Second-class citizen

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Second-class citizen

Second-class citizen is an informal term used to describe a person who is systematically discriminated

Discrimination

Discrimination toward or against a person or group is the treatment or consideration based on class or category rather than individual merit. It is usually associated with prejudice....
against within a state

State

A state is a political Social contract with effective sovereignty over a geographic area and representing a population. These may be nation states, State or multinational states....
or other political jurisdiction, despite their nominal status as a citizen or legal resident there. While not necessarily slaves, outlaws

Civil death

Civil death is a term that refers to the loss of all or almost all civil rights by a person due to a conviction for a felony or due to an act by the government of a country that results in the loss of civil rights....
or criminals, second-class citizens have limited legal rights, civil rights and economic opportunities, and are often subject to mistreatment or neglect at the hands of their putative superiors.

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Second-class citizen is an informal term used to describe a person who is systematically discriminated

Discrimination

State

Civil death

Harassment

Harassment refers to a wide spectrum of offensive behaviour. The term commonly refers to behaviour intended to disturb or upset, and, when the term is used in a legal sense, it refers to behaviours which are found threatening or disturbing....
them.

Second-class citizenry is generally regarded as a violation of human rights. Typical impediments facing second-class citizens include, but are not limited to, disenfranchisement (a lack or loss of voting rights), limitations on civil

Civil service

The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* Branch of governmental service in which individuals are hired on the basis of merit which is proven by the use of competitive examinations....
or military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or Threat of force ....
service (not including conscription

Conscription

Conscription is a general term for involuntary labor demanded by an established authority. It is most often used in the specific sense of government policies that require citizens to serve in the military....
in every case), as well as restrictions on language

Language

A language is a form of symbol communication in which elements are combined to represents something other than themselves. Language can also refer to the use of such systems as a general phenomenon....
, religion

Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
, education

Education

File:Inukshuk Monterrey 1.jpgEducation can be seen as a product or a process and considered in a broad sense or a technical sense. According to philosophy of education George F....
, freedom of movement and association, weapons ownership, marriage

Marriage

Marriage is a social, spirituality, or law union of individuals. This union may also be called matrimony, while the ceremony that marks its beginning is usually called a wedding and the married status created is sometimes called wedlock....
, housing

Housing

Housing may refer to:* Houses* Federal Housing Administration* Enclosure , containing some equipment or mechanism...
and property ownership

Property

Property is any physical or virtual entity that is ownership by an individual or jointly by a group of individuals. An owner of property has the right to consumption, sell, Renting, mortgage, transfer and exchange his or her property....
.

The term is generally used as a pejorative

Pejorative

Words and phrases are pejorative if they imply disapproval or contempt. When used as an adjective, pejorative is synonymous with derogatory, derisive, dyslogistic, and contemptuous....
or in the context of civil society

Civil society

Civil society is composed of the totality of voluntary civic and social organizations and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society as opposed to the force-backed structures of a state and commercial institutions of the market....
activism

Activism

Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action to bring about social change or politics change. This action is in support of, or opposition to, one side of an often controversy argument....
and governments will typically deny the existence of a second class within the polity

Polity

Polity was originally a term used by Aristotle to describe a political system that is a combination of an aristocracy and a democracy. Aristotle theorized that the problems of democracy such as rule of the ignorant masses would be kept in check by the wealthy....
. As an informal term, second-class citizenship is not objectively measured; however, cases such as the American South under segregation

Segregation

Segregation or segregate may refer to:*Geographical segregation*Mendelian inheritance#Law of Segregation*Particle segregation*Racial segregation...
, apartheid in South Africa

Union of South Africa

The Union of South Africa is the historic predecessor to the present-day state of the Republic of South Africa. It came into being on 31 May 1910, with the previously separate colonies of the Cape Colony, Colony of Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State, plus the German South-West Africa colony in 1915, becoming Provinces in the Union of...
, the people of India

India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
under the British Raj

British Raj

British Raj primarily refers to the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; it can also refer to the period of dominion, and even the region under the rule....
, and the marginalization of religious and ethnic minorities and women in many countries worldwide, have been historically described as creating second-class citizenry.

By contrast, a resident alien
Resident Alien

Resident Alien is the debut album from the British glam rock band Spacehog. Released by Elektra Records on October 24, 1995, the album was certified as gold on July 29,1996 and included the hit single "In the Meantime", which reached the top of the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the United States, and remained there for four weeks....
or foreign national may have limited rights within a jurisdiction (such as not being able to vote, and having to register with the government), but is also given the law's protection, and is usually accepted by the local population. A naturalized citizen carries essentially the same rights and responsibilities as any other citizen (a possible exception being ineligibility for certain public offices), and is also legally protected.