Class 11 Political Science Short Questions With Answers -Citizenship

Q1. What do you mean by citizenship?
Ans: Citizenship implies full and equal members of a political community. The theories given by different liberal political thinkers suggest that citizenship should be universal. This means that every member of the community should be given citizenship. It also means that every person irrespective of his caste, color, sex, and status should be considered worthy of giving rights and duties. In fact, citizenship is a qualification that makes a man worthy of getting the rights and discharging of duties and responsibilities.

Q2. Mention some essential characteristics of citizenship.
Ans:

• Citizenship is membership of the political community.
• Citizenship is a qualification.
• Citizenship is based on equality and freedom.
• Citizenship involves rights and facilities.
• Citizenship also involves duties and obligations.
• Citizenship creates trust and confidence among the members of the community.
• The contents and idea is expanding as per the democratic development.

Q3. How did citizenship explain the relationship between the citizens and the state?
Ans: Citizenship is not concerned with the technical relationship between the states and the people, it has a number of aspects-like legal aspect, political aspect, socio-economic aspect, moral aspect, and psychological aspects also. It is also citizen to citizen rather people to people relationship and involves certain duties and obligations of citizens for the states and also for themselves. Citizens are also considered inherits and trustees of the culture and natural resources of the country.

Q4. Explain the idea of fall and equal membership.
Ans: The concept of full and equal membership means that all citizens rich or poor should be guaranteed certain basic rights and a minimum standard of living by the state. In the wake of the right of movement people of different strata and different occupations move from one place to another, from one region to another region in search of better job opportunities make the combination of insider and outsider population which likely creates the feeling of hardness and conflict.
To check it the idea of full equal membership can be very useful which will give equal opportunities and status to all.

Q5. Explain the T. H. Marshall view of citizenship.
Ans: T.H. Marshall a British sociologist has given a new dimension to the definition of citizenship. He defines citizenship as a “Status bestowed on those who are full members of a community. All who possess the status are equal with respect to the rights and duties with – which the status is endowed.”Equality is the key concept of the idea of citizenship as given by T.H. Marshall. Marshall sees citizenship in terms of three rights i.e. civil rights, political rights, and social rights who are necessary for a citizen to lead a dignified life.

Q6. Explain civil, political, and social rights that are considered necessary for the dignified life of a man.
Ans: T. H. Marshall considered civil rights, political rights, and social rights as very necessary for a man to lead a dignified life. The contents and essential elements of these rights are as under –

• Civil rights protect the individual’s life, liberty, and property.
• Political rights enable the individual to participate in the process of governance
• Social rights give the individual access to education and employment.

Q7. What is the importance of citizenship?
Ans: Citizenship is a decoration, it is trust, it is recognition of one’s ability and capacities and on that basis, it is respectable involvement of the people in collective affairs of the society and political community. It ensures the integration of the various hierarchic socio-economic groups of the society. Thus it helps in building the harmonious relations of the community. Citizenship is not merely a legal concept. It is also closely related to the ideal concepts of equality and rights. It helps the people in leading a dignified life.

Q8. How the equal rights can be ensured?
Ans: The provision of equal rights is considered an essential feature for the accomplishment of citizenship. However to ensure equal rights and opportunities for all citizens cannot be a simple matter and easy for any government because different people and different social and occupational groups may have different needs and different demands. Moreover, equal rights for citizens do not mean that uniform policies have to be adopted for all the people of different sections of the society. The different needs and claims of people should have to be taken into account while framing the policies, because for all the citizens the rights are to accepted in relativity, of course not in totality.

Q9. Discuss the verdict of the Supreme Court regarding the rights of slum dwellers.
Ans: In response to a Public Interest Litigation filed by a social activist OlgaTellis against Bombay Municipal Corporation in 1985, the Supreme Court of India accepted the right to live on pavements or in slums because there was no alternative accommodation available close to their work. If they are forced to move from there, they would lose their livelihood. The Supreme Court concluded that Art. 21 of the Indian Constitution which deals with the right to life also includes the right to livelihood.

Q10. Explain the expanding meaning of citizenship.
Ans: The idea of citizens adds citizenship has been under the evolution and expansion with the development and evolution of the society and states. In small city-states are the members of the village were the responsible citizens of the state or we should say political community with the expansion of the state in size, population and activities citizenship, became selective on a number of bases in different societies. With the emergence of democratic sovereign states, the idea of citizenship assumed a number of dimensions. Mow citizenship is not merely a legal concept it involves social, economic, moral as well as psychological aspects. Now citizenship is considered for more and more people on the basis of equality of status and rights.

Q11. Explain the idea of citizenship in Nation-states.
Ans: Modem Nation-states are evolved and organized on the basis of common nationality i.e. common identity of history, race, culture, traditions, and geography which produce political identity with common political objectives and aspirations. The national identity of a democratic state is supposed to provide citizens with a political identity that can be shared by all the members of the state. This makes it easier for the state to extend citizenship to a maximum number of people of the state. In a democratic and secular state like India, citizenship is inclusive.

Q12. What is apartheid? Discuss its impact on citizenship.
Ans: Apartheid means racial discrimination that prevailed in South Africa. The black people of South Africa became the victim of apartheid (racial discrimination) on the basis of which they were denied equal and full citizenship.

Q13. Discuss the criterion of citizenship in India.
Ans: The criterion for granting citizenship to new applicants vary from country to country. India itself is a democratic, secular state with a diverse society with different religions, regions, and cultures.
The Indian Constitution attempted to accommodate every section of this diverse society. It has attempted to give full and equal citizenship to such sections as scheduled castes and women who earlier did not join equal rights and the people of remote areas who had little contact with modem civilization. In India citizenship can be acquired by birth, descent, registration, and naturalization.

Q14. Discuss the problem of stateless people.
Ans: People in the world get displaced due to wars, famine, or other natural calamities. Several states refuse to accept them due to their personal reasons and state policies and they are not in a position to return to their homes. They become stateless and refugees. They may be forced to live in refugee camps. They cannot legally work and educate their children or acquire the property. The problem of stateless people is an important one and confronting the world community.

Q15. Discuss the idea of Global citizenship.
Ans: Today, with new means of communication such as the internet, television, and cell phones and with the increasing interdependence of states on each other and also with the promotion of internationalism, the world is shrinking to a global village. In such a scenario, the national boundaries are diluted. People’s approach has become global and humane. We have now become more international. In such a situation, the idea of global citizenship is gaining ground with wide support.

Q16. Discuss the concept and need for citizenship.
Ans: A person who is a member of a political community and enjoys certain rights from the society and political community and he/she discharges his duties for the community faithfully is called as the citizen. The characteristic or the qualification which makes a person eligible to perform the duties and enjoy certain rights from society is known as citizenship. Citizenship has been defined as full and equal members of a political community. In the present day world, all states provide a collective political identity to their members as well as rights and duties.
The need for citizenship has become more strong in the contemporary aware and complex world. It is citizenship that provides the opportunity to the people to ensure their fuller development and to lead a decent and dignified life. Without the citizenship, people remain stateless and has to lead the life of refugees.

Q17. Discuss the importance of citizenship.
Ans: As we know that citizenship ensures rights and duties to the citizens enabling them to lead a respectable and dignified life. Citizenship provides rights of varying importance. The nature of rights given to the citizens may vary from state to state and society to society. In most democratic states political rights like the right to vote, civil rights like the freedom of speech or belief, socio-economic rights like rights to a minimum wage, or the right of education are given. Equality of rights and states is one of the basic rights of citizenship. It is citizenship that integrates society on the basis of equality.

Q18. Discuss the development of the nation of citizenship.
Ans: The development of the concept of citizenship has been corresponding to the development of state and state. The development of democracy and level of awareness has brought structural and functional changes in the relations between man to man and man to state. Increased mobility in the society has helped in building a new relationship among the people which gave new meaning to the concept of citizenship. More and more people have come into the periphery of the state. Now the citizenship is no more limited to certain sections of society. It is more and more involvement of the people of all sections of the society in the affairs of state in a responsible way. Today citizenship is considered as full and equal members of a political community.
States provide a collective political identity to their members as well as certain rights which gives the citizens dignity and respectability.

Q19. Discuss the struggle for citizenship in different parts of the world.
Ans: Human society has witnessed a long struggle against the domination of colonial, imperialist exploitation. In such systems vast section of the society had been denied, Inequalities and discrimination was the order of that society. With the passage of time, people become intolerant of the inequalities and injustices. Struggles for equal states and participation in the affairs of the state started in different parts of the world. French Revolution, Russian Revolution, and Chinese, Revolution are examples of this trend. In Asia, Africa, and Latin countries nationalistic movements started against the colonial rules which prevailed there. In South Africa, the black African population started ‘ against the apartheid policy of the white government for equality and, justice.

Q20. How does citizenship explain the relationship between the people and the states?
Ans: Citizenship is the characteristics; it is a qualification that enables a person to get involved in affairs with rights, dignity, and obligation. Therefore citizenship provides equal and full membership of the state or the political community. It is definitely the characteristics that determine the relationship between man and the state.
Citizenship is definitely more than the technical and legal relationship between the states and the people, it is also about citizen-citizen relations and involves certain obligations of citizens to each other and to the society. Citizenship is not concerned just about the legal obligations of man towards the state but also has moral obligations also for the state people and society. It provides the opportunity to share the common experiences of each other which generate a sense of togetherness.

Q21. Discuss the freedom of movement.
Ans: One of the important rights which has become very important in recent years is the right of movement. This is freedom of the citizens from one place to another in search of occupation and to settle there adopting a particular occupation. This right has become particularly useful for the laborer and people of special fields who tend to migrate from one place to another. Some people may even travel outside the country in search of jobs. Markets for skilled and unskilled workers have developed in different parts of the country. IT workers have more opportunities in towns like Bangalore, nurses from Kerela are found working all over the country. Indian Constitution has given the right of movement in different parts of the world.

Q22. Do you think full and equal membership means equal rights?
Ans: Citizenship is considered as full and equal membership means equal rights for every member of the political community. Through citizenship, full and equal membership is given to everyone who is worthy of it and it ensures that all the people irrespective of their socio¬economic status, should be guaranteed certain basic rights and a minimum standard of living.
But the situation seems to be different. All the members of the politicians do not enjoy equal status. There are people who are involved in petty jobs like hawkers, plumbers, mechanics and masons, etc. who live in slum-like conditions in different urban and rural areas and do not get equal rights. Their living conditions are horrible and they are seen with contempt by other people. Although they do the useful service to the society and contribute significantly to the economy of the state.

Q23. Explain the concept of citizenship as explained by T.H. Marshall.
Ans: T.H. Marshall a great British sociologist gave a new orientation to the meaning of citizenship and defined it a status bestowed on those who are full members of a community. All who possess the status are equal with respect to the rights and duties with which the status is endowed. The key idea of T.H. Marshall’s concept of citizenship is that of equality. He considered citizenship as leveling process breaking the hierarchic inequalities. In fact, T.H. Marshall defined the idea of citizenship in modem liberal state give due regards to human personality and to promote the people’s participation in the affairs of state.

Q24. Discuss two essential features of citizenship as discussed by T.H. Marshall.
Ans: As said earlier, that T.H. Marshall considered equality as the essential elements of the concept of citizenship which means two things which are as under:-

• It should improve the quality of rights and duties given to the people.
• It should improve the number of people upon whom these duties and rights are given.

Through his concept of citizenship, T.H. Marshall seeks to remove the inequalities which exist in the different social classes. In this way through his idea of citizenship, he wants to establish an equalitarian and integrated society in which all the people are given respectable status and all the citizens exercise their rights and duties in a responsible way.

Q25. Which rights are considered most important by T.H. Marshall in his idea of citizenship?
Ans: T.H. Marshall emphasized three rights in his idea of citizenship which is as under

1. Civil Rights
2. Political Rights
3. Social Rights.

1. Civil Rights:- Civil rights provide the citizen’s rights of equality and liberty and right of expression.
2. Political Rishts:-Political rights enable people to participate in the process of governance, and also the right to vote, the right to be elected, and the right of forming an association.
3. Social Rights:- Social rights give individuals opportunities for education and, employment to earn their livelihood.

Q26. Explain the idea of equal rights of citizens in the state.
Ans: As discussed above the condition of equal rights for all citizens is necessary to condition for the idea of citizenship as discussed by T.H. Marshall and accepted by most of the academicians for a liberal modem democratic state. When we talk of equal rights, they should not be – understood in an absolute sense. In society, there are people of a different class, economic groups, income groups, and occupational groups who may need different socio-economic conditions and facilities, and wages.
We cannot equalize these unequal groups. That does not mean the negation of citizenship. It is, therefore, the rights should be accepted in the relative sense. Equal rights for citizens need not mean that uniform policies have to be applied to all the people since different groups of having different needs. It is therefore for providing equal rights as per the needs of the people the government should frame the policies keeping ‘ in view the needs of the people which are bound to be different as per their different occupations and backgrounds.

Q27. Define the concept of Nation.
Ans: A state formed on the basis of nationality is called a Nation. Nationality can be defined as a group of people of the same race, history, culture, geography with the same future aspirations. When the people of the same nationality are organized, it is called a Nation-State.
In fact, the concept of the nation-state is evolved in the modem period. Nation-states claim that their boundaries define not just territory but also a unique culture and shared history. The national identity of a democratic state is supposed to provide citizens with a political identity that can be shared by all the members of the society and state.

Q28. Discuss the criterion of providing citizenship in India.
Ans: As citizenship seeks to bring all the sections of the society together and contribute to the affairs of the state as per their capabilities and capacities. The Indian Constitution has also accommodated all sections of the society in providing full and equal citizenship. Traditionally backward and discarded sections of the society like scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, women, and the people of remote areas also have been given full and equal citizenship. Indian Constitution has also provided equal rights to all without forcing the people to give their personal beliefs, languages, and cultural practices.
Indian Constitution adopted an essentially democratic and inclusive notion of citizenship. In India, citizenship can be acquired by birth, descent registration, naturalization, or inclusion of territory. The rights and obligations of the citizens are given in the Constitution.

Q29. Define the concept of Universal Citizenship.
Ans: The philosophy behind the need for citizenship is that full and equal members of a state should be available to all those, who ordinarily live and work in the country as well as to those who apply; for citizenship. In the wake of increasing international most of the support the idea of universal and inclusive citizenship, at the same time each country also fixes the criterion for the grant of citizenship which makes them part of their Constitution and written laws, keeping unwanted visitors out.

Q30. Discuss the problem of statelessness in the world.
Ans: In spite of the increasingly adopted liberal approach by the nation-states in giving full and equal citizenship to people of different sections n of the society and also to them, who enter the states from other states due to different reasons, there is a problem of statelessness, which the world community is facing. Borders of the states are still being redefined by war as political disputes. In such political disputes, the people have to face severe consequences. In such uncertainties, people lose their homes, their security, and political identities and are forced to migrate.
In hard laws of the concerned states, the affected people become stateless and are forced to lead the miserable life of tents in search of their own state, home, and political identity. There is a large number of such 1 stateless people living in different parts of the world. Many of these people remain stateless for many years and for generations.

Q31. What is Global citizenship? Is it feasible?
Ans: New means of communication such as the internet, mobile phones, and satellite systems and also due to increasing interdependence, of states in different areas have brought major changes in the structure of – the world. In fact, the world has shrunken to a global village. The people of the world have developed a global vision breaking the barriers of regions and national boundaries. In this scenario, the idea of global citizenship is giving momentum and acceptance at a wider level. This means people should be allowed to move internationally with some kind of permission in the form of global citizenship. Supporters of global citizenship argue that although a world community and global society does not yet exist, people already feel linked to each other across national boundaries.