originating under terms prescribed by the
Civic and Ethical Education (CEE 101) - 10 -
law of that state and giving rise to certain duties and rights, which such law attaches to citizenship”. What this
explanation reveals is, therefore, the fact that different countries can pursue different laws in granting and
denying citizenship status or even the same country can have different laws depending up on the prevailing
political conditions of that state.
The political aspects of Citizenship: this implies that the political system in a country affects the citizenship
status. For example, while in a dictatorial or authoritarian political system, the rights and privileges of
citizenship are enjoyed by a small group of the society but the majorities are merely required to fulfill their
responsibilities or duties as members of that country, in a democratic systems, however, citizens are
expected to express their allegiance to their nation and obey the laws and reciprocally they are treated
equally without any discrimination.
3.1.9 MODES OF ACQUIRING AND LOOSING CITIZENSHIP
The process of acquiring and loosing citizenship varies from country to country depending up on the existing
specific laws of each country. There is no clear cut uniformity in acquiring citizenship status as there is no
common standard that govern all state of the world. Thus different states grant and deny citizenship to their
citizens differently which in turn implies the fact that the idea of citizenship is left to the domestic jurisdiction of
a state. However, this does not mean that the state should follow arbitrary and groundless decision in
granting or denying citizenship. Some broadly shared normative and customary principles are underscored to
minimize arbitrary deprivation of citizenship. In nut shell, the process of acquiring or losing citizenship
involves complex issues related with the interest of states as well as the interactions of individuals.
3.1.9.1 Modes of Attaining/Gaining Citizenship
There are three major ways/modes of acquiring/gaining citizenship can be singled out here for a discussion.
These are:
1. By Birth,
2. By Law, and
3. Dual/Multiple Citizenship (Mixed system)
1. Citizenship by birth
The majority of peoples in almost all countries usually acquire citizenship at birth and hence after they do
not normally change their citizenship. The two different principles and modes of acquiring citizenship by birth
are Jus soli (the right of soil) and Jus sanguinis (the right of blood).

A. Jus soli - it is a Latin phrase to mean right of soil. The place where the child is born is also source
of citizenship status, i.e. citizenship by birth place. A child born in a particular state automatically
becomes a citizen of the state in which he/she is born irrespective of his/her parent’s citizenship.
What matters most is the birth place of the child. This rule works not only for a child born within the
territory of a particular state, it also includes a child born In areas where the flag of that state raised,
for example, on public ship, on public air buses, in the embassies and consular of that state abroad
and similar others. The USA and Britain are some of the examples that use the rule of Jus soli.
However this is not always true to all. For instance children born from parents of diplomatic
missionaries and international organization representatives of foreign countries could not claim
citizenship rights from the working territory of their parents.
B. Jus- Sanguinis- is a Latin term to mean right of blood. It does not consider the place of birth as
important. What matters is the citizenship of the parents irrespective of the birth place. He/she could
attain or inherit the citizenship status of his/her legal or natural parents. E.g. Ethiopia. This in turn
sub-divided into two parts: Jus Sanguinis Patrini/Right Blood of the Father and Jus Sanguinis Matrini/
Right Blood of The Mother. Some states may require both parents of a child to become their citizens
while others may require at least one of the parents of a child to become their citizen such as
Ethiopia. As stated in article 6 of the FDRE constitution and article 3 of proclamation no 378/2003
“any person of either sex shall be an Ethiopian national where both or either parent is Ethiopian.”
Furthermore, for an infant child who is found abandoned in Ethiopia shall, unless proved to have
foreign nationality, be deemed to have been born to Ethiopian parents and shall acquire Ethiopian
nationality.
There are different adherents (supporters) to the both principles. A great number of developing countries stick
to the principle of Jus Sanguinis as a way of strengthening historical, national and psychological make-up of
different people and to maintain economic advantage of the country. Most of the European and North
American countries accept the principle of Jus Soli for faster intermingling of peoples of different countries.
Anyhow both modes of attaining citizenship are working in different countries.
2. Citizenship by Law
A person could acquire citizenship right by request and law. This legal way of attaining citizenship status
could be realized in many ways

2.1 Citizenship by registration or naturalization: is a mode of acquiring citizenship after birth. It is a

process by which a state confers its citizenship on an individual, who is originally not its citizen, as a
matter of some voluntary acts and intention of the individual. According to Article 15 (2) of the United
Nation Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations, ‘No one shall be denied the right to
change his nationality’. Based on this declaration, any person has the right to change his/her
citizenship from one state to the other. Rather it is a privilege that may be granted to a foreigner up
on the good will (interest) of the government. What is needed is to fulfill the requirements of the
requested country to apply for citizenship. In most countries, however, these requirements are more
or less identical. It includes such requirements as:
 lawful entry for permanent residence,
 good moral character,
 a certain minimum years of residence in the country,
 an adult age,
 non-criminal and
 may include the ability to read, write and speak their national language.
For instance, according to the 1930 Ethiopian citizenship decree the requirement for naturalized
Ethiopian citizenship were; having a majority (legal age), staying in Ethiopia for at least five years,
being not dependant, being able to speak and write Amharic language and not being accused of
crime or other related illegal matters.
According to proclamation No. 378/2003 of the Ethiopian nationality law (Article 5), a foreigner who
applies to acquire Ethiopian nationality by law is expected to fulfill the following conditions:
1) he/she has to attain the age of majority;
2) he/she has to establish a domicile in Ethiopia for a total of at least four years preceding
the submission of his application;
3) he/she has to be able to communicate in any one of the languages of the nations and
nationalities of the country;
4) he/she has to have a sufficient and lawful source of income to maintain him/her self and
his/her family;
5) he/she has to be a person of good charter;
6) he/she has to have no record of criminal conviction
7) he/she has to be able to show that he has been released from his previous nationality
or the possibility of obtaining such a released up on the acquisition of Ethiopian nationality or
that he is a stateless person, and

8) he/she is required to take the oath of allegiance stated under article 12 of the
proclamation which says that “I-----, solemnly affirm that I will be a loyal national of the federal
democratic republic of Ethiopia and be faithful to its constitution”.
More specifically, citizenship by naturalization could be requested on the bases of among others through
marriage, legitimization, option and acquisition of domicile.
2.1.1 Marriage: marriage with alien or foreign person could be the reason for change of
citizenship status. Most of the time the preference to chose citizenship status is given to
the wife. Article 4 of the 1930 Ethiopian Citizenship Decree and Article 6 of proclamation
No.378/2003 a foreigner who is married to an Ethiopian national may acquire Ethiopian
nationality by law when one fulfills the following requirements:
1) The marriage is concluded in accordance with the laws of Ethiopia or the other
country where the marriage is contracted;
2) There is a lapse of at least two years since the conclusion of the marriage;
3) He/she has lived in Ethiopian for at least one year preceding the submission of
the application; and
4) He/she has fulfilled the conditions stated under article 5 (1, 7, 8) of the above
proclamation.
Similarly, in the case of adoption, any child adopted by Ethiopian national, based on
proclamation No 378/2003, may obtain Ethiopian nationality by law when the following
conditions are fulfilled;
1) He/she has not attained the age of majority,
2) He/she lives in Ethiopia together with his adopting parent;
3) Where one of his adopting parents is a foreigner and so expressed in written
statement; and
4) The condition stated under article 5(7) of the proclamation has been fulfilled.
However, the government of Ethiopia also grants citizenship rights to those foreign
individuals who have made an outstanding contribution in the interest of Ethiopia
irrespective of the above stated conditions. Such type of acquiring citizenship is
called special case or functional nationality.
2.1.2 Legitimation: this is citizenship by recognition. If a child is born outside a legal
marriage (illegitimate child) from two different national parents, has the right to get his
biological or caretaker/adopted parents after legitimation. Proclamation No. 378/2003,

any child adopted by Ethiopian national may obtain Ethiopian nationality by law when the
following conditions fulfilled. If he/she has not attained the age of majority; he/she lives in
Ethiopia together with his/her adopting parent; where one of his/her adopting parents is a
foreigner, such parent has expressed his stated in writing show that he has been
released from his previous nationality or the possibility of obtaining such a release up on
the acquisition of Ethiopian nationality or that he is a stateless person
2.1.3 Option: a person of double or multiple citizenship has possibility to opt citizenship status
of one country especially in case of the law of the country doesn’t allow double or
multiple citizenship.
2.1.4 Acquisition of domicile: is a way of acquiring citizenship status when a person has got
a permanent residence permits. Example, through DV lottery
2.1.5 Acquisition by job: some countries guarantee citizenship rights for foreign persons
working in their state.
2.2. Citizenship by Political Case / Process: This refers to acquisition of citizenship by conquest or cession
of territory. Cession is voluntary process here as conquest (subjugation) is coercive act. Citizenship by
political case is possible in two ways:
2.2.1 When the people of subjugated state are incorporated with in the territory of the
victorious state, they acquire citizenship of the new state. When large number of people
acquires citizenship at the same time, such practice is termed as collective citizenship.
2.2.2 Due to the merger of one state with another state, citizen of the merged state becomes
citizens of the new state in which they are merged. Example, when the US bought the
Louisiana territory from France in 1803, the treaty provided that all the people in the area
should become American citizens (merged with the new territory).
2.3 Citizenship by Re-integration (Re-admission): person who has lost his/her citizenship due to some
reasons may get it back if he/she fulfills some conditions as laid down by the laws of the state. This process
is known as the process of re-integration or restoration (refer the 1930 Ethiopian Citizenship Decree Article
17 and the 2003 Proclamation of Ethiopian Nationality, Article 22).
2.4 Citizenship by Option: this is a modern development due to the direct participation of the inhabitants in
their status of citizenship. In voluntary partition, cession or exchange of territories option is given to the
inhabitants to choose only the citizenship of one state. Example, when the territory of India was divided in to
Pakistan and India.
2.5 Citizenship by legislation: the laws of the state govern principles of citizenship and it is the law that
decides as to who would be considered national or citizen of a country. The state legislature enacts laws
regarding acquisition and loss of citizenship. A state confers honorary citizenship to foreign dignatories and
people of prominence, if they accept the conferment.
2.6 Citizenship by Special Case: citizenship can be given to an individual or collectives without undergoing
all the legal procedures related to acquisition of citizenship. This kind of provision of citizenship is called
Functional Nationality.
2.7 Citizenship by Claim (Defacto Citizenship): a women (man) can marry another national without
undergoing the required legal procedure of marriage. Under such condition the married woman (man) can
possibly claim citizenship of her husband’s (his wife’s) country. Such kind of citizenship by claim/assumption
is termed as Apparent Nationality.
3. Citizenship by mixed (dual) system

There are times when a person finds himself/herself with multiple citizenship status. Dual nationality
(citizenship) is when a person has citizenship status of two countries. This might be due to an overlap of
countries’ citizenship laws. i.e. a person may have one because of his /her place of birth (jus soil) and
another because of his/her parent’s citizenship by blood (jus sanguinis). Similarly, when a person has
citizenship status of more than two countries it is termed as multiple citizenship. Some individuals have
more than two citizenship status as a result of jus soil, jus sanguinis or naturalization laws.
Effective citizenship
This is a situation, which the person selects his/her effective citizenship (mono citizenship) out of many
citizenship possibilities. Therefore, the question of effective citizenship arises only in case of double or
multiple citizenship of a person. Effective citizenship can be determined on the bases of habitual contract,
permanent residence and closeness (attachment) of a person with particular country.
3.1.9.2 Modes of Loosing Citizenship

As they pursue different principles in granting citizenship status, states also adopt different principles to
make citizens loss citizenship.
1. Renunciation (Expatriation): in some states nationality may be renounced i.e in case states
harass the person and in turn he/she dislikes the policies or politics/ ideologies pursued by the
state. The UN UDHR of 1948 Article 15(2) provides the right to the individual to renounce his/her
citizenship (nationality) and seek the citizenship (nationality) of some other states according to
his/her choice.

2. Deprivation: a citizen may also be deprived of his/her citizenship, if he/she is guilty of committing
certain serious crimes against the state such as making access national secrets to alien country,
siding with enemy forces in time of war and so on.
3. Substitution: citizenship may be lost when his/her original citizenship is substituted by another state,
which he/she acquires through naturalization. On the other side, this may also take place when a
particular territory is annexed by another state, the inhabitants citizenship within the annexed territory
will be replaced by the citizenship of the subjugator.
4. Laps: citizenship may be lost due to Lapse case- i.e in case the person stays outside of his/her
country for a long and continuous period. For example in an Indian citizen, stays out continuously
for more than seven years, the person will lose his/her Indian citizenship by the principle of laps.
How about in Ethiopia?

Ethiopia also pursues different mechanisms or ways of denying citizenship rights. As clearly explained in
article 19 of proclamation no 378/2003 of the Ethiopian nationality law one can loss his/ her Ethiopian
nationality via renunciation if; he/she has acquired or has been guaranteed the acquisition of the nationality of
another state. However, one who intends to do so shall in advance inform the concerned authority. Moreover,
he/she who has declared his/her intention to renounce his nationality may not be released until he/she has
discharged his/her outstanding national obligations or where he/she has been accused of convicting a crime.
Thus given, dual nationality is impossible in the Ethiopian context. Article 20 of the above stated
proclamation supports this stating:
1) Without prejudice to the provision of article 19 (4) of this proclamation, any Ethiopian who voluntary
acquires another nationality shall be deemed to have voluntarily renounced his Ethiopian nationality.
2) An Ethiopian who acquires another nationality by virtue of being born to a parent having a foreign
nationality or by being born abroad shall be deemed to have voluntarily renounced his other nationality
unless he has declared to the authority his option to retain it by renouncing his other nationality within
one year after attaining the age of majority or unless there has been an earlier expressed renunciation
of his Ethiopian nationality pursuant to Article 19(3) of this proclamation.
3) An Ethiopian who acquires, in the absence of his own initiative, another nationality by the operation of
the law in connection with any ground other than those specified under sub-article (2) of this article shall
be deemed to have voluntarily renounced his Ethiopian nationality if he starts exercising the rights
conferred to such acquired nationality or fails to declare his option to the authority to retain his Ethiopian
nationality by renouncing his other nationality with in a period of one year. And
4) A person who retains another nationality in addition to Ethiopian nationality shall be considered an
Ethiopian national until the loss of his Ethiopian nationality pursuant to sub-article (2) or (3) of this
Article.
Statelessness: it is lack of citizenship in a country. When a person is not citizen or national of any country,
he/she is stateless. There are many conditions of statelessness:
- If his/her homeland denies (withdraws) his/her citizenship as a punishment, he/she is no more a
citizen of any country.
- If he/she renounces his/her citizenship in one country, but does not acquire another citizenship.
- A child could be born without being a citizen of a country if his/her alien parents come from a country
that does not recognize the right of place of birth.
- Under the laws of some countries, a person can become stateless as a result of marriage.
- A person whose home land has been destroyed by another country may find himself/herself in a
similar situation.
- Some people become stateless as a result of government action. A government might punish citizens
by expatriating them, leaving them stateless. Example, in 1935, the German government led by Nazi
dictator, Adolph Hitler, expatriated all Jews living in Germany. As a result they become stateless
persons.
There is an international concern over the case of stateless persons. To settle such conditions, the UN has
adopted a convention on the protection and reduction of stateless persons. States are expected to observe
the conventions in resolving the difficulty of stateless persons.
3.1.10 WHO IS ENTITLED TO CITIZENSHIP STATUS?
Although it might sound surprising citizenship status is not a natural inheritance of only human beings
rather it also extends to non-human entities as well. Given this, the following elements are normally entitled to
citizenship status.
 Human beings. All persons irrespective of religion, race, color etc directly have the right to be
citizens. Here, citizenship is a right not a privilege. i.e it is not a status that is conferred by the will
of government.
 Dehumanized elements. These are institutions, plants, animals and materials that have legal
status. Example, commercial organizations, registered ships and planes, endemic animals and plants

etc. However, dehumanized elements cannot be categorized under direct citizenship status which
refers to exercising the title of citizenship directly without the approval or will of any political body.
Rather the government has the responsibility to determine citizenship status of non-human elements.
Thus, direct citizenship applies only to humanized elements although via legal status it is also
possible to term dehumanized elements as nationals of a country.
3.1.11 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
Part I: Select the best answer among the given alternatives.

1. One of the following does not characterize a citizen. Which one of that?
A. Citizen is a person who is acknowledged as a legal member of a political community.
B. A person becomes citizen if she or he is born in the territory of the state.
C. A citizen is a person who belongs to a state and has a status of full participation in governmental
affairs.
D. A person who is legally recognized and full member of the state is the citizen of the political
community.
E. A citizen is a person who resides in the territory of the state.
2. A male child was born in a certain territory and yet he had no chance to be the citizen of the state in which
he was born. From this we can understand that
N.B The parents are not the citizens of the state where the chilled was born
A. the state does not implement jus soli
B. the child is a naturalized citizen
C. he is a stateless child
D. the state does not implement jus sanguinis
3. What condition determines the child mentioned above (in question № 9)
to acquire the citizenship of the state.
A. The citizenship law of the state
B. The citizenship of his parents
C. The international convention on the rights of the child
D. None of the above
Part II: Define the following terms

Citizenship Citizen Lex sangunise Jus sangunise
Subject Lex soli Naturalization Jus soli

Part III: Say True or False

1. Citizenship is a permanent relationship between a people and a state.
2. Subjects as members of a state that don't exercise full rights.
3. A person can get a new citizenship through the method called naturalization.
Part IV: Questions for reflection

1. What does the present constitution of Ethiopia regarding nationality refer to? Is it Jus soli or Jus
sanguinis?
2. Can you identify and categoris the above articles of the Europian Convention on Nationality in to jus
sanguinis, jus soli and naturalization?
3. Citizenship law that states “a child becomes a citizen of the state provided that either of the two parents or
both are the citizens of the state” often is related to racism. Do you agree with idea? Whether your answer is
yes or no give your justification.
3.1.12 SELECTED REFERENCES
Benn, Stanley I. & Peters, Richard S. (1959) Social Principles and the Democratic State, London: Allen &
Unwin
McKerlie, Dennis (1989) "Equality and Time," Ethics 99 (1989) 274-296, reprinted in L. Pojman & R.
Westmoreland (eds.), Equality. Selected Readings, Oxford: Oxford University Press 1997
Microsoft Encarta Reference Library 2003. 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation.
The Ethiopian Constitutions (1931, 1955, 1987, The Transitional Charter and 1995)
Vaugh, Karen I. (1980) "John Locke's Theory of Property: Problems Interpretation" in Literature of Liberty,
Vol.III, No.1,Spring 1980,
Wood, A., (1998) "Kant on Duties Regarding Nonrational Nature" Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society
Supplement, Volume LXXII.

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Chapter Three Understanding Citizenship

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Chapter Three: Understanding Citizenship WOYAHA, DELH, FTVETI

UNIT 3.1: CITIZENSHIP

Civic and Ethical Education (CEE 101) -1-

3.1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

At the conclusion of this unit you should be able to:

3.1.3 DEFINITION OF CITIZENSHIP

Accordingly, some of the generally formulated definitions of citizenship are:

Civic and Ethical Education (CEE 101) -2-

Civic and Ethical Education (CEE 101) -3-

3.1.4 ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF CITIZENSHIP

Civic and Ethical Education (CEE 101) -4-

Civic and Ethical Education (CEE 101) -5-

Civic and Ethical Education (CEE 101) -6-

3.1.5 CITIZENSHIP AS THE TOTALITY OF RIGHTS, DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITY

3.1.6 FULL MEMBERSHIP OF CITIZENS

Civic and Ethical Education (CEE 101) -7-

3.1.7 NATIONALS, CITIZENS AND SUBJECTS

Civic and Ethical Education (CEE 101) -8-

1. Born subjects 2. Naturalized subjects.

Civic and Ethical Education (CEE 101) -9-

3.1.8 ASPECTS OF CITIZENSHIP

3.1.9 MODES OF ACQUIRING AND LOOSING CITIZENSHIP

3.1.9.1 Modes of Attaining/Gaining Citizenship

Civic and Ethical Education (CEE 101) - 11 -

Civic and Ethical Education (CEE 101) - 12 -

2.1 Citizenship by registration or naturalization: is a mode of acquiring citizenship after birth. It is a

Civic and Ethical Education (CEE 101) - 13 -

Civic and Ethical Education (CEE 101) - 14 -

3. Citizenship by mixed (dual) system

3.1.9.2 Modes of Loosing Citizenship

Civic and Ethical Education (CEE 101) - 16 -

How about in Ethiopia?

3.1.10 WHO IS ENTITLED TO CITIZENSHIP STATUS?

Civic and Ethical Education (CEE 101) - 18 -

3.1.11 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Part I: Select the best answer among the given alternatives.

Part II: Define the following terms

Civic and Ethical Education (CEE 101) - 19 -

Part III: Say True or False

Part IV: Questions for reflection

3.1.12 SELECTED REFERENCES

Civic and Ethical Education (CEE 101) - 20 -

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