Citizenship & The Constitution

Question 1

Elaborate on Inclusion and Exclusion of citizen membership

Answer 1

Exclusion: Citizenship should be meaningful and should be limited
(Canada passed a law that refugees should not receive healthcare in Canada)

Citizenship and Belonging: At one end those are born into citizenship. At the other end groups of people who reside in countries where their formal citizenship is in doubt or in question

Question 2

What are some of the citizens rights and responsibilities?

Answer 2

Civil rights:

• Emerged in the 18th century
• Freedom of speech, freedom of the right to own property

Political rights:

• Emerged in the 19th century
• Include the right to vote and right to run for office

Social rights:

• Emerged in the 20th century
• Social rights are the right to minimum standard of economic living
• Logic for minimum wage is that people who work full-time shouldn’t be living in poverty
• If you can’t work full time then there is welfare etc. Social programs

Responsibilities:

• Pay taxes
• Vote (No punishment for not voting)

Question 3

Define “The Rule of Law”

Answer 3

-The rule of law means that no one is above it and has an equal effect on everyone

The rule of law means two things

1. The rule of law means that there cant be laws that people dont know about
2. You cant have laws that apply differently to different people, the people who are running the state need to be held accountable at the same level as its citizens. This makes it so people in the government wont make laws that they wont wanna abide by themselves. They make laws that are equally applicable regardless of their race, gender etc.

• Huge emphasis on order, and things work in an organizational and positive way
• Making laws under the assumption that you are maintaining order
• You should build laws based on prior ones

Question 4

What are the 8 conditions that Fuller laid out in order for a law to be just?

Answer 4

1. General in scope
2. Public (Process of law must be approved, and must have access to specifics)
3. Prospective rather than retroactive (If you apply a new law, you cant punish people for breaking the law before it was made.)
4. Clear (Law has to be clear)
5. Consistent
6. Relatively constant, while taking into account exceptional cases
7. Capable of being obeyed
8. Enforced as written

Question 5

Define “Constitution”

Answer 5

• Constitutions offer us basic information on the rules of the political game
• Tells us who can play
• Lays down the procedures of changing institutions in the state
• Meant to maintain the integrity of the state
• Laws in order to be just cant go against the constitution
• The supreme court makes sure the government abides by the constitution
• There is no single document that covers everything
• In Canada we have a constitution, that the charter or rights and freedoms

Question 6

The Signing of the Constitution Act of 1982

Answer 6

• Gave the Canadian state the ability to write laws without the queens consent on every law
• Prior to that the queen had to approve of constitutional amendments made in the state

Question 7

Constitutional Rights, and Section 15 of the Charter

Answer 7

• Cant be detained without being charged for a crime
• NO SOCIAL RIGHTS IN THE CONSTITUTION

Under section 15 of the charter, we have discrimination rights
-The Canadian government cant discriminate you whether its race, nationality etc.

Question 8

Define “Citizenship”

Answer 8

1. Citizenship is about inclusion and exclusions of membership
2. Citizenship is about rights and duties in relation to the community
3. Citizenship is about participation in the political process

• A full menu of rights and obligations that come along with membership in that particular country
• Citizenship is having the ability to participate in the political process
• Means inclusion and exclusion of society
• Duty not to kill each other
• Membership into the social contract is through citizenship