Nationality and Citizenship in the Spanish Constitutional Democracy

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the concepts of nationality and citizenship in Spanish constitutionalism from the perspective of the democratic principle. The terms nationality and citizenship are often used as synonymous or as concentric circles (nationality the larger and citizenship the smaller), ignoring their different functions within the legal system, or at least their different legal configuration and relationship. It is shown how nationality and citizenship serve to measure respectively the greater or lesser degree of individual subjection to the legal system and the varying degrees of social participation, contributing thereby the first (nationality) to the maintenance of external functional differentiation of the legal system (compared to other jurisdictions) and the second to the its internal differentiation (versus other social systems such as morality, economics, politics, etc ...). Accordingly, the paper questions from the point of view of the democratic pluralism and equality the criteria according to which nationality has been used to build an culturally homogeneous sovereign State people as well as the establishing of certain legal requirements for naturalizing, such as a sufficient degree of integration into Spanish society, or good civic behaviour, that go beyond the need to obey the law. Identically is questioned the reduction of citizenship just to core political citizenship, then there are more ways of social participation and integration than just the political ones, and the political participation also admits different degrees that can belong to different types of citizens: national and alien citizens.