Examines the issue of citizenship in America, especially since 9/11.
Debates concerning the rights of citizenship have been voiced since the founding of the United States. This paper shows that since September 11, 2001, new debates have emerged concerning the preservation of the Bill of Rights by many who fear laws such as the Patriot Act will erode the rights of citizens by granting new police powers to federal authorities and sharply curtailing the free speech and due process rights of citizens, legal immigrants, and foreign nationals. This paper shows that, far from an abstract theoretical concept, the issue of U.S. citizenship has been a much-fought-over political prize and a consciously wielded economic tool for centuries and remains so today.
“Debates about citizenship help us better understand essay writer for you the dynamics of the constitutional development within American history because the debates begin at the grassroots level of society. It is the average American citizens challenging the legality of laws and the violations of constitutional rights that bring about change. Such challenges have resulted in the abolishment of slavery, the women’s right to vote, Native Americans rights, monopolization of business, abortion rights, and educational rights and have changed the scope of American culture. Supreme Court decisions are subject to the changing climate of society. What is acceptable, whether morally or legally, within one era of history, may find no tolerance in another.”