Citizenship is the exercise of respect for the Republic and its laws.

To determine citizenship, it is first necessary to differentiate civility. It is

defined by the rules of the "good life" she is the relationship between subjects in
the private sphere. Instead, citizenship is respect and devotion to the "public
good". It is the public sphere. It is thus essential to distinguish the civic
spirit of civility, otherwise confuse private virtue and public virtue, respect the
codes of "savoir vivre" and political consciousness

It is also necessary to differentiate the good citizenship of legalism, and

antisocial behavior of illegality. For example, do not vote is an act of disloyalty
("Voting is a right, but also a civic duty"). However, this mistake has no legal
value. It does not exist in the penal code, it is not a crime.

However, it is easier to denounce the incivility that define citizenship. Indeed,

it is a convenient "hinge" it is not confined to the private dimension and yet is
not defined simply by complying with the law. It urges ethics and yet differs from
"morality". How to determine the positivity of this political awareness and
dedication of the "public good"?

First, speak well of virtue and compliance policies may determine to interpret as
an act of civic piety, or even conservatism against public powers. But this is not
so. Dedication to public service, strictly understood, can only be as dedication to
the Republic. In other words, citizenship is defined by the rights and obligations
of citizenship. It presupposes the existence thereof. Yet citizenship is not only a
status and it is instituted and practiced. Citizenship is the quality unique to
this institution and the practice. The phrase "Voting is a civic duty" means that
citizenship is the first implication, the effective takeover of the citizen in
public affairs. Voting in the Republic is a political decision, help create,
define, and to redetermine the commonwealth. Citizenship is not conservative, but
"create" it is establishing and criticism. Specifically, the first exercise
rational civic interest in public affairs; civility is rational action for the
public interest. His first lesson is: respect the public powers is to first
establish, control, and subject them to rational criticism. Citizenship is the
production of a report active and rational - and therefore critical - the citizen
against government powers.

Moreover, citizenship does not only a "vertical" relationship of the citizen in

respect of these powers, but also a "horizontal" relations between citizens. Both
reports imply each other. Contribute to upholding the rights of some and,
therefore, contribute to force some others to meet their obligations, that is
indissolubly work for the citizens and the state guarantees the rights and
obligations. Citizenship is dynamic: it works to the actual practice of rights and
obligations of citizens and works together to achieve justice policy.

This practice of citizenship obliges us to distinguish the civic "nationalism." For

example, observe the anti-Semitic laws enacted by Nazi Germany, or the laws of
apartheid, which were produced by South Africa was perhaps to demonstrate
nationalism, but certainly not good citizenship, as determined in this obedience
violate the equality of subjects, which is the foundation of Republican politics.
Another example: the officials of the Vichy regime that met the French government
applied the anti-Semitic policies of its leaders, it is doubtful that they have
demonstrated nationalism, they certainly showed no civility in flout principles of
citizenship. Disobedience policy is not therefore necessarily disloyalty. Sometimes
there civic duty to disobey.

We see the way that citizenship is not only conservative but not necessarily
pacifying. Its exercise may be deeply controversial because it nourishes the
distinction between legality and legitimacy. Legality is the fact that laws are
enacted by a State, the legitimacy of political justice. Citizenship can start a
fight against illegitimate laws. While the examples we have seen leave no doubt on
the legitimacy of the fight, but is it always so easy to determine what is fair?
The "conscientious objection", for example, shows that this determination is
sometimes difficult and debatable. Refuse to bear arms and practice them, is it
good citizenship or antisocial behavior? Citizenship is not only imposing, dynamic
and controversial. It identifies an area in which the problematic legitimacy
becomes subject to scrutiny or redefined.

Citizenship - practical instituent, dynamic, controversial and problematic of

citizenship - empowers the political subject as he delivers his status as single
user or consumer rights. It empowers by raising the awareness of its role in the
city. Indeed, it defines an ethic of political responsibility: the requirement that
citizens must always respond as a citizen. The civility and the practical
recognition of the fact that citizenship is a task that must always be done. It is
the rational exercise of this task