Democratic Citizenship in Arab Countries: Reality and Challenges

Abstract

Citizenship and democracy can be seen as two sides of the same coin, whether historically or practically, because citizenship is the basis of democratic construction, enshrining its political, social, economic and cultural dimensions, so that the individual can be liberated and assert his rights, and even become a maker of the latter instead of being subjected to what the system allows them to do. However, citizenship in today's world is exposed to a number of pressures, particularly in light of the accelerating pace of globalization and its economic, financial, social and cultural extensions, which poses new challenges for the state in the Arab world to activate this citizenship, especially as the Arab citizen feels ineffective and loses confidence in the institutions of the state. Moreover, the traditional style of governance based on bureaucratic relations (from top to bottom), has lost its legitimacy and is no longer in line with contemporary challenges. The democratic system is one of the most popular forms of government in the world today, and despite this, our world is still far from democracy, and here we specifically mention our countries in the Arab world. Citizens of most of these countries enjoy political participation that may be limited to periodic election dates. Does our conception of citizenship stop at this point? Or is it a systematic exclusion of citizens from participation in political life? Based on the principle that citizenship confers legitimacy on state institutions, it is therefore necessary to open the debate on the objectives and requirements of citizenship in Arab countries and to answer questions such as how the Arab citizen can participate constructively in political life.