Citizenship in Nativist Times

For more than two decades, the erosion of democracy and the rule of law
has been a clear global trend.1 One of its main drivers is the rise of nativist
political movements that, often through formally democratic procedures,
undermine fundamental rights, minority protections, and the core princi-
ples of the constitutional state (Nord et al., 2025). This development raises
a fundamental question about the role of citizenship in contemporary
democracies. Have prevailing notions of citizenship contributed to this
erosion, or is the erosion itself the consequence of a weakening or neglect
of citizenship? In other words, in nativist times, is citizenship part of the
problem – or (also) part of the solution?