ABSTRACT
When T. H. Marshall analyzed the evolution of citizenship in England he identified three components, which he called civil, political and social citizenship and associated with the institutions of the judicial system, parliamentary democracy and the welfare state. This chapter focuses on normative principles that have been suggested as guidelines for coping with cultural diversity. Liberalism has historically developed as an answer to the challenge of religious diversity. Its starting point was religious toleration, which has gradually been transformed into the stronger doctrines of religious neutrality and separation between church and state. Religious, linguistic and ethnic identities are constrained by national identities, rather than contained within them. The free exercise of religion or the free use of a minority language in private communication is guaranteed through the liberties of free speech, association and assembly. National minorities have been previously self-governing and were either voluntarily or coercively incorporated into the larger state.
