Borinata wrote:It seems that a conflation of the terms citizenship and nationality has occurred. There is certainly a difference between being a national (a recognized resident) of a state and a citizen (a recognized resident entitled to certain rights and privileges.) Perhaps this could be solved by a more careful definition of what is meant by a national; I don't believe being a national of a state is or must be synonymous with citizenship. Many states exclude persons of various incomes, intelligences or other characteristics from the full rights of citizenship or citizenship at all, however the excluded persons are certainly considered inhabitants (or nationals) and recognized as such by their government.
I would suggest to the good doctor that nothing in this proposal mandates a nation give citizenship, merely that a nation recognize that a stateless person born within the borders of Glen-Rhodes be considered an inhabitant.
I believe that Ms. Harper's clear intent was to mandate citizenship, and that she still has that intent, but has obviously been misguided by Your Excellency's comments. Her reasoning for the proposal's categorization is that "nationality often results in a person with one being granted political rights", which is the common definition of 'citizenship'.
Though, I don't know where this specific difference between the two words has come from. Nationality does bring with it state protection (rights). The only difference is that a national does not necessarily have the right to vote and other political rights, which are gained through citizenship.
Focusing this proposal merely on nationality has made it much more agreeable, in any case. But, if the reasoning for categorizing it in Furtherment of Democracy is that the resolution would grant political rights, then the text is in conflict with the category. It's a question of whether or not Furtherment of Democracy's "democratic freedoms" means expressly political freedoms, which allow people to participate in the democratic process. Like the proposal now explains, nationality does not confer political rights.
[float=left]Dr. Bradford William Castro
Ambassador-at-Large,
Permanent Chief of Mission for World Assembly affairs,
the Commonwealth of Glen-Rhodes[/float][float=right][/float]