Citizenship Priority Decree of 3083

The Citizenship Priority Decree of 3083 introduced the Republic of the Sphere's system of citizenship.

Overview[edit]

Devlin Stone believed that citizenship in his new Republic would be valued most if it had to be earned. The system introduced in the Citizenship Priority Decree of 3083 was designed accordingly.[1]

The main route to citizenship was service: five years of service to the state, three for those whose parents were both citizens.[1] In some cases, such as for Katana Tormark and Austin Ortega, citizenship could be granted early.[2][3] Service could be in the military, elsewhere in the public sector, or through various government-backed or fully private socially/nationally-beneficial organizations; the key criterion was that it benefit the Republic and its people. Those who had fought for Stone's Coalition in Operation SCOUR were also given an unconditional lifetime offer of citizenship.[1]

The service requirement could be avoided entirely if one had the right kinds of wealth. Those with "significant" corporate interests or land ownership, a level not defined in the Decree, could claim Property of Merit and earn citizenship as a result. As well, those who owned significant military equipment could earn citizenship by trading it in as part of the offshoot Military Materiel Redemption Program.[1][4]

Citizens of the Republic held the exclusive right to vote.[1] They also solely held the right to hold titles and significant landholds/real property.[5][6] Otherwise, their privileges did not extend far beyond other residents; most social programs were required to treat citizens and residents equally.[1][6]

The citizenship system introduced by the Decree was controversial from the start. Immigrant rights groups criticized the two-year service reduction for children of citizens, and the various wealth-based exemptions led to public protests.[1] These critiques continued all the way into 3132, taken up by groups such as the Immigrant Citizenship Coalition.[4] After Stone's retirement, a resurgence of Clan identity brought its own view to debates the citizenship scheme;[7] Clan Wolf Star Captain Katrina Ward, for instance, raised the idea that Clan residents were deliberately disenfranchised, lacking arms to trade in for citizenship.[8]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Field Manual: 3085, p. 162: "Citizenship"
  2. ↑ Dark Age: Republic of the Sphere, p. 34: "Katana Tormark"
  3. ↑ The Ruins of Power, ch. 8
  4. ↑ a b Dark Age: 3132-3134 INN, p. 34: "Immigrant Citizenship Coalition Pushes Senate to Ease Citizenship Requirements"
  5. ↑ Dark Age: 3132-3134 INN, p. 3: "Without the BattleMech: Stone's Military Materiel Redemption Program 65 Years Later"
  6. ↑ a b By Temptations and By War, ch. 8
  7. ↑ Era Digest: Dark Age, p. 4: "Painful Adolescence"
  8. ↑ Dark Age: 3132-3134 INN, p. 9: "Clan Wolf Accuses the Republic of Keeping Wolf Descendants Secondary Citizens"

Bibliography[edit]

Retrieved from "https://www.sarna.net/wiki/index.php?title=Citizenship_Priority_Decree_of_3083&oldid=1170760"