ABSTRACT
India and Turkey, which are among the oldest democracies of the Third World, are in the throes of struggles that call into question the very concept of a secular, representative democracy. The citizenship and naturalization claims of foreigners, denizens, and residents within the borders of a polity, as well as the laws, norms and rules governing such procedures are pivotal social practices through which the normative perplexities of human rights and sovereignty can be most acutely observed. In the light of global developments in industry, finance, communication, tourism, information, and armament, it is implausible to proceed from the Rawlsian assumption, even if this is a counterfactual one, that “a democratic society can be viewed as a complete and a closed social system.” Democratic states that are anxious to maintain certain standards of living among their population are free to regulate their labour markets such as to punish employers employing illegal aliens without proper documentation, at low wages and unjust conditions.
