The Meaning and Significance of Citizenship in a Transnational World: Implications for Public Administration

Abstract

What are the meaning and significance of national citizenship in an increasingly global society? That question is not easily answered, but the clear implication is that the world as we know it in the late 20th Century may have made national citizenship less meaningful, significant, and useful as a category within which to understand one’s public obligations, both as a citizen and as an employee of the citizenry. In this paper, we explore the question of national citizenship because the world in which we live seems to transcend the boundaries of the nation-state with ever-increasing speed and pervasiveness. We define legal and ethical citizenship and review the general arguments against national citizenship as a meaningful and significant concept and role. We proceed to consider positive proposals for alternative postnational constructs and discuss the implications of a transnational view of citizenship for public administrators and public administrative ethics.