CITIZENSHIP AND NATIONALITY IN DEMOCRATIC SYSTEMS - APPROACHES TO DEFINING AND ACQUIRING MEMBERSHIP IN THE POLITICAL COMMUNITY

This article analyzes the approaches of five democratic countries-Fran ce, the United States, Germany, Great Britain, and Israel-to determini ng membership in the national community. It examines the different def initions of citizenship and the variable uses of ascriptive and functi onal criteria, the mix of interpretations of jus sanguinis and jus sol i, and the evolution of policies of naturalization. It deals with the circumstances surrounding the building of nation and state as explanat ory factors, and discusses the implications of transnational and supra national patterns of socioeconomic involvements and entitlements for t raditional approaches to citizenship.