Citizenship of the World

Running head: CITIZENSHIP OF THE WORLD
CITIZENSHIP OF THE WORLD
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CITIZENSHIP OF THE WORLD
The study analyses and evaluates the idea of global citizenship. The various aspects that
are related to the notion of world citizenship have been discussed in order to gain significant
insight into the actual prospects of global citizenship in a rapidly developing world.
Globalization has given a new meaning to the term- citizen of the world. However, the idea of
world citizenship has existed for a long time. The emphasis is towards understanding the
significance of a speech made by Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States from 1913-
21. In the speech, he said that all people in the world are citizens of the world. However, he
stated further, the problem is that people are unaware of this fact. The study is focused towards
understanding the implications of world citizenship.
One of the main dividing factors that come in between people developing outlooks based
on global citizenship is politics. This is the factor that creates division between people present at
various corners of the world. In the 4th Century BC, Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote “Politics”.
The title meant, everything concerning people. In the very first among the eight books that were
composed as part of the work, Aristotle said that the highest form of community is the political
community1. In book 3, Aristotle says that any person that can take part in the processes of
government is a citizen. Moreover, Aristotle’s theory of citizenship centred on the representation
and the empowerment of the middle classes. He believed that the middle class should have more
political power as this is required for better political stability of the state2. Aristotle however did
not see the requirement of giving citizenship to slaves, foreigners and even women. Hence, it
cannot be said that he believed in global citizenship from any perspective. In the ancient times
civilizations were being created and in due course of time the aspect of citizenship became very
important. Citizens were regarded as the people that were part of the civilization. As time passed
1 Aristotle., Jowett, B. and Davis, H. (1905). Aristotle's Politics. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
2 Hutchinson, D.S., 2015. The virtues of Aristotle. Routledge.

2CITIZENSHIP OF THE WORLD
one big civilization began to conquer other lands and forced them to accept their governance.
However citizenship remained a privilege of only the original inhabitants of the ruling
civilization. Humanity was divided into nations since centuries and the prospects of global
citizenship began to arise only with significant levels of technological advancement. In the
previous ages there were not much requirement for being global citizens and people spent their
entire lives in their native lands. Other than diplomats, nobles, kings and roaming businessmen
most other people never got to see much of the world3. Even then people stayed attached to their
respective cultures. However, after the industrial revolutions things changed drastically and
global interactions became much more wide spread. The new world received immigrants from
different parts of the world leading to the creation of multicultural societies. Although
citizenships did not come under question much at that time, a base for development of the
concept of global citizenship was created.
The idea that was put forward by Woodrow Wilson, at the beginning of the twentieth
century has special significance4. It was at this time that western philosophers and the educated
global classes began to consider the idea of world citizenship with much more importance. This
was partly due to the opportunities that were created as a result of colonialism and increased
world trade. Italian diplomat Nicollo Machiavelli in his book Il Principe states that citizens elect
a fellow citizen in order to be sure that they are in the right hands5. This has been the case many
had opposed the idea of global citizenship and similar views still tend to exist. Machiavelli
further emphasizes that rulers should try to win over their fellow citizens. The most important
3 Baylis, J., Smith, S. and Owens, P. eds., 2017. The globalization of world politics: an introduction to international
relations. Oxford University Press.
4 Barber, J.D., 2017. The presidential character: Predicting performance in the White House. Routledge.
5 Machiavelli, N. (1532). Il principe.