Administrative Theory & Praxis

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The Meaning and Significance of Citizenship in

a Transnational World: Implications for Public
Administration

Terry L. Cooper & Diane E. Yoder

To cite this article: Terry L. Cooper & Diane E. Yoder (1999) The Meaning and Significance of
Citizenship in a Transnational World: Implications for Public Administration, Administrative
Theory & Praxis, 21:2, 195-204, DOI: 10.1080/10841806.1999.11643364

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 THE MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE OF CITIZENSHIP IN A
TRANSNATIONAL WORLD: IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Terry L. Cooper and Diane E. Yoder

University of Southern California

ABSTRACT

W hat 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
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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.

W hat are the meaning and significance of

national citizenship in an increasingly global
society? That is the question we have been
national constructs. Finally, we consider the implica-
tions of a transnational view of citizenship for public
administrators and public administrative ethics.
asked persistently in recent years in response to our
efforts to develop and teach about the ethical tradition of CITIZENSlllP-LEGAL AND ETIllCAL
citizenship in the United States as a normative founda-
Although citizenship is a commonly understood
tion for public administrative ethics. The question is not
term, definitions of the word range in meaning and
easily answered, and the clear implication is that the
application (e.g., high versus low, supportive versus
world as we know it in the late 20th Century may have
constructive). As such, we must delineate our definition
made national citizenship less meaningful, significant,
of citizenship, which is based on Cooper's (1991) very
and useful as a category within which to understand
broad definition:
one's public obligations, both as a citizen and as an
employee of the citizenry.
Citizenship is the status and role which defines
the authority and obligations of individual
In this paper, we wish to begin exploring the
members of a community. This status and role
question of national citizenship because we find it harder
may be formally codified in terms of qualifica-
and harder to gloss over. It looms larger in our thoughts
tions, rights, and obligations by constitutions,
as the world in which we live seems to transcend the
charters and laws, or informally [italics origi-
boundaries of the nation-state with ever-increasing speed
nal] determined by values, tradition and con-
and pervasiveness. Because this is an "exploratory"
sensus. A citizen is one who qualifies for the
venture that we undertake here, this paper is less the
status of citizen as prescribed formally, or
product of extensive research and more of a think'piece.
informally, by a particular community, and is
We first define citizenship as we conceive of it both
encumbered by laws and norms with the obli-
legally and ethically. We then review the general
gations assigned to this role by that commu-
arguments against national citizenship as a meaningful
nity. (p. 5)
and significant concept and role. Following, we proceed
to consider positive proposals for alternative post-

COOPER & YODER/The Meaning and Significance oj Citizenship in a Transnational World 195
 This definition is intentionally broad and inclusive. To
further delineate the definition, Cooper (1991) suggests
both legal and ethical dimensions of citizenship. Regard-
ing the former, "the legal constitutional definition of
citizenship in the United States is one which distributes
authority in a limited hierarchical fashion" (p. 9). This
authority dictates the extent to which citizens may
participate directly in government, and prescribes a
citizen's rights and requirements for naturalization. It
corresponds to the more formal codifications referenced
in the above definition. This legal status is a "means of
focusing attention on the more fundamental evolution of
a stream of values and principles which give essential
shape and content to the role of the citizen" (Cooper,
1991, p. 47). This legal role, however, does little to
inform the other, more important dimension of citizen-
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ship: the ethical dimension of citizenship.
Whereas the legal definition prescribes the right to
participate in a government and public life, the ethical
definition prescribes the obligation to participate and
refers more to the informal norms referenced in the
above definition. According to Cooper (1991), five main
ideas undergird ethical citizenship: (a) the dignity of the
individual citizen; (b) the consensual nature of authority;
(c) a concern for the common good; (d) the importance
of civic virtue; and (e) the experience of participation in
government as not only a right and obligation of citizen-
ship, but also as education for citizenship (pp. 91-92).
It is this ethical dimension of citizenship that provides
the normative foundations for the role of the public
administrator.
THE ADEQUACY OF NATIONAL
CITIZENSIllP
The nation-state has been understood for two
centuries as the structure within which citizenship is
established and enacted. Of course, "citizenship" from
a longer historical perspective had its origins in the
ancient Greek city states to identify members of the
"polis," the sovereign city government of that era.
However, the term re-emerged after the French Revolu-
tion in its present form to identify active participants in
republics in the form of nation-states. Turner (1993)
suggests that in that form, "Citizenship was a secular
solidarity which within the context of nationalism was
replacing religious solidarity and religious symbolism"
(p. 177). In his judgment, this modern tradition of
citizenship has implicitly understood the "the 'nation-
state' as the natural boundary of 'society'" (p. 177).
196
Now, at the end of the second millennium, the
meaning of citizenship is increasingly problematic as
social scientists, politicians, and others call into question
the nation-state as an adequate institution for understand-
ing and ordering collective life. l Turner (1993) main-
tains that "citizenship as an issue has become increas-
ingly prominent because the traditional boundaries of the
nation-state ...have been profoundly challenged by global
developments in the organization of modern societies"
(p. 1). Those who assert the inadequacy of the nation
state are doing so on the grounds that it is insufficiently
congruent with the most salient fact of the contemporary
world-interdependence on a global scale. First and
foremost, a tremendous amount of global migration in
the latter part of the 20th Century, particularly with the
demise of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc
countries and political upheavals in Africa, the Middle
East, and Southeast Asia, has fueled a global connected-
ness of unprecedented proportions.
This interdependence transcends national boundaries
and is manifested in many financial, political, environ-
mental, technological, and cultural ways. Financially,
interdependence is marked by: (a) a global economy in
which the economic status of one nation affects the
status of all; (b) multinational corporations, 300 of
which control one quarter of the world's total productive
assets; and (c) a network of international financial
conglomerates managing currency transactions, global
securities, credit cards, swaps, buyouts, and "a mind-
boggling menu of speculative devices for repackaging
and reselling money" (Turner, 1993, p. 178); and (d)
international trade and marketing ventures that allow
both wholesale and retail sharing of a nation's produc-
tive goods. Politically, we have witnessed: (a) the
United Nations and other supranational organizations
establishing international regimes that manage health,
the environment, and human rights among other things;
(b) continued military and humanitarian international
alliances; and (c) the inability of any single nation to
assure its citizens a strong sense of security, the most
fundamental historic role of the nation-state. Environ-
mentally, we see: (a) an interconnected ecology and
global environmental problems such as global warming,
ozone depletion, and deforestation; (b) an increasing
interdependence of agricultural markets both out of
necessity to exchange agricultural products and the
internationalization of the local supermarket; and (c) an
increasing acknowledgment of the need to manage
collectively the globe's scarce natural resources. Tech-
nologically, this interdependence is promoted by (a)
Administrative Theory & Praxis .:. June 1999, Vol. 21, No.2
 widespread accessibility to air transportation and elec-
tronic communications that "transport" people quickly
and easily to even remote regions across the globe; and
(b) an increase in collaborations in space exploration and
satellite technology. Finally, we have seen the emer-
gence of a world-wide cultural olio that ranges from the
popular culture promoted by the media (e.g., fashion
styles, entertainment, slang) to scientific research,
literature, and the arts. Although the traditional notion
of citizenship may be inadequate, theorists and practitio-
ners have yet to design an understanding of citizenship
that would be sufficiently congruent in this interdepen-
dent world.
Soysal (1998) describes this move toward global
interdependence as "an increasing interdependence and
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with the administrative state run by technical experts and
representative government in which they experience
little representation of their diverse interests and needs.
Village organizations, neighborhood associations, block
clubs, homeowners associations, and farmers' alliances,
among others, are asserting their desire for some degree
of self-determination. This is complemented by a rapidly
growing nonprofit sector of service, civic, and policy
advocacy organizations. This phenomenon of global
grassroots movements represents a challenge to the
nation-state.
POSTNATIONAL CITIZENSIllP?
Among those who subscribe to the idea that national
citizenship as traditionally understood is no longer

adequate for collective life in an increasingly global

connectedness, intensified world-level interaction and
society, several alternatives are advanced. We consider
organizing, and the emergence of transnational political
two of the most prominent. The most moderate is
structures, which altogether confound and complicate
"liberal nationalism" proposed by Tamir (1993). Instead
nation-state sovereignty and jurisdiction" (p. 195).
of accepting the inevitable demise of the nation-state,
Turner (1993) goes even further in his assertion that:
Tamir argues that one can observe renewed nationalism.
For example, he notes that the end of the Cold War has
[W]ith the growing interconnectedness of the
given rise to a resurgence of nationalism among Esto-
world economy and with the spread of cultural
nians, Latvians, Corsicans, and Lombards as they
globalism, it is no longer clear that the nation-
"awake from the long slumber that communist regimes
state will survive in its traditional form under
or Western European nation-states had forced upon
the pressure of globalization. The nation-state
them" (Tamir, 1993, p. 1). We might add the nationalis-
is not necessarily the most suitable political
tic passions that have surfaced in the former Yugoslavia
framework for housing citizenship rights. In
and in Africa. The problem, according to Tamir, is how
recognizing this, many citizens increasingly
to accommodate these nationalistic expressions without
appeal to supranational entities (e. g. , the
having to create a separate nation-state for each one. He
European Court or the European Parliament) to
suggests that:
satisfy their (national) citizenship rights. (p.
178)
[N]either our moral nor our communal identi-
ties are wholly prescribed for us by our history
As well, many cItIzens hold dual or even multiple
and our social affiliations. As moral agents,
citizenships, particularly in the United States, to remain
individuals who are exposed to alternative ways
tied to home and new countries, to facilitate interna-
of life, belief systems, and sets of norms are
tional travel and business, and to reap the most political
capable of responding by reconsidering their
and financial benefits possible from multiple countries
own. (Tamir, 1993, p. 2)
(Fritz, 1998). (Interestingly, most nations--including the
United States--tolerate citizens holding multiple pass-
Tamir does not argue the nation-state will vanish;
ports.)
he sees a transformation. Rather than being based on
and defined by a dominant cultural tradition, the
In addition to these supranational forces diminishing
"liberal" nation-state will be open to the inclusion (not
the significance of the nation-state, Serrano (1994) notes
the melting down) of all cultures and traditions. Under
the subnational pressures from citizens who are increas-
the assumption that human nature is not fixed and
ingly demanding control over their own lives at the local
unchanging, Tamir (1993) looks to a form of the nation-
level. These forces of civil society all over the globe are
state in which:
redefining the meaning of governance and democratic
participation. Citizens are expressing disillusionment
[I]ndividuals can assimilate into national com-

COOPER & YODER/ The Meaning and Significance of Citizenship in a Transnational World 197
 munities other than the ones into which they
were born (though full-scale assimilation is
rarely possible); they can embrace the national
identity of their forefathers, even though they
might have been completely estranged from it;
or they can choose to preserve their communal
membership, not merely out of convention and
routine, but as a result of reflection. (pp. 1-2)
In disconnecting national culture from its embodiment in
a state, Tamir (1993) proposes "imaginary communi-
ties" in which "the nation exists only when its members
consciously conceive themselves as distinct from other
groups" (p. 3). Political and other institutions necessary
for the sustenance of these cultures can be maintained
within an overarching liberal nation-state. This requires
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acceptance of the possibility of:
[E]njoying the right to national self-determina-
tion along with the benefits accruing from
membership in broader political alli-
ances-especially if, as liberal nationalism
proposes, the aspirations of creating an inde-
pendent state for each nation is replaced with
more modest solutions, such as local autono-
mies or federative or confederative arrange-
ments. (Tamir, 1993, p. 6)
The implication for nation-states dominated by a single
cultural tradition is that political institutions and struc-
tures must be loosened and allowed to vary consider-
ably. We can see domestic examples of such structures
in neighborhood councils. Within cities that have
neighborhood councils, everyone who lives in a given
area is allowed to voice their opinions and vote on
community initiatives. These often provide voice for
ethnic and racial minorities, and establish some limited
measure of self-governance (Berry, Portney, & Thom-
son, 1993).
At the opposite pole one finds assertions that such
adjustments as Tamir (1993) proposes are inadequate.
Scholars such as Turner (1993) argue that the nation-
state is no longer an adequate structure within which to
define and secure citizenship. He maintains that in the
interdependent world, "citizenship will have to develop
to embrace both the globalization of social relations and
the increasing social differentiation of social. systems.
The future of citizenship must therefore be extracted
from its location in the nation-state [emphasis added]"
(p. 15). After its extraction from the nation-state, just
198
where citizenship should be located is not clear. Appar-
ently, Turner sees it resting in an increasingly dense
web of international regimes that upholds human rights.
Although this web provides a new way to think about
citizenship in the modem world, we wish to balance
Turner's optimism with the reality that the current
international regimes are neither strong nor cohesive
enough to house a new form of citizenship. Further-
more, international law is not ultimate, and nation-states
will not evaporate anytime soon.
Moving closer to the abandonment of national
citizenship, Soysal (1998) looks toward the replacement
of the citizen with the individual. He opines that in the
. postnational world:
[U]niversal personhood replaces nationhood;
and universal human rights replace national
rights ...The rights and claims of individuals are
legitimated by ideologies grounded in a trans-
national community, through international
codes, conventions, and laws on human rights,
independent of their citizenship in a nation-
state. Hence, the individual transcends the
citizen. (p. 194)
The basis for this prognosis is the trend toward "univer-
salistic rules and conceptions regarding the rights of the
individual, which are formalized and legitimated by a
multitude of international codes and laws. International
conventions and charters ascribe universal rights to
persons regardless of their membership status in a
nation-state" (Soysal, 1998, p. 196). We would argue
that this is tantamount to saying citizenship is no longer
a meaningful category; however, people still think of
themselves very much as citizens, if not of a nation
state, then of an ethnic group. This suggests that people
are not yet ready to be identified simply as atomistic
individuals in a world community. Identity is still tied to
smaller scale social and political agglomerations.
Tamir's (1993) revisions of the nation-state and the
replacement of national citizenship with universal
personhood advocated by Soysal (1998) represent polar
perspectives of citizenship in a globalizing world. Still,
they provide us with a starting point to begin to develop
our own thoughts about the future of citizenship and the
implications for public administrators.
Administrative Theory & Praxis':· June 1999, Vol. 21, No.2
 TOWARD TRANSNATIONAL CITIZENSIDP citizenship was first located in one of the states. The
reciprocity clause of the Articles of Confederation was
Speculation about the demise of the nation-state and
carried over in abbreviated form in the Constitution as
traditional citizenship is a legitimate intellectual enter-
the comity clause (Le., Article IV, Section 2, Clause 1),
prise, but serious plans for its burial seem premature.
and Congress was given the power to establish a uni-
One need only witness continued military struggles and
form rule of naturalization. However, it was not until
ethnic cleansing around the globe. Furthermore, one
after the Civil War that national citizenship was un-
ought to keep clearly in mind that the web of interna-
equivocally established as having priority over that of
tional laws, conventions, and regimes, which Soysal
the states. Those seven decades between 1789 and the
looks to as replacements for the nation-state, was
end of the Civil War were a period of political
cre~ted and is maintained by powerful and unyielding
co~unity-building, debate over moral and legal
natIOn-states. Nevertheless, the implications of global
pnnclples, a fear of naturalization of political insur-
interdependence for national citizenship and, in turn, for
gents, growing economic interdependence, and intense
public administrative ethics deserves serious consider-
conflict. Ultimately, the integrity of the political com-
ation.
munity and the priority of national citizenship had to be
resolved by arms. We have not abandoned state citizen-
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First, we would suggest that the basis of ethical

ship, but its importance is clearly secondary to national
citizenship in the modern world-broader human rights
citizenship.
and more inclusive public obligations-is some kind of
political community or ongoing network of human
We have drawn this historical analogy not for
relationships concerned with collective decisions and
predictive purposes; rather, we review U. S. citizenship
action that are constructed through social interaction.
history for heuristic purposes. We fmd the developments
Cultivated political bonds and agreements, not natural
of citizenship in the U. S. from state to national-as
law, establish our rights and duties as citizens.
based on interdependence and the growth of a commu-
nity of interest-to be evocative of ways in which we
Historical analogy is useful in sketching citizenship
might imagine the evolution from national to transna-
images for the future; however, what we suggest in this
tional citizenship. This is not to suggest any kind of
paper is a more likely evolution of citizenship. In our
"historical law" or inevitability of events, but rather to
own national experience those were first rooted in
illuminate similar conditions, only to the extent that they
citizenship in one of states that composed the larger
are similar.
federation that ultimately took on the form of a nation-
state (Cooper, 1991, ch. 2). Under the Articles of
We do not have the clearly defmed community of
Confederation citizenship was held in one of the 13
interest among the world's nations today that existed in
states that had successfully broken free from British
the 18th Century among the former British colonies on
control, reflected in the fact that passports were issued
the Atlantic seaboard. We do not share an official
by each state. However, indicative of the existence of a
common language, we do not practice the same legal
community of interest that transcended individual states
traditions, our political institutions were not all born
the Articles included a reciprocity clause (Article IV)
from Anglo-European ideas, our cultures are far more
that guaranteed the privileges and immunities offered by
diverse than any differences that existed between New
any state to citizens of other states who happened to be
England Yankees and Southern plantation owners, and
within its boundaries. It was this greater community of
some of us have been the colonial masters of others.
interest rooted in interdependence of economies and
security, shared history, a common language, and the
However, for as many significant differences
British common law tradition that provided the founda-
between the experience in the 19th Century versus
tion for nascent nationhood. It was the ethical tradition
today, some interesting similarities are worth noting. As
of citizenship, embedded in this community of interest
stated above, we are becoming acutely aware of our
which has gradually democratized our public life and
global interdependence. We are facing the sometimes
which provides a normative basis for public administra-
painful fact of our common basis for life itself-the
tive ethics.
global ecosystem and its fragility. In that sense we are
like those 13 states with the cold and vast Atlantic on
Even after the ratification of the U. S. Constitution
one side and an unknown wilderness on the other, up
in 1789, it was still generally assumed that one's

COOPER & YODER/The Meaning and Significance of Citizenship in a Transnational World 199
 against the exigencies of nature over which they had no
ultimate control. The hard truth of their common destiny
in a shared place with its harsh constraints provided the
impetus for resolving conflicts, building consensus when
possible, accommodating differences when neces-
sary-the ingredients of community-building.
Also, we have become increasingly conscious of
our intertwined national economies that make it impossi-
ble for us to act autonomously without significant global
economic consequences. The stock markets around the
globe watch each other's national economic health and
react as though they were parts of one organic body as
witnessed in recent stock market reactions to the Asian
and Brazilian economic crises. Similar to those 13
newly independent states that could not avoid their
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common economic purse, perhaps economic interdepen-
dency is creating the basis for world-wide community-
building.
Lest we lapse into dewy-eyed optimism about a
global community, recall that a bloody civil war was
what finally forged the conglomerate of U.S. states into
one national community. Increasing interdependence and
global conciliation may not be a match for deeply rooted
cultural and socio-political differences among the
world's people. Nevertheless, on the positive side we
can discern evidence of the nation-state being super-
seded by transnational conventions and regimes that
provide universalistic rules and principles. Soysal (1998)
reviews these, taking particular note of the United
Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948),
the European Convention on Human Rights (1950), the
Geneva Convention on the Legal Status of Refugees
(1951), the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (1966), the UNESCO Declaration on Race and
Racial Prejudice (1978), and the UN Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and
Their Families (1991). We would add the Montreal
Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer
(1987). Although international law and conventions are
not always honored by all nations, they provide a
building block for a global political community.
The European Community is a prime example of a
transnational regime that is diminishing the sovereignty
of its member nations in important ways. Soysal (1998)
asserts that "The most comprehensive legal enactment of
a transnational status is encoded in the European Com-
munities Law" (p. 198). Similar to the reciprocity clause
of the Articles of Confederation and the comity clause
200
of the U.S. Constitution, citizenship in one European
Community member state confers rights in the others.
This legislation thereby severs the link between citizen-
ship status and national territory. The Maastricht Treaty
of 1991, ratified by the member states in 1993, makes
this historic change explicit by creating a new sta-
tus-that of citizen of the European Community. Fur-
thermore, it anticipates a multi-level structure of mem-
bership that "guarantees rights independently of mem-
bership in a particular state" (Soysal, 1998, p. 199).
This is a good example of transnational citizenship
written into law.
The European Community has also recognized its
economic interdependence by establishing a common
market system and a common currency. In 1998, the 11
countries allowed to proceed to the final stage of eco-
nomic and monetary union were named to begin the
adoption of a common currency, the "Euro." These
include Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany,
Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal,
and Spain. On January 1, 1999, the Euro became the
official currency of these countries by adopting conver-
sion rates for the existing currencies and by trading in
international markets. On January 1, 2002, Euro coins
and notes will begin circulating, replacing national
currencies by July 1 of that year ("Going Euro," 1998).
The example of the European Community shows a
significant step toward a transnational community and
provides us with a concrete example of how a group of
nation-states formed an international regime for strategic
economic and political purposes in the face of increasing
interdependence. The North American Free Trade
Agreement may be another example. However, what
these examples show is not necessarily a fully transna-
tional community on a macro-scale; rather, these
fledgling regimes are more region-specific. We predict
that the coming decades will witness an increasing
number of such regional communities, perhaps as
precursors to a global transnational community.
Such regional communities and institutional ar-
rangements are, and will continue to be, founded on a
sense of shared identities and common interests. More-
over, such institutional innovations are built on social
trust, and future innovations in citizenship will need to
be based on trust as well. Generally speaking, trust is an
important part of social capital, which is integral to the
successful function of democracies. Newton has de-
scribed two types of trust: "thin" and "thick" (Newton,
Administrative Theory & Praxis .:. June 1999, Vol. 21, No.2
 1997). Thin trust is that based on loose, weak, heteroge-
neous, social relations among people in a community.
Thick trust is based on regular interaction among
members of a community who share common back-
grounds (e. g., religious, ethnic). Militia groups and
small religious congregations evoke a modern-day image
of communities built on thick trust. Communities built
on thin trust are those similar to N AFT A or the Euro-
pean Community, or more locally, voluntary associa-
tions or neighborhood watch groups. While we may
aspire to communities of thick trust as a basis for
citizenship, it is more likely that citizenship will ema-
nate from communities of thin trust or some level of
trust in-between.
IMPLICATIONS
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easily. Furthermore, for much of the free world, any
constraint in the rights we enjoy from our nation-based
citizenship would be met with serious resistance and
uprising.
The more likely scenario involves the very gradual
thickening of a web of international regimes and con-
ventions that progressively constrain the sovereignty of
the nation-state and almost imperceptibly over time
displace the primacy of national citizenship. These
regimes and conventions might determine a "legal "
transnational citizenship that determines who can
participate and how and what legal status and rights
citizens have in such regimes. Thus, we find it easier to
take seriously the possibility of a world in which this
kind of legal transnational citizenship emerges alongside

national citizenships-a multinational dual citizenship of

Whether these regional expressions of transnational
sorts. Perhaps at some point in the future, that more
principles and institutions foreshadow some kind of
inclusive citizenship will take priority over our national
transnational citizenship remains to be seen. If it is true
allegiances, but a truly postnational world seems too far
that citizenship, human rights, and public responsibilities
from our current history to be a serious possibility. An
are grounded in socially constructed communities of
"ethical" transnational citizenship is harder to envision
interest, the development of a global community of
and even if we could, we do not foresee it as primary to
recognized shared interests reflecting unavoidable
national ethical citizenship because it is based on infor-
interdependencies seems unlikely. Its realization is
mal norms and cultural traditions that are deeply rooted
dependent on an exercise of human will, institutional
in the human psyche.
creativity, interpersonal skill, negotiation, extraordinary
patience, persistence, and vision on an unprecedented
What, then, are the implications of increasing
scale. We think the probability of global citizenship as
global interdependence for national citizenship at
a replacement for national citizenship is slim to none
present? We would expect that alongside national
anytime in the imaginable future.
citizenship, nations would be forced to rethink "denizen-
ship." Denizens are those who live in a particular place,
Nevertheless, what form might a transnational
who typically have rights such as the protection of life
citizenship likely take if, indeed, it materializes? Based
and property, but may not possess the same rights as
on U.S. historic experience with dual citizenship (i.e.,
citizens (e.g., voting, standing for elective office,
reciprocal state and national citizenship), it seems highly
freedom of travel). In the United States, some denizens
probable that change will come slowly and national
live here with the acknowledgment and legal permission
citizenship will continue to be the primary political
of the government, while others live here illegally. The
identity of most people in the world. Access to modern
U.S. Constitution is interpreted to apply to anyone
electronic communication technology may speed this
within our borders, however it is unclear whether it
process somewhat, but not so much as to bring about
applies to those denizens who are here without the
fundamental change in the nation state in the immediate
knowledge and legal permission of the U.S. govern-
decades ahead. Developments paralleling the European
ment. Thus, some determination of rights afforded to
Community, which attenuate some national citizenships
legal versus illegal denizens will need to be outlined. As
and add new levels of citizenship, may develop. Still, it
we build transnational consensus about human rights we
is impossible to conceive of a sequence of events leading
may find ourselves expanding the rights of denizenship
from citizenship and governance as it is now to one of
to include even limited voting rights such as participa-
a global government and official citizenship status that
tion in local, if not national, elections. It is through the
supersedes the current forms. Our socio-political,
cultivation of a shared ethos about human rights and
cultural, and moral identities are tied up with our status
obligations that an ethical tradition of denizenship may
as citizens of nation-states. These deeply embedded
emerge to support expansion of that role alongside
products of socialization will not change quickly or

COOPER & YODER/ The Meaning and Significance of Citizenship in a Transnational World 201
 citizenship. To be clear, we do not argue for withhold-
ing certain basic rights from anyone; rather, we suggest
offering these rights to all denizens, contingent on
whether denizenship is legal or not, and with the explicit
intent of moving all illegal denizens to a legal resident
status and perhaps even citizenship.
In a similar vein, Carens (1995) advocates the
opening of national borders to allow free migration, but
maintaining a distinction between residents (denizens)
and citizens. He explains:
To say that membership is open to all who
wish to join is not to say that there is no dis-
tinction between members and nonmembers.
Those who choose to cooperate together in the
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state have special rights and obligations not
shared by noncitizens. Respecting the particu-
lar choices and commitments that individuals
make flows naturally from a commitment to
the idea of equal moral worth. (Indeed, consent
as a justification for political obligation is least
problematic in the case of immigrants.) What
is not readily compatible with the idea of equal
moral worth is the exclusion of those who want
to join. If people want to sign the social con-
tract, they should be permitted to do so. (Car-
ens, 1995, p. 249)
Carens' argument implies the establishment of legal
bases for greater denizenship rights, but he understands
that such things can only be accomplished through
ethical consensus, not by fiat. His argument proceeds
from a Rawlsian original position under the veil of
ignorance and reasons that any of us looking at the
world from that perspective would not choose the
exclusive club approach to citizenship and denizenship
now in existence.
The necessary condition, then, for the next step
toward transnational citizenship would be the develop-
ment of a consensus that certain human rights attach to
each human being apart from citizenship in a nation-
state. We may consider this intermediary step a "trans-
national ethical citizenship." Espada (1996) insists that
to have effect, universal human rights must be under-
stood as applying "to all human beings, unconditionally
and unalterably" (p. 9). Each person carries these rights
wherever he or she decides to take up denizenship,
somewhat like the rights provided by the reciprocity
clause of the Articles of Confederation, the comity
202
clause in the U. S. Constitution, and the provisions of the
European Community. These are already codified in
documents such as the UN Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, but the worldwide moral consensus to
support them is still in the process of formation. No
amount of formal legislation will accomplish that
fundamental task. Espada (1996) maintains that "The
chief feature of human rights is that they are moral
rights (that is, 'rights that are held to exist prior to, or
independently of, any legal or institutional rules') of a
special species" (p. 9). The moral work must precede
the legal. In citizenship terms, ethical transnational
citizenship may be a prerequisite for legal transnational
citizenship.
We suggest that ethical transnational citizenship
may be a way of preparing illegal denizens for legal
denizenship and, perhaps eventual citizenship. That is,
participating in local communities is a way to under-
stand the community in which one lives, to build a
thicker trust within the community, and to incorporate
people of very diverse backgrounds and cultures. It may
also be an indication of a person's intention to become
a fully participatory member of a community. Ulti-
mately, the choice for citizenship would remain with the
individual, but those denizens who wish to enjoy legal
benefits within their given communities might move
toward receiving those benefits by exercising their
ethical obligations and attaining legal denizenship. By
moving through the ranks of denizenship, legal denizen-
ship, and perhaps citizenship, members of the commu-
nity establish trust. Such a process would also establish
reciprocity among community members and their
leaders, which is an integral part of social capital and
democratic success. Critics of our viewpoint may cite
fairness issues in establishing conditions of denizenship
or citizenship. As van Gunsteren (1994) argues, how-
ever, "conditions for citizenship have always
existed ... flippant treatment of these requirements
endangers the quality of citizenship" (p. 37) and
denizenship. Furthermore, we are not arguing for the
cultural and political assimilation of all denizens; rather,
we focus at the community level to acknowledge the
diversity of ethnic, cultural, and other differences
among denizens. We agree with Bader (1997) that
"something is inherently wrong with the conception of
a melting pot that tries to achieve a new public, political
culture by ignoring strong ethnic and national cultures
and identities or relegating them to the 'private realm'"
(p. 776). That is, we promote community ethics and
varying levels of participation and legal status to ac-
Administrative Theory & Praxis .:. June 1999, Vol. 21, No.2
 knowledge the differences among those within our
borders.
What are the implications for American administra-
tive ethics if we view our ethical tradition of citizenship
as a normative foundation? We see nothing in the
foreseeable future that renders that perspective useless
or meaningless. Weare still citizens of nation-states
with both legal and ethical responsibilities for that role.
Those who work in the public sector can still ascribe to
a fiduciary role in relationship to fellow citizens and a
special duty to enhance democratic governance. This
fiduciary role, developed by Cooper (1991), is one
based on acting as a citizen on behalf of the citizenry in
carrying out one's public duties and is founded on the
virtues of public spiritedness, prudence, and substantive
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rationality. Public spiritedness is about respecting and
enhancing the public good and the rights and obligations
of the citizenry over one's personal interests and con-
tributing to the process of citizens' development. Public
spiritedness also places service to the citizenry over
service to one's department, organization, or political
superiors. Prudence, based on the Aristotelian concept
of phronesis, is about exercising practical wisdom to
achieve good ends via good means. Substantive rational-
ity promotes the use of instrumental rationality, while
also reasoning about the value assumptions and ends of
government action.
We do think the increasing interdependence of
nation-states suggests that we should avoid viewing our
ethical tradition of citizenship, or our regime values, as
ultimate and absolute. They are social constructs that
reflect a particular stage in human political organization
that are subject to change. The virtues of the fiduciary
administrator, however, can support either a nation-state
citizenship or a transnational citizenship. The key to the
latter is focusing on shared values and a shared common
good in the transnational context. . suggest that public administrators not usurp elected
Placing our citizenship rights and obligations into
the context of a transnational world does suggest some
important considerations; First, we may need to place
our tradition under the judgment of broader statements
of human rights such as the UN Universal Declaration.
Our scholarly work on administrative ethic~ should
include the examination of transnational codifications of
human values and public norms. Transnational compara-
tive research such as Stewart and Sprinthall's Kohl-
bergian studies in the U.S., Poland, and the Russian
Federation using their Stewart Sprinthall Management
COOPER & YODER/The Meaning and Significance o/Citizenship in a Transnational World
Survey deserve our serious attention. Through such
approaches we should be investigating the extent to
which moral development of public officials is similar
and whether public administrative ethical standards are
shared across national boundaries. Although we are not
sure that the time is right to introduce these dimensions
of administrative ethics into our teaching and training,
it might be worth considering. Public administrators of
all nations need to start developing an awareness of their
place in a transnational ethical environment.
In one sense, this has already begun in places like
the United States where public administrators are
developing awareness of the special needs and issues of
ever-increasing numbers of immigrants and applicants
for naturalization. In fact, this phenomenon supports our
contention that public administrators are in key positions
to promote the evolution of new categories of citizen-
ship. Public administrators have resources, continuity,
and direct knowledge of the communities within which
they work. For these reasons, public administrators are
more likely candidates than elected officials to design
and promote changes in denizenship and citizenship.
This is exactly the prescribed role for fiduciary adminis-
trators, to promote the public interest and the well-being
of the members of their communities. We suggest
reinvigorating the role of public administrators, whereby
a democratic and participatory ethic will undergird the
actions of public administrators who are dedicated to
imparting civic knowledge, increasing citizen and
denizen participation, and creating communities of thick
trust and inclusion for all those who wish to be included.
We hesitate to be more specific about the actions public
administrators should take in promoting new categories
of citizenship, primarily because those categories have
yet to be determined. Moreover, we believe that public
administrators must be attuned to the particular needs
and desires of their local communities. We also would
officials' rights and thus they should negotiate these
changes with local elected officials.
CONCLUSION
In sum, we believe our national citizenship is intact
and ethically relevant at the present moment, even as we
move increasingly toward regional regimes and conven-
tions. Still, in a world as increasingly intertwined and
interdependent as ours, we dare not rest on our nation-
state laurels. Public ethics in the 21st Century calls for
our best forethought and anticipation of the likely
postnational world that lies ahead.
203
 ENDNOTE

I See particularly the international regime literature and

the New Institutional economics literature.

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Terry L. Cooper is the Maria B. Crutcher Professor in Citizenship and Democratic Values at the University of
Southern California School of Policy, Planning, and Development. He is the author of two books, including An Ethic
of Citizenship for Public Administration, the editor of two others, and has written numerous articles on citizenship,
citizen participation, and administrative ethics.

Diane E. Yoder is a Ph.D. candidate and instructor at the University of Southern California School of Policy,
Planning, and Development. She has authored articles on environmental policy and administrative ethics.

204 Administrative Theory & Praxis .:. June 1999, Vol. 21, No.2