Citizen

Citizen, in its most general sense, an individual member of a given political society or state; by extension, 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. In the Greek idea of citizenship, as expressed by Aristotle, citizens 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. Citizenship in Rome, although usually acquired by birth, could also be attained by naturalization, or by special grant of the state.

A person may also hold dual citizenship, which means that person is officially recognized as a citizen by two different nations. This occurs most commonly when a child is born in one country and the parents hold citizenship in another. It also sometimes is concurrent with naturalization, if the country a person is leaving does not recognize the change of allegiance.

In modern practice, citizenship does not necessarily involve the right of voting or of other participation in political activity, as in the Greek concept of the term; children may be citizens, but they may also be excluded from all direct political activity.

The word citizen is often loosely used as synonymous with resident or inhabitant. Where a law uses the word citizen in this loose sense, the courts are often called on to interpret the word.