Abstract
Dual citizenship is of central theoretical and contemporary political concern. Although there has been some work on dual nationality, scholars have largely neglected it in favor of studies of single citizenship.
At its most basic level, dual citizenship involves the simultaneous holding of more than one citizenship or nationality. A person can have all, or at least many, of the rights and responsibilities that adhere to a citizen in each of the several countries in which he is a citizen regardless of actual residence in a country, geographical proximity of the two countries, or the status of their economic, cultural, or political ties. Such multiple membership overlap two or sometimes more national polities and eludes the trinity of state territory, state authority and the people.
In its original formation and in state practice, the dominant approach to dual citizenship was one of hostility. The status seems opposed to the traditional conception of the state and its relationship to individuals that have left little room for multiple attachments. Indeed, since the French Revolution, the fundamental basis of individual belonging is citizenship of a nation-state Modern nation-states claim a monopoly not only on violence but also on determination of membership.
