Foundational Elements of a Just Constitution (Part Two)

By Dr. Livingston Smith

In this series on the constitution and constitutional reform, I have been arguing that the discussion and analysis that precede constitutional reform should centre on personhood and evolve around foundational issues of citizenship, justice, democracy and context. In other words, a ‘just’ constitution will have as its foundation, firstly and most importantly, a proper conception of personhood which should then be used as a guide in framing issues of citizenship, democracy, justice and human rights, and the logic of context. 

A Conception of Citizenship

A discussion of citizenship is critical in constitutional deliberations. The concept of citizenship, fully understood by an enlightened citizenry, and fully conveyed throughout the entire body politic, can be used as a tool of empowerment and as a check on the behavior and modus operandi of Government.

There is an intrinsic connection between the concept of citizenship and the nation-State during the last two hundred years. The notion of citizenship gained universal prominence with the idea of equal national status, developed and established by the French Revolution. The traditions, however, go back to pre-modern times. The city or ‘polis’ in Greece replaced the familial and tribal bonds and entailed a new city-life, a new civic status, embracing the ethics of cooperation. Citizenship in the Greece was a distinct status which drew symbolic boundaries against those who lived without and within the physical space of the community but did not belong to it socially. Citizenship was originally a social construct, constitutive of the identity of a particular community, having status in a more abstract community, the polity.

Prominent sociologist Max Weber notes that originally, citizenship was an exclusive social-political status, which had a distinct symbolic meaning and relevance.  It meant membership in a republic.  It was a status of equality and eminence, which distinguished a class of individuals who were recognized as having a particular stake, and particular rights, duties, and burdens in the polity. The original concept was based on republicanism. With the emergence of the modern state this idea was recast.

In the modern state, the concept of citizenship was based on the idea of democratic equality in which all are subject to the law. In the democratic framework, the citizen is granted equal rights to take part in the process of law-making. Citizenship describes the relationship between an individual and the state, with corresponding duties and rights; it implies a status of freedom with concomitant responsibilities. The citizen should restore, if necessary, but certainly live by fundamental values: becoming caring, just, and law-abiding, civil, but not servile, respectful, but not subservient. In this context, the constitution is the covenant between leaders and citizens.  The constitution demands the existence of a partnership by setting out the responsibilities and accountabilities of political leadership, while clearly defining the rights, freedoms, and responsibilities of the citizens.

 A sharper understanding of what citizenship entails, and the kind of political leadership required to defend and deepen this kind of citizenship, should form a major part of constitutional discussion.  Citizens are responsible for making democracy work.  This is only possible when there is a broad-based understanding of the rights, privileges and responsibilities of the citizenry. The status of citizenship bestows upon individuals equal rights and duties, liberties and constraints, power and responsibilities. A reexamination of the roles of citizenry and leadership is imperative.

The attainment of universal adult suffrage in the Caribbean was extremely important in the process of democracy and nation-building.  The vote was significant because of its possible effect on governance.  It ensured self-determination, political participation, autonomy and representation.   Political rights such as the right to vote and the right to hold political office are predicated upon citizenship.  It is my view that in the Caribbean context, the notion of citizenship has not been fully developed throughout the entire political community. This underdeveloped sense of the meaning and significance of citizenship is, undoubtedly, one explanation for the development and persistence of the important negative aspects of the political culture of Caribbean societies.

The Constitution lays down the “ground rules” for our living together in society and protects the possibility of a community in which individual citizens can live their full lives.  Ideally, a conception of citizenship must evolve out of a proper conception of personhood, democracy, and justice.  It must be grounded in a normative or moral conception of persons, who are seen as basic units of thought, deliberation and responsibility. Democratic citizenship implies that citizens as free and equal persons with moral powers regarding the capacity for justice and for a conception of the good.  This means that they have the powers of reasonable judgments, thoughts and inference. They have the capacity to form, revise, rationally pursue and deliberate as to the appropriate and just form of political rule for themselves and posterity.