Politics Report - Citizenship Define CitizenshipCitizenship is the relationship between a person and the country they live in

Positive Rights

Since the concept of  limits the actions of the government, the only way to circumvent them is by adding new rights that are allegedly superior to the others. The concept of Positive Rights was developed. These new rights differ from the old rights. Instead of involving freedom from interference from others, these new rights demand goods and services.

The "positive" in positive rights refers to the fact that to satisfy these rights, other people must provide them. They require action from others, instead of inaction. A "right" to health care is such a right. In order to fulfil it, a doctor must be enslaved. The doctor may be paid of course, but then others are required to pay the bill.

Positive rights are not compatible with real rights, or "negative rights". The positive rights require actions on the part of others. Negative rights require that no man can be forced to do anything he doesn't want. The two are incompatible. Positive rights are accepted at the expense of negative rights. They cannot coexist, since they are polar opposites.

Key Rights of British Citizens

• Freedom of movement
• Freedom from arbitrary arrest or unjustified police searches
• Freedom of conscience in matters of religion and politics
• Freedom of expression
• Freedom of association, including the right to protest peacefully
• Social freedoms – such as the right to marry, divorce or enjoy homosexual relations
• The right to vote and to stand for election
• The right to a fair trial
• The right not to be coerced or tortured by agents of the state
• The right not to be subjected to surveillance without due legal process
• The right to own property.

A Very Brief History of Human Rights in the UK

  People living in the UK are both citizens and subjects. They are citizens because they have certain defined rights and liberties, but they are also subjects of the Monarch. The rights and liberties of British citizens are not set out in a single constitutional document rather; they are a part of the British uncodified constitution. Some of these rights and liberties are the product of custom and convention. Others are contained in written documents, namely Acts of Parliament. The rights and liberties contained in these acts are the result of struggles waged by people and their representatives against the absolute power of their rulers.

Key Events:-

Magna Carta – In 1215, King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta. This was the first time in the UK that the power of an absolute ruler had been limited by law. The Magna Carta established that laws made by the monarch were to be within the common law, the monarch could only levy certain taxes with the permission of the council and no person could be imprisoned except by a process of law involving the lawful judgement of their peers.

Habeas Corpus – In 1679, the habeas corpus act was passed. This act insisted that people should be told the reason for their arrest and should be informed of the charges against them. A person who was arrested had to be brought before a court and charged with a specific offence within 3 days. This act was particularly important since it limited the arbitrary power of rulers.

Bill of Rights – In 1689, the bill of rights was passed. Unlike such bills in other countries, the British bill of rights had no special status – it was an ordinary act of parliament. Nonetheless, it did increase the rights enjoyed by citizens. The bill ensured the supremacy of parliament over the monarch and prevented the monarch from imposing taxation unless it was agreed by the House of Commons. The bill also guaranteed freedom of speech and the right of citizens to petition both the monarch and parliament.

Further acts – A number of acts were passed extending the rights and liberties of British citizens. Such as the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829, Sex Discrimination acts were passed in 1975 and 1987 and the Data Protection Act was passed in 1984.         

Citizenship in the 1900’s

  The concept of active citizenship was a result of the Conservatives’ government experience in the 1980's. The government began to look for solutions to the problems of rising crime and rising public spending which did not involve government intervention. One solution was to suggest that responsibility for society’s problems did not lie within the government, but with the whole community. In other words, every British citizen had a duty to take an active part in solving society’s problems. To promote the idea of this active citizenship, John Major launched the Citizen’s Charter initiative in the summer of 1991. Together these two notions demonstrated the dual nature of citizenship, with its concern for both the responsibilities of citizens towards each other and also with what can be expected as a right from the state.