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Citizenship is a relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection.(quoted)
The bourgeoisie is a sociologically defined social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They are sometimes divided into a petty (petite), middle (moyenne), large (grande), upper (haute), and ancient (ancienne) bourgeoisie and collectively designated as "the bourgeoisie".
Belgium comprises 581 municipalities, 300 of them grouped into five provinces in Flanders and 262 others in five provinces in Wallonia, while the remaining 19 are in the Brussels Capital Region, which is not divided in provinces. In most cases, the municipalities are the smallest administrative subdivisions of Belgium, but in municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, on the initiative of the local council, sub-municipal administrative entities with elected councils may be created. As such, only Antwerp, having over 500,000 inhabitants, became subdivided into nine districts. The Belgian arrondissements, an administrative level between province and municipality, or the lowest judicial level, are in English sometimes called districts as well.
The Canton of Geneva, officially the Republic and Canton of Geneva, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of forty-five municipalities and the seat of the government and parliament is in the City of Geneva.
The Landsgemeinde or "cantonal assembly" is a public, non-secret ballot voting system operating by majority rule, which constitutes one of the oldest forms of direct democracy. Still at use – in a few places – at the subnational political level in Switzerland, it was formerly practiced in eight cantons. For practical reasons, the Landsgemeinde has been abolished at the cantonal level in all but two cantons where it still holds the highest political authority: Appenzell Innerrhoden and Glarus. The Landsgemeinde is also convened in some districts of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Grisons and Schwyz to vote on local questions.
Municipalities are the lowest level of administrative division in Switzerland. Each municipality is part of one of the Swiss cantons, which form the Swiss Confederation. In most cantons municipalities are also part of districts or other sub-cantonal administrative divisions.
Swiss citizenship is the status of being a citizen of Switzerland and it can be obtained by birth or naturalisation.
The Swiss Confederation comprises the 26 cantons of Switzerland.
Voting in Switzerland is the process by which Swiss citizens make decisions about governance and elect officials. The history of voting rights in Switzerland mirrors the complexity of the nation itself. The polling stations are opened on Saturdays and Sunday mornings but most people vote by post in advance. At noon on Sunday, voting ends and the results are usually known during the afternoon.
The Swiss people are the citizens of Switzerland or people of Swiss ancestry.
Burgher arms or bourgeois arms are coats of arms borne by persons of the burgher social class of Europe since the Middle Ages. By definition, however, the term is alien to British heraldry, which follows other rules.
The Seven Noble Houses of Brussels were the seven families or clans whose descendants formed the patrician class and urban aristocracy of Brussels.
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a collection of semi-autonomous cantons. As membership of the confederation has fluctuated throughout history, each of these cantons has its own unique history and nobility. Typically, each canton had its own constitution, currency, jurisdiction, habits, customs, history, and nobility.
The Bürgergemeinde is a statutory corporation in public law in Switzerland. It includes all individuals who are citizens of the Bürgergemeinde, usually by having inherited the Bourgeoisie (citizenship), regardless of where they were born or where they may currently live. Membership of the Bürgergemeinde of a municipality is not to be confused with holding the municipality's citizenship, which, in certain cantons such as Valais, are two distinct legal concepts. Instead of the place of birth, Swiss legal documents, e.g. passports, contain the Heimatort. It is, however, possible for a person to not possess bourgeoisie of the municipality from which they originate; laws relating to these matters vary depending on the canton in which the Bürgergemeinde is located. The Bürgergemeinde also often holds and administers the common property which had been bequeathed or otherwise given to the members of the bourgeoisie. The political communes or municipalities, the parish and the Bürgergemeinde often include the same area but may be separate depending on the relevant cantonal law. With the increase in mobility since the first half of the 19th century, the Bürgergemeinde and the rights associated with citizenship in the municipality have lost most of their meaning. Today, in Switzerland there are nearly 2000 Bürgergemeinden and corporations.
The Hospice général is the main public assistance (welfare) office of the Republic and Canton of Geneva. The institution's main missions are: Social support and financial assistance for individuals and families who are without sufficient resources; Welcome and assistance, including financial help, for asylum seekers, along with providing living accommodations; Assistance and housing for troubled young adults; Management of a leisure center and two holiday homes for the elderly; Prevention of and information about social ills for all categories of the population.
The right of foreigners to vote in Switzerland is an ongoing political issue in the country. Switzerland is a federal nation. As such, the cantons have extensive powers to enact their own legislation. For this reason, the rules regarding the rights of foreign residents to vote differ considerably throughout Switzerland.
A burgher was a rank or title of a privileged citizen of medieval towns in early modern Europe. Burghers formed the pool from which city officials could be drawn, and their immediate families formed the social class of the medieval bourgeoisie.
In Brussels, as in most European cities, one needed the capacity of bourgeois in order to not only exercise political rights, but also to practice a trade, which, in Brussels, meant to be a member of the Guilds or of the Seven Noble Houses. The charter of Brussels, as codified in 1570 in articles 206 and following, provided the conditions of admission to the bourgeoisie of the city. The Bourgeois were the patrician class of the city. This social class was abolished by Napoleon during the French occupation.
A bourgeois of Paris was traditionally a member of one of the corporations or guilds that existed under the Ancien Régime. According to Article 173 of the Custom of Paris, a bourgeois had to possess a domicile in Paris as a tenant or owner for at least a year and a day. This qualification was also required for public offices such as provost of the merchants, alderman or consul, but unlike the bourgeois or citizens of other free cities, Parisians did not need letters of bourgeoisie to prove their status.
The inhabitants of the seigneurie and the Republic of Geneva were divided into four orders of people: the Citoyens, the Bourgeois, the Habitants, and the Natifs. The Citoyens and the Bourgeois formed the bourgeoisie and, thus the patrician class of the Republic.
References
- ↑ "Bourgeoisie, droit de cité, citoyenneté, etc".
- ↑ "Bourgeoisie". hls-dhs-dss.ch (in French). Retrieved 2019-12-13.
- ↑ Mémoires & documents publiés par l'Académie chablaisienne
- ↑ Nouvelle Biographie Générale by Ferdinand Hoefer