Lister's Three Levels Of Citizenship Analysis

Lister (2004, p 324) writes that citizenship, in both theory and practice, is simultaneously grounded in inclusion and exclusion. Throughout history, women have been denied full access to citizenship. Citizenship is said to encompass rights and duties. Women have been denied equal rights to men and have not enjoyed equal political participation (Lister 2004, p 326). Furthermore, domestic duties—duties that have been traditionally and are still overwhelmingly female dominated—are not considered to be a citizenship responsibility (Fine 2010, p 80; Lister 2004, p 326). We can see evidence of exclusion in the Australian context. When Australia federated, the majority of women were denied the right to vote in and stand for elections. The Australian Parliament is a male-dominated institution, and sometimes colloquially referred to as a boys’ club (Kent 2009, p 6). …show more content…
Micro level is the engagement with everyday events, such as what people think of a bill. Meso level encompasses broader rules including how the government is chosen. Macro level involves understandings and assumptions about national identity, ideological beliefs, and basic purpose of political life. This level of engagement is rarely questioned, resists change, and allows citizens to maintain their micro and meso level assumptions without stability being undermined (Smith 2001, p 5).

Smith (2001) further identifies three specific types of political orientations. Cognitive orientations involve what people believe to be factually true of politics, for example, “Australia has a Prime Minister”. Affective orientations involve feelings about politics, for example “I hate the Prime Minister”. Evaluative orientations involve judgements of politics including how political issues should be arranged and the goals they should meet, for example “The Prime Minister’s policies regarding refugees are unjust” (Smith 2001, p