Citizenship and choice: An overview

Abstract

Citizenship, a somewhat elusive concept, is explored in the context of social, economic and political entitlement. At the socio‐political level, it is argued that bodies intermediate to the state and individual—civil and civic formations—are necessary for citizenship to flourish in an atmosphere where experiments in living can take place. We currently lack a clear philosophy directed to creating an acceptable balance between individual self‐help, the enabling state which pilots the needs of citizens into agreed channels and intermediate social life forms. Such a philosophy needs to be developed alongside an institutional restructuring of the state. In this, a reformed constitutional and administrative law has a crucial role to play.