6.7.3 Individual Rights and Responsibilities
(This is a current page, from the Patterns of Power Edition 3 book contents. An archived copy of this page is held at https://www.patternsofpower.org/edition03/673.htm)
An individual’s rights and responsibilities in a country are politically determined. They partly depend upon whether the person is deemed to be a citizen of that country. It is a politically contested topic because globalisation has led to an increase in population movement; some people want migration to be as smooth as possible, whereas others want to put controls in place.
The following sub-sections examine the rights and responsibilities of each status of individual:
- Some rights and responsibilities apply to everyone, including temporary visitors (6.7.3.1).
- Permanent residents – ‘denizens’ – have additional rights and responsibilities, which may be discretionary (6.7.3.2).
- Citizens have more automatic rights and responsibilities than denizens or visitors (6.7.3.3).