ABSTRACT
In this chapter it will be argued that the right to citizenship in the Bill of Rights should entail state assistance for parents including, hi particular, the provision of childcare. This argument draws a distinction between the broad concept of citizenship in our Constitution and the more specific right to citizenship within the Bill of Rights that may be one of the vehicles for giving effect to the concept. Citizenship is generally understood narrowly by lawyers to involve questions of nationality. It will be argued that the concept has a much wider reach and concerns the entitlements of citizens as well as questions of democratic participation in the civic and political life of the country. The chapter draws on the important insights of feminist political theory to support an expansive and transformative interpretation of citizenship in our Constitution.
