Suchergebnisse

The global distributive implications of automatically allocating political membership according to territoriality (jus soli) & parentage (jus sanguinis) principles have largely escaped critical scrutiny. This article begins to address this considerable gap. Securing membership status in a given state or region -- with its specific level of wealth, degree of stability, & human rights record -- is a crucial factor in the determination of life chances. However, birthright entitlements still dominate both our imagination & our laws in the allotment of political membership to a given state. In this article we explore the striking conceptual & legal similarities between intergenerational transfers of citizenship & property. The analogy between inherited citizenship & the intergenerational transfer of property allows us to use existing qualifications found in the realm of inheritance as a model for imposing restrictions on the unlimited & perpetual transmission of membership -- with the aim of ameliorating its most glaring opportunity inequalities. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright 2007.]