ABSTRACT
All too often, democracies are threatened when the notion of the ‘people’ overtakes that of ‘the citizen’. While the former dwells on the past and is a mixture of history and mythology, the latter is based on objectively stated principles which ensure, first and foremost, that everybody in the state is an equal. The bond between ‘people’ is essential to form a nation, but has to be transcended should the final destination be democracy and not just freedom from a despot or a foreign power. At times of political tensions it is very tempting to hearken back to ‘people’ based unities, but what is overlooked is that those who make up ‘people’ keeps changing with new enemies entering the frame. Only citizenship can ensure a continuous relationship between us because its legal basis is equality between people based on mutual respect.
