Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. The term describing all citizens as a whole is citizenry.

In law, citizenship denotes a link between an individual and a state. Under international law, citizenship is synonymous to nationality, although the two may have different meanings under national law. A person who does not have citizenship in any state is stateless.

National citizenship[link]

Many theorists suggest that there are two opposing conceptions of citizenship: an economic one, and a political one. For further information, see History of citizenship.

Generally citizenship is seen as the relation between an individual and a particular nation. For example, a person can be described as being a citizen of Australia or Egypt or Ireland. While in ancient Greece the main political entity was the city-state, during the past five hundred years with the rise of the nation-state, citizenship is most closely identified with being a member of a particular nation. To some extent, certain entities cross national boundaries such as trade organizations, non-governmental organizations as well as multi-national corporations, and sometimes the term "citizen of the world" has been applied in the sense of people having less ties to a particular nation and more of a sense of belonging to the world in general, but generally citizenship is seen as a marker denoting membership in a nation.

Factors determining citizenship[link]

The modern sense of citizenship is usually based on one or more of these factors:

• Parents are citizens. If a person has one or both parents who are citizens of a given nation, then the person is generally presumed to be a citizen as well, and this is often called by the Latin legal term jus sanguinis meaning "right of blood". A jus sanguinis policy means that citizenship is granted based on ancestry or ethnicity, and is related to the concept of a nation state common in Europe. A person could be born outside of the physical territory of a nation, but if his or her parents are citizens, then the child is presumed to be a citizen as well.

• Born within the nation. Many people are presumed to be citizens of a nation if they were born within the physical geographic territory of the nation. This policy is called by the Latin legal term jus soli meaning "right of soil". This policy is typical of many countries in the Americas. Many countries have a hybrid birthright requirement of local nativity and citizenship of at least one parent. These first two factors are usually lumped together under the term birthright citizenship.

• Marriage to a citizen. Citizenship can also be obtained by marrying a citizen, which is termed jure matrimonii.

• Naturalization. Citizenship can be obtained by immigrating to a nation, and fulfilling its requirements for citizenship, such as passing a test, and this form of citizenship is termed naturalization.

Different senses of citizenship[link]

Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities. In this sense, citizenship was described as "a bundle of rights -- primarily, political participation in the life of the community, the right to vote, and the right to receive certain protection from the community, as well as obligations."^[1] Citizenship is seen by most scholars as culture-specific, in the sense that the meaning of the term varies considerably from culture to culture, and over time.^[2] How citizenship is understood depends on the person making the determination. The relation of citizenship has never been fixed or static, but constantly changes within each society. While citizenship has varied considerably throughout history, and within societies over time, there are some common elements but they vary considerably as well. As a bond, citizenship extends beyond basic kinship ties to unite people of different genetic backgrounds. It usually signifies membership in a political body. It is often based on, or was a result of, some form of military service or expectation of future service. It usually involves some form of political participation, but this can vary from token acts to active service in government. Citizenship is a status in society. It is an ideal state as well. It generally describes a person with legal rights within a given political order. It almost always has an element of exclusion, meaning that some people are not citizens, and that this distinction can sometimes be very important, or not important, depending on a particular society. Citizenship as a concept is generally hard to isolate intellectually and compare with related political notions, since it relates to many other aspects of society such as the family, military service, the individual, freedom, religion, ideas of right and wrong, ethnicity, and patterns for how a person should behave in society.^[3] When there are many different groups within a nation, citizenship may be the only real bond which unites everybody as equals without discrimination—it is a "broad bond" linking "a person with the state" and gives people a universal identity as a legal member of a specific nation.^[4]

Modern citizenship has often been looked at as two competing underlying ideas:^[5]

• The liberal-individualist or sometimes liberal conception of citizenship suggests that citizens should have entitlements necessary for human dignity.^[6] It assumes people act for the purpose of enlightened self-interest. According to this viewpoint, citizens are sovereign, morally autonomous beings with duties to pay taxes, obey the law, engage in business transactions, and defend the nation if it comes under attack,^[6] but are essentially passive politically,^[5] and their primary focus is on economic betterment. This idea began to appear around the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and became stronger over time, according to one view.^[7] According to this formulation, the state exists for the benefit of citizens and has an obligation to respect and protect the rights of citizens, including civil rights and political rights.^[7] It was later that so-called social rights became part of the obligation for the state.^[7]

• The civic-republican or sometimes classical or civic humanist conception of citizenship emphasizes man's political nature, and sees citizenship as an active process, not a passive state or legal marker.^[5] It is relatively more concerned that government will interfere with popular places to practice citizenship in the public sphere. Citizenship means being active in government affairs.^[6] According to one view, most people today live as citizens according to the liberal-individualist conception but wished they lived more according to the civic-republican ideal.^[5] An ideal citizen is one who exhibits "good civic behavior".^[7] Free citizens and a republic government are "mutually interrelated."^[7] Citizenship suggested a commitment to "duty and civic virtue".^[7]

Scholars suggest that the concept of citizenship contains many unresolved issues, sometimes called tensions, existing within the relation, that continue to reflect uncertainty about what citizenship is supposed to mean.^[7] Some unresolved issues regarding citizenship include questions about what is the proper balance between duties and rights.^[7] Some see these two aspects of citizenship as incompatible, such that social rights have gone too far with not enough emphasis on duties citizens owe to the state.^[7] Another is a question about what is the proper balance between political citizenship versus social citizenship.^[7] Some thinkers see benefits with people being absent from public affairs, since too much participation such as revolution can be destructive, yet too little participation such as total apathy can be problematic as well.^[7] Citizenship can be seen as a special elite status, and it can also be seen as a democratizing force and something that everybody has; the concept can include both senses.^[7] According to political scientist Arthur Stinchcombe, citizenship is based on the extent that a person can control one's own destiny within the group in the sense of being able to influence the government of the group.^[3]:p.150 One last distinction within citizenship is the so-called consent descent distinction, and this issue addresses whether citizenship is a fundamental matter determined by a person choosing to belong to a particular nation––by his or her consent––or is citizenship a matter of where a person was born––that is, by his or her descent.^[8]

International citizenship[link]

In recent years, some intergovernmental organizations have extended the concept and terminology associated with citizenship to the international level,^[9] where it is applied to the totality of the citizens of their constituent countries combined. Citizenship at this level is a secondary concept, with rights deriving from national citizenship.

Commonwealth citizenship[link]

The concept of "Commonwealth Citizenship" has been in place ever since the establishment of the Commonwealth of Nations. As with the EU, one holds Commonwealth citizenship only by being a citizen of a Commonwealth member state. This form of citizenship offers certain privileges within some Commonwealth countries:

• Some such countries do not require tourist visas of citizens of other Commonwealth countries.
• In some Commonwealth countries resident citizens of other Commonwealth countries are entitled to political rights, e.g., the right to vote in local and national elections and in some cases even the right to stand for election.
• In some instances the right to work in any position (including the civil service) is granted, except for certain specific positions, such as in the defense departments, Governor-General or President or Prime Minister.

Although Ireland left the Commonwealth in 1949, it is often treated as if it were a member, with references being made in legal documents to 'the Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland', and its citizens are not classified as foreign nationals, particularly in the United Kingdom.

Canada departed from the principle of nationality being defined in terms of allegiance in 1921. In 1935 the Irish Free State was the first to introduce its own citizenship. However, Irish citizens were still treated as subjects of the Crown, and they are still not regarded as foreign, even though Ireland is not a member of the Commonwealth.^[10] The Canadian Citizenship Act of 1947 provided for a distinct Canadian Citizenship, automatically conferred upon most individuals born in Canada, with some exceptions, and defined the conditions under which one could become a naturalized citizen. The concept of Commonwealth citizenship was introduced in 1948 in the British Nationality Act 1948. Other dominions adopted this principle such as New Zealand, by way of the British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act of 1948.

European Union citizenship[link]

The Maastricht Treaty introduced the concept of citizenship of the European Union. Article 17 (1) of the Treaty on European Union^[11] stated that:

Citizenship of the Union is hereby established. Every person holding the nationality of a Member State shall be a citizen of the Union. Citizenship of the Union shall be additional to and not replace national citizenship.^[12]

An agreement known as the amended EC Treaty^[12] established certain minimal rights for European Union citizens. Article 12 of the amended EC Treaty guaranteed a general right of non-discrimination within the scope of the Treaty. Article 18 provided a limited right to free movement and residence in Member States other than that of which the European Union citizen is a national. Articles 18-21 and 225 provide certain political rights.

Union citizens have also extensive rights to move in order to exercise economic activity in any of the Member States^[13] which predate the introduction of Union citizenship.^[14]

Subnational citizenship[link]

Citizenship most usually relates to membership of the nation state, but the term can also apply at the subnational level. Subnational entities may impose requirements, of residency or otherwise, which permit citizens to participate in the political life of that entity, or to enjoy benefits provided by the government of that entity. But in such cases, those eligible are also sometimes seen as "citizens" of the relevant state, province, or region. An example of this is how the fundamental basis of Swiss citizenship is citizenship of an individual commune, from which follows citizenship of a canton and of the Confederation. Another example is Åland where the residents enjoy a special provincial citizenship within Finland, hembygdsrätt.

The United States has a federal system in which a person is a citizen of their specific state of residence, such as New Jersey or California, as well as a citizen of the United States. State constitutions may grant certain rights above and beyond what are granted under the United States Constitution and may impose their own obligations including the sovereign right of taxation and military service; each state maintains at least one military force subject to national militia transfer service, the state's national guard, and some states maintain a second military force not subject to nationalization.

History[link]

Polis citizenship[link]

Many thinkers point to the concept of citizenship beginning in the early city-states of ancient Greece, although others see it as primarily a modern phenomenon dating back only a few hundred years. Another view is that the concept of citizenship arose with the first laws. Polis meant both the political assembly of the city-state as well as the entire society.^[15] Citizenship has generally been identified as a western phenomenon.^[16] There is a general view that citizenship in ancient times was a simpler relation than modern forms of citizenship, although this view has come under scrutiny.^[2] The relation of citizenship has not been a fixed or static relation, but constantly changed within each society, and that according to one view, citizenship might "really have worked" only at select periods during certain times, such as when the Athenian politician Solon made reforms in the early Athenian state.^[7]

Historian Geoffrey Hosking in his 2005 Modern Scholar lecture course suggested that citizenship in ancient Greece arose from an appreciation for the importance of freedom.^[17] Hosking explained:

It can be argued that this growth of slavery was what made Greeks particularly conscious of the value of freedom. After all, any Greek farmer might fall into debt and therefore might become a slave, at almost any time ... When the Greeks fought together, they fought in order to avoid being enslaved by warfare, to avoid being defeated by those who might take them into slavery. And they also arranged their political institutions so as to remain free men.

—Geoffrey Hosking, 2005^[17]

Geoffrey Hosking suggests that fear of being enslaved was a central motivating force for the development of the Greek sense of citizenship. Sculpture: a Greek woman being served by a slave-child.

Slavery permitted slaveowners to have substantial free time, and enabled participation in public life.^[17] Polis citizenship was marked by exclusivity. Inequality of status was widespread; citizens had a higher status than non-citizens, such as women, slaves or barbarians.^[8][18] The first form of citizenship was based on the way people lived in the ancient Greek times, in small-scale organic communities of the polis. Citizenship was not seen as a separate activity from the private life of the individual person, in the sense that there was not a distinction between public and private life. The obligations of citizenship were deeply connected into one’s everyday life in the polis. These small-scale organic communities were generally seen as a new development in world history, in contrast to the established ancient civilizations of Egypt or Persia, or the hunter-gatherer bands elsewhere. From the viewpoint of the ancient Greeks, a person's public life was not separated from their private life, and Greeks did not distinguish between the two worlds according to the modern western conception. The obligations of citizenship were deeply connected with everyday life. To be truly human, one had to be an active citizen to the community, which Aristotle famously expressed: “To take no part in the running of the community's affairs is to be either a beast or a god!” This form of citizenship was based on obligations of citizens towards the community, rather than rights given to the citizens of the community. This was not a problem because they all had a strong affinity with the polis; their own destiny and the destiny of the community were strongly linked. Also, citizens of the polis saw obligations to the community as an opportunity to be virtuous, it was a source of honour and respect. In Athens, citizens were both ruler and ruled, important political and judicial offices were rotated and all citizens had the right to speak and vote in the political assembly. An important aspect of polis citizenship was exclusivity. Citizenship had a much higher status than non-citizens, such as women, slaves or ‘barbarians’.

Roman ideas of citizenship[link]

In the Roman Empire, citizenship expanded from small scale communities to the entire empire. Romans realised that granting citizenship to people from all over the empire legitimized Roman rule over conquered areas. Roman citizenship was no longer a status of political agency; it had been reduced to a judicial safeguard and the expression of rule and law.^[19] Rome carried forth Greek ideas of citizenship such as the principles of equality under the law, civic participation in government, and notions that "no one citizen should have too much power for too long",.^[20] but Rome offered relatively generous terms to its captives, including chances for lesser forms of citizenship.^[20] If Greek citizenship was an "emancipation from the world of things",^[21] the Roman sense increasingly reflected the fact that citizens could act upon material things as well as other citizens, in the sense of buying or selling property, possessions, titles, goods. One historian explained:

The person was defined and represented through his actions upon things; in the course of time, the term property came to mean, first, the defining characteristic of a human or other being; second, the relation which a person had with a thing; and third, the thing defined as the possession of some person.

—J. G. A. Pocock, 1988^[22]

Roman citizenship reflected a struggle between the upper-class patrician interests against the lower-order working groups known as the plebeian class.^[20] A citizen came to be understood as a person "free to act by law, free to ask and expect the law's protection, a citizen of such and such a legal community, of such and such a legal standing in that community."^[23] Citizenship meant having rights to have possessions, immunities, expectations, which were "available in many kinds and degrees, available or unavailable to many kinds of person for many kinds of reason."^[23] And the law, itself, was a kind of bond uniting people.^[24] Roman citizenship was more impersonal, universal, multiform, having different degrees and applications.^[24]

Middle Ages[link]

During European Middle Ages, citizenship was usually associated with cities, see burgher, Great Burgher and Bourgeoisie. Nobility used to have privileges above commoners (see aristocracy), but the French Revolution and other revolutions revoked these privileges and made citizens.

Renaissance[link]

During the Renaissance, people transitioned from being subjects of a king or queen to being citizens of a city and later to a nation.^[3]:p.161 Each city had its own law, courts, and independent administration.^[25] And being a citizen often meant being subject to the city's law in addition to having power in some instances to help choose officials.^[25] City dwellers who had fought alongside nobles in battles to defend their cities were no longer content with having a subordinate social status, but demanded a greater role in the form of citizenship.^[26] Membership in guilds was an indirect form of citizenship in that it helped their members succeed financially.^[27] The rise of citizenship was linked to the rise of republicanism, according to one account, since independent citizens meant that kings had less power.^[28] Citizenship became an idealized, almost abstract, concept,^[7] and did not signify a submissive relation with a lord or count, but rather indicated the bond between a person and the state in the rather abstract sense of having rights and duties.^[7]

Modern times[link]

The modern idea of citizenship still respects the idea of political participation, but it is usually done through "elaborate systems of political representation at a distance" such as representative democracy.^[2] Modern citizenship is much more passive; action is delegated to others; citizenship is often a constraint on acting, not an impetus to act.^[2] Nevertheless, citizens are usually aware of their obligations to authorities, and are aware that these bonds often limit what they can do.^[2]

Honorary citizenship[link]

Some countries extend "honorary citizenship" to those whom they consider to be especially admirable or worthy of the distinction.

By act of United States Congress and presidential assent, honorary United States citizenship has been awarded to only seven individuals. Honorary Canadian citizenship requires the unanimous approval of Parliament. The only people to ever receive honorary Canadian citizenship are Raoul Wallenberg posthumously in 1985, Nelson Mandela in 2001, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso in 2006, Aung San Suu Kyi in 2007 and Prince Karim Aga Khan in 2009.

In 2002 South Korea awarded honorary citizenship to Dutch football (soccer) coach Guus Hiddink who successfully and unexpectedly took the national team to the semi-finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Honorary citizenship was also awarded to Hines Ward, a black Korean American football player, in 2006 for his efforts to minimize discrimination in Korea against half-Koreans.

American actress Angelina Jolie received an honorary Cambodian citizenship in 2005 due to her humanitarian efforts. Cricketers Matthew Hayden and Herschelle Gibbs were awarded honorary citizenship of St. Kitts and Nevis in March 2007 due to their record-breaking innings in the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

In Germany the honorary citizenship is awarded by cities, towns and sometimes federal states. The honorary citizenship ends with the death of the honoured, or, in exceptional cases, when it is taken away by the council or parliament of the city, town, or state. In the case of war criminals, all such honours were taken away by "Article VIII, section II, letter i of the directive 38 of the Allied Control Council for Germany" on October 12, 1946. In some cases, honorary citizenship was taken away from members of the former GDR regime, e.g. Erich Honecker, after the collapse of the GDR in 1989/90.^{[citation needed]}

In Ireland, "honorary citizenship" bestowed on a foreigner is in fact full legal citizenship including the right to reside in Ireland, to vote etc.

According to the Chapter II, Article 29, Paragraph 'e)' of the Cuban Constitution, Cuban citizens by birth are those foreigners who, by virtue of their exceptional merits won in the struggles for Cuba’s liberation, were considered Cuban citizens by birth. Che Guevara was made an honorary citizen of Cuba by Fidel Castro for his part in the Cuban Revolution, of which Guevara later renounced in his well known farewell letter.^[29]

Historically, many states limited citizenship to only a proportion of their population, thereby creating a citizen class with political rights superior to other sections of the population, but equal with each other. The classical example of a limited citizenry was Athens where slaves, women, and resident foreigners (called metics) were excluded from political rights. The Roman Republic forms another example (see Roman citizenship), and, more recently, the nobility of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had some of the same characteristics.

Citizenship education[link]

"Active citizenship" is the philosophy that citizens should work towards the betterment of their community through economic participation, public, volunteer work, and other such efforts to improve life for all citizens. In this vein, schools in some countries provide citizenship education.

United Kingdom[link]

Citizenship is offered as a General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) course in many schools in the United Kingdom. As well as teaching knowledge about democracy, parliament, government, the justice system, human rights and the UK's relations with the wider world, students participate in active citizenship, often involving a social action or social enterprise in their local community.

• Citizenship is a compulsory subject of the National Curriculum in state schools in England for all pupils aged 11–16. Some schools offer a qualification in this subject at GCSE and A level. All state schools have a statutory requirement to teach the subject, assess pupil attainment and report student's progress in citizenship to parents.^[30]
• In Wales the model used is Personal and Social Education.^[31][32]
• Citizenship is not taught as a discrete subject in Scottish schools, but is a cross-curricular strand of the Curriculum for Excellence. However they do teach a subject called "Modern Studies" which covers the social, political and economic study of local, national and international issues.^[33]

Ireland[link]

It is taught in Ireland as an exam subject for the Junior Certificate. It is known as Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE). A new Leaving Certificate exam subject with the working title 'Politics & Society' is being developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and is expected to be introduced to the curriculum sometime after 2012.^[34]

Nova Scotia[link]

Citizenship is taught as a unit as part of the curriculum in Grade 8 Social Studies in Nova Scotia.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• Citizenship in the United States
• History of citizenship
• Transnational citizenship

References[link]

• Weber, Max (1998). Citizenship in Ancient and Medieval Cities. Chapter 3. Minneapolis, MN: The University of Minnesota. pp. 43–49. ISBN 0-8166-2880-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=i6U7CTuCJLYC. 
• Zarrow, Peter (1997), Fogel, Joshua A.; Zarrow, Peter G., eds., Imagining the People: Chinese Intellectuals and the Concept of Citizenship, 1890-1920, Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, pp. 3, ISBN 0-7656-0098-6, http://books.google.com/books?id=JL6hMClDKMgC 
• Pocock, J. G. A. (1998). Shafir, Gershon. ed. The Citizenship Debates. Chapter 2 -- The Ideal of Citizenship since Classical Times (originally published in Queen's Quarterly 99, no. 1). Minneapolis, MN: The University of Minnesota. pp. 31. ISBN 0-8166-2880-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=i6U7CTuCJLYC. 

Further reading[link]

• Archibugi, Daniele (2008). The Global Commonwealth of Citizens. Toward Cosmopolitan Democracy. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-4008-2976-7. 
• Beaven, Brad, and John Griffiths. "Creating the Exemplary Citizen: The Changing Notion of Citizenship in Britain 1870–1939," Contemporary British History (2008) 22#2 pp 203–225 doi:10.1080/13619460701189559
• Carens, Joseph (2000). Culture, Citizenship, and Community: A Contextual Exploration of Justice as Evenhandedness. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-829768-0. 
• Heater, Derek (2004). A Brief History of Citizenship. NYU Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-3672-2. 
• Kymlicka, Will (1995). Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-829091-9. 
• Maas, Willem (2007). Creating European Citizens. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-7425-5486-3. 
• Marshall, T.H. (1950). Citizenship and Social Class and Other Essays. Cambridge University Press. 
• Shue, Henry (1950). Basic Rights. 
• Smith, Rogers (2003). Stories of Peoplehood: The Politics and Morals of Political Membership. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-52003-4. 
• Somers, Margaret (2008). Genealogies of Citizenship: Markets, Statelessness, and the Right to Have Rights. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-79394-0. 
• Soysal, Yasemin (1994). Limits of Citizenship. Migrants and Postnational Membership in Europe. University of Chicago Press. 
• Turner, Bryan S. (1994). Citizenship and Social Theory. Sage. ISBN 978-0-8039-8611-4. 

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Citizenship

Look up citizenship in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• BBC PSHE & Citizenship
• Citizenship entry by Dominique Leydet in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• "Citizenship Laws of the World" (pdf). United States Office of Personnel Management Investigations Service. March 2001. Archived from the original on 2006-04-04. http://web.archive.org/web/20060404042127/http://www.opm.gov/extra/investigate/IS-01.pdf. Retrieved 2007-03-07. 

Rahm Emanuel
55th Mayor of Chicago
Incumbent
Assumed office May 16, 2011
Preceded by	Richard Daley
23rd White House Chief of Staff
In office January 20, 2009 – October 1, 2010
President	Barack Obama
Deputy	Mona Sutphen Jim Messina
Preceded by	Joshua Bolten
Succeeded by	Pete Rouse (Acting)
Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus
In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2009
Preceded by	Jim Clyburn
Succeeded by	John Larson
Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
In office January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2007
Preceded by	Bob Matsui
Succeeded by	Chris Van Hollen
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 5th district
In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2009
Preceded by	Rod Blagojevich
Succeeded by	Mike Quigley
Senior Advisor to the President for Policy and Strategy
In office 1993–1998
President	Bill Clinton
Personal details
Born	(1959-11-29) November 29, 1959 (age 52) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Political party	Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Amy Rule
Children	1 son 2 daughters
Alma mater	Sarah Lawrence College Northwestern University
Religion	Modern Orthodox Judaism
Signature

Rahm Israel Emanuel^[1] (pronounced /ˈrɑːm/; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and the 55th and current Mayor of Chicago.^[2][3] He was formerly White House Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama. He served as senior advisor to President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1998 and as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Illinois's 5th congressional district, from 2003 until his resignation in 2009 to take his position in the Obama Administration.

Emanuel was chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during the 2006 mid-term elections and remained a top strategist for House Democrats during the 2008 cycle. After Democrats regained control of the House in 2006, Emanuel was elected chairman of the Democratic Caucus. This made him the fourth-ranking House Democrat, behind Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn.^[4]

Two days after Obama's election victory, Emanuel was announced as Obama's designee for White House Chief of Staff.^[5] He resigned from the House on January 2, 2009,^[6] and began his duties as Chief of Staff on January 20, 2009, the day of Obama's inauguration.^[5]

Emanuel resigned as Chief of Staff effective October 1, 2010, in order to pursue a campaign to run for Mayor of Chicago pending the announced retirement of six-term incumbent Richard M. Daley. On January 27, 2011, the Illinois Supreme Court reversed a lower court's ruling^[7] that had cast doubt on Emanuel's candidacy; the court unanimously held that Emanuel did not abandon his Chicago residency by serving in the White House, thus affirming his eligibility to run for mayor.^[8] He won the Mayoral election on February 22, 2011, with 55% of the vote.^[9] President Obama appointed William M. Daley, the brother of Emanuel's predecessor as mayor, as Chief of Staff to replace Emanuel.

Early and personal life[link]

Emanuel was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Jewish parents.^[6] His father, Benjamin M. Emanuel, is a Jerusalem-born^[10] pediatrician who was once a member of the Irgun, a Jewish paramilitary organization that operated in Mandate Palestine. His mother, Marsha Smulevitz, is the daughter of a Chicago union organizer.^[1] She worked in the civil rights movement and owned, briefly, a local rock and roll club.^[11] She is now a psychiatric social worker.^[11] The two met in Chicago in the 1950s.^[1] Emanuel's older brother Ezekiel Emanuel is an oncologist and bioethicist at the National Institutes of Health, and his younger brother Ari Emanuel, a Hollywood talent agent.^[12] He has an adopted sister, Shoshanna, who is 14 years younger.^[11] Emanuel's grandfather was a Romanian Jew from Moldova.^[13]

Emanuel's first name, Rahm (רם) means high or lofty in Hebrew.^[14][15] The surname Emanuel (עמנואל), adopted by the family in honor of his father's brother Emanuel Auerbach, who was killed in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War in Jerusalem, means God is with us. Sources disagree as to whether the family name was changed in 1933 or 1938.^[11][14][15]

When the family lived in Chicago, Emanuel attended the Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School. After his family moved to Wilmette, he attended public schools: Romona School, Locust Junior High School, and New Trier West High School.^[1][16] He and his brothers attended summer camp in Israel, including just after the 1967 Six-Day War.^[11][17]

While working at an Arby's restaurant in his high school years, Emanuel severely cut his right middle finger on a meat slicer. He sought medical attention after suffering a severe infection from swimming in Lake Michigan and as a result, had his finger partially amputated.^[18]

Emanuel was encouraged by his mother to take ballet lessons as a boy and is a graduate of the Evanston School of Ballet as well as a student of The Joel Hall Dance Center, where his children also took dance lessons. He won a scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet, but turned it down to attend Sarah Lawrence College, a liberal arts school with a strong dance program.

He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1981 with a B.A. in Liberal Arts, and went on to receive an M.A. in Speech and Communication from Northwestern University in 1985. While an undergraduate, Emanuel was elected to the Sarah Lawrence Student Senate. He also joined the congressional campaign of David Robinson of Chicago.^[19]

During the 1991 Gulf War, Emanuel volunteered with the Israel Defense Forces as a civilian helping to maintain equipment.^[20]

Emanuel's wife, Amy Rule, converted to Judaism shortly before their wedding.^[21] They are members of the Chicago synagogue Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel.^[22] They have a son and two daughters.

Emanuel is a close friend of fellow Chicagoan David Axelrod, chief strategist for the 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign. Axelrod signed the ketuba, the Jewish marriage contract, at Emanuel's wedding.^[23]

Rabbi Asher Lopatin of Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel Congregation is quoted as saying Emanuel's family is "a very involved Jewish family", adding that "Amy was one of the teachers for a class for children during the High Holidays two years ago."^[22] Emanuel has said of his Judaism: "I am proud of my heritage and treasure the values it has taught me."^[22] Emanuel's family lives on the North Side of Chicago, in the South East Ravenswood neighborhood.^[14]

Emanuel trains for and participates in triathlons.^[16]

Career as political staffer[link]

Emanuel began his political career with the public interest and consumer rights organization Illinois Public Action.^[24] He went on to serve in a number of capacities in local and national politics, initially specializing in fundraising for Illinois campaigns and then nationally.^[25]

Emanuel worked for Democrat Paul Simon's 1984 election to the U.S. Senate, was the national campaign director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 1988, and was senior advisor and chief fundraiser for Richard M. Daley's victorious campaign for Mayor of Chicago in 1989.^[24]

At the start of then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton's presidential primary campaign, Emanuel was appointed to direct the campaign's finance committee.^[25] Emanuel insisted that Clinton schedule a lot of time for fundraising and greatly delay campaigning in New Hampshire. Clinton agreed and embarked on an aggressive fundraising campaign across the nation. The fundraising paid off later, providing the campaign a vital buffer to keep buying television time as attacks on Clinton's character threatened to swamp the campaign during the New Hampshire primary.^[22]

Clinton's primary rival, Paul Tsongas (the New Hampshire Democratic primary winner in 1992), later withdrew, citing a lack of campaign funds. Richard Mintz, a Washington public relations consultant who worked with Emanuel on the campaign, spoke about the soundness of the idea: "It was that [extra] million dollars that really allowed the campaign to withstand the storm we had to ride out in New Hampshire [over Clinton's relationship with Gennifer Flowers and the controversy over his draft status during the Vietnam War]."^[22] Emanuel's knowledge of the top donors in the country, and his rapport with "the heavily Jewish donor community" helped Clinton amass a then-unheard-of sum of $72 million.^[22]

Following the campaign, Emanuel became a senior advisor to Clinton at the White House from 1993 to 1998. In the White House, Emanuel was initially Assistant to the President for Political Affairs and then Senior Advisor to the President for Policy and Strategy. He was a leading strategist in the unsuccessful White House efforts to institute universal healthcare and many other Clinton initiatives.^[26]

Emanuel is known for his "take-no-prisoners style" that has earned him the nickname "Rahmbo."^[27] Emanuel is said to have sent a dead fish in a box to a pollster who was late delivering polling results.^[23] On the night after the 1996 election, "Emanuel was so angry at the president's enemies that he stood up at a celebratory dinner with colleagues from the campaign, grabbed a steak knife and began rattling off a list of betrayers, shouting 'Dead! ... Dead! ... Dead!' and plunging the knife into the table after every name."^[11][12] Before Tony Blair gave a pro-Clinton speech during the impeachment crisis, Emanuel reportedly screamed to Blair's face "Don't fuck this up!" while Clinton was present; Blair and Clinton both burst into laughter.^[28] However, by 2007 friends of Emanuel were saying that he has "mellowed out".^[22] Stories of his personal style have entered the popular culture, inspiring articles and websites that chronicle these and other quotes and incidents.^{[29][30][31][32]} Though executive producer Lawrence O'Donnell has denied it,^[33] the character Josh Lyman in The West Wing is said to be based on Rahm Emanuel.^[12][34]

One of his proudest moments during the Clinton administration "was an event that touched his political sensibilities and his personal ties to Israel: the 1993 Rose Garden signing ceremony after the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. Emanuel directed the details of the ceremony, down to the choreography of the famous handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat."^[22]

Career in finance[link]

After serving as an advisor to Bill Clinton, in 1998 Emanuel resigned from his position in the Clinton administration and joined the investment banking firm of Wasserstein Perella, where he worked until 2002.^[35] Although he did not have an MBA degree or prior banking experience, he became a managing director at the firm’s Chicago office in 1999 and, according to Congressional disclosures, made $16.2 million in his two-and-a-half-years as a banker.^[35][36] At Wasserstein Perella, he worked on eight deals, including the acquisition by Commonwealth Edison of Peco Energy and the purchase by GTCR Golder Rauner of the SecurityLink home security unit from SBC Communications.^[35]

Emanuel was named to the Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) by President Clinton in 2000. His position earned him at least $320,000, including later stock sales.^[37][38] He was not assigned to any of the board's working committees, and the Board met no more than six times per year.^[38]

During Rahm's time on the board, Freddie Mac was plagued with scandals involving campaign contributions and accounting irregularities.^[38][39] The Obama Administration rejected a request under the Freedom of Information Act to review Freddie Mac board minutes and correspondence during Emanuel's time as a director.^[38]

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) later accused the board of having "failed in its duty to follow up on matters brought to its attention." Emanuel resigned from the board in 2001 when he ran for Congress.^[40]

Congressional career[link]

Rep. John Dingell and Rep. Emanuel celebrate Paczki Day, February 28, 2006.

Election in 2002[link]

Congressman Emanuel speaking at St. Hyacinth Basilica in Chicago's Polish Village.

After working in investment banking, in 2002 Emanuel pursued the U.S. House seat in the 5th District of Illinois previously held by Rod Blagojevich, who chose not to run for re-election, but instead successfully ran for Governor of Illinois.

Rahm's strongest opponent of the seven other candidates in the 2002 Democratic primary was former Illinois State Representative Nancy Kaszak, who had unsuccessfully opposed Blagojevich in the 1996 primary. The most controversial moment of the primary election came when Edward Moskal, president of the Polish American Congress, a political action committee endorsing Kaszak, called Emanuel a "millionaire carpetbagger who knows nothing" about "our heritage". Moskal also charged that Emanuel had dual citizenship with Israel and had served in the Israeli Army.^[41] Emanuel did not serve in the Israeli army, but was a civilian volunteer assisting the Israel Defense Forces for a short time during the 1991 Gulf War, repairing truck brakes in one of Israel's northern bases with Sar-El.^[42][43] Emanuel brought together a coalition of Chicago clergy to denounce the incident. He recalled, "One of the proudest moments of my life was seeing people of my district from all backgrounds demonstrate our common values by coming together in response to this obvious attempt to divide them."^[22] Moskal's comments were denounced as anti-Semitic by Kaszak.^[41]

Emanuel won the primary and defeated Republican candidate Mark Augusti in the general election.

Emanuel was elected after the October 2002 joint Congressional resolution authorizing the Iraq War, and thus was not able to vote on it. However, in the lead up to the resolution, Emanuel spoke out strongly in support of the war, urging a United States' "muscular projection of force" in Iraq. Emanuel has been the focus of anti-war protests for his support of funding bills for the war in Iraq, and his support, during Democratic party primaries, of Democratic party candidates that are more hawkish. In his first term, Rahm Emanuel was a founding member and the Co-Chair of the Congressional Serbian Caucus.^[44]

In January 2003, Emanuel was named to the House Financial Services Committee, and sat on the subcommittee that oversaw Freddie Mac. A few months later, Freddie Mac Chief Executive Officer Leland Brendsel was forced out, and the committee and subcommittee commenced hearings lasting for more than a year. Emanuel skipped every hearing allegedly for reasons of avoiding any appearance of favoritism, impropriety, or conflict of interest.^[45]

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman[link]

Emanuel assumed the position of Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman (DCCC) after the death of the previous chair, Bob Matsui. Emanuel led the Democratic Party's effort to capture the majority in the House of Representatives in the 2006 elections. The documentary HouseQuake, featuring Emanuel, chronicles those elections.^[46] After Emanuel's election as chairman of the Democratic Caucus, Chris Van Hollen became committee chair for the 110th Congress.

While chairman of the DCCC, Emanuel was known to have had disagreements over Democratic election strategy with Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. Dean favored a "fifty-state strategy", building support for the Democratic Party over the long term, while Emanuel believed a more tactical approach, focusing attention on key districts, was necessary to ensure victory.^[47]

Ultimately the Democratic Party enjoyed considerable success in the 2006 elections, gaining 30 seats in the House. Emanuel has received considerable praise for his stewardship of the DCCC during this election cycle, even from Illinois Republican Rep. Ray LaHood who said "He legitimately can be called the golden boy of the Democratic Party today. He recruited the right candidates, found the money and funded them, and provided issues for them. Rahm did what no one else could do in seven cycles."^[48] However, he also faced some criticism for his failure to support some progressive candidates, as Howard Dean advocated.^[49]

2008 Election[link]

Emanuel speaks during the second day of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.

Emanuel declared in April 2006 that he would support Hillary Rodham Clinton should she pursue the presidency in 2008. Emanuel remained close to Clinton since leaving the White House, talking strategy with her at least once a month as chairman of the DCCC.^[16] However, Emanuel's loyalties came into conflict when his home-state senator Barack Obama expressed interest in the race; asked in January 2007 about his stance on the Democratic presidential nomination, he said: "I'm hiding under the desk. I'm very far under the desk, and I'm bringing my paper and my phone."^[50] Emanuel remained neutral in the race until June 4, 2008, the day after the final primary contests, when he endorsed the eventual winner Obama.^[51]

Emanuel won re-election to the House, defeating Republican candidate Tom Hanson. Open Secrets reported that Emanuel "was the top House recipient in the 2008 election cycle of contributions from hedge funds, private equity firms and the larger securities/investment industry".^[52] Securities and investments business interests were the main sector contributing to Emanuel's campaigns in both 2006 and 2008.^[53]

House leadership[link]

After his role in helping the Democrats win the 2006 elections, Emanuel was believed to be a leading candidate for the position of Majority Whip. Nancy Pelosi, who became the next Speaker of the House, persuaded him not to challenge Jim Clyburn, but instead to succeed Clyburn in the role of Democratic Caucus Chairman. In return, Pelosi agreed to assign the caucus chair more responsibilities, including "aspects of strategy and messaging, incumbent retention, policy development and rapid-response communications." Caucus vice-chair John Larson remained in this role instead of running for the chairman position.^[54]

After U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney asserted that he did not fall within the bounds of orders set for the executive branch, Emanuel called for cutting off the $4.8 million the Executive Branch provides for the Vice President's office.^[55]

Political views[link]

Emanuel joins Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to advocate changes to Medicare legislation, September 24, 2003.

During his original 2002 campaign, Emanuel "indicated his support of President Bush's position on Iraq, but said he believed the president needed to better articulate his position to the American people".^[22] One of the major goals he spoke of during the race was "to help make health care affordable and available for all Americans".^[22]

In the 2006 congressional primaries, Emanuel, then head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, made national headlines for engineering a run by Tammy Duckworth — an Iraq war veteran with no political experience — against grassroots candidate Christine Cegelis in Illinois' 6th District. Expedited withdrawal from Iraq was a central point of Cegelis' campaign; Duckworth opposed a withdrawal timetable.^[56]

In his 2006 book, co-authored with Bruce Reed, The Plan: Big Ideas for America,^[57] Emanuel advocated a three-month compulsory universal service program for Americans between the ages of 18 and 25. An expanded version of this idea was later proposed by U.S. Presidential candidate Barack Obama (who was later to choose Emanuel as his White House Chief of Staff), during his 2008 campaign, in a speech on July 2, 2008, at the University of Colorado, in which Obama proposed a "civilian national security force" (this term being used in the spoken version of his speech, not in the original written version), which included expanded voluntary national service programs in many areas, such as infrastructure rebuilding, service to the elderly, and environmental cleanup. For some of these services, tax credits and direct pay — primarily for college tuition — was proposed. Obama's original proposal was for participation by all ages, but with required participation by all middle-school and high-school students for 50 hours of community service a year. That proposed requirement was later modified to being "a goal".^[58] Obama's entire service program proposal quickly became controversial, largely for being mistaken as a call for a national paramilitary force, though the proposal's only reference to military service was volunteer participation in regular U.S. Armed Forces, as one activity that would qualify for inclusion under the program's umbrella.

Emanuel is generally liberal on social issues. He maintained a 100-percent pro-choice voting record, supports gay rights and same sex marriage, and is a strong supporter of gun control, rated "F" by the NRA in December 2003.^[59] He has also strongly supported the banning of numerous rifles based upon "sporting" purposes criteria.^[60] He has aligned himself with the right wing of the Democratic Party, the Democratic Leadership Council.^[61][62]

In June 2007, Emanuel condemned an outbreak of Palestinian violence in the Gaza Strip and criticized Arab countries for not applying the same kind of pressure on the Palestinians as they have on Israel. At a 2003 pro-Israel rally in Chicago, Emanuel told the marchers Israel was ready for peace but would not get there until Palestinians "turn away from the path of terror".^[63]

Emanuel has been called an ally of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley; other sources dispute that he has been an ally of Blagojevich, for whom Emanuel served as a campaign adviser.^[64][65] He called Illinois state legislator John C. D'Amico in 2008 in support of Blagojevich's Illinois capital bill, but withdrew his encouragement when he discovered Daley opposed the bill.^[64] After Obama's election victory, Emanuel articulated his view on the role of government as a positive force to face difficult challenges and solve national problems, notably combating global warming through green energy policies and completely restructuring the healthcare system.^[66]

White House Chief of Staff[link]

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel looks at a newspaper in the Oval Office, as President Barack Obama talks on the phone April 4, 2009.

Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel in the Oval Office

On November 6, 2008, Emanuel accepted the Cabinet-level^[67] position of White House Chief of Staff for Barack Obama.^[5] He resigned his congressional seat effective January 2, 2009.^[68] A special primary to fill his vacated congressional seat was held on March 3, 2009, and the special general election on April 7.^[69][70] Chicago newspapers reported that one candidate for that seat said at a forum that Emanuel had told him he may be interested in running for the seat again in the future.^[71]

Some Republican leaders criticized Emanuel's appointment because they believed it went against Obama's promises to make politics less divisive, given Emanuel's reputation as a partisan Democrat.^[5] Republican Lindsey Graham disagreed, saying: "This is a wise choice by President-elect Obama. He's tough but fair—honest, direct and candid."^[72]

Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, said that the choice indicates that Obama will not listen to the "wrong people" regarding the U.S.–Israel relationship.^[63] Some commentators opined that Emanuel would be good for the Israeli–Palestinian peace process because if Israeli leaders make excuses for not dismantling settlements, Emanuel will be tough and pressure the Israelis to comply.^[73][74] Some Palestinians expressed dismay at Obama’s appointment of Emanuel.^[75][76] Emanuel said that Obama did not need his influence to "orientate his policy toward Israel".^[77]

In a 2010 article in The New York Times, Emanuel was characterized as being "perhaps the most influential chief of staff of a generation".^[78]

At a closed-door meeting in the White House with liberal activists, he called them "fucking retarded" for planning to run TV ads attacking conservative Democrats who didn't support Obama's health-care overhaul. In February 2010, Emanuel apologized to organizations for the mentally handicapped for using the word "retarded." He expressed his regret to Tim Shriver, the chief executive of the Special Olympics after the remark was reported in an article by The Wall Street Journal about growing liberal angst at the chief of staff. The apology came as former Alaska governor and conservative activist Sarah Palin called on President Obama to fire Emanuel via the former governor's Facebook page.^[79][80]

Emanuel also could make his team laugh. Chief technology officer Aneesh Chopra would come to staff meetings and give uniformly upbeat reports, administration aides said. Once Emanuel is said to have looked at him and said: "Whatever you're taking, I want some." Emanuel had a hand in war strategy, political maneuvering, communications and economic policy. Bob Woodward wrote in his book, Obama's Wars that Emanuel made a habit of calling up CIA Director Leon Panetta and asking about the lethal drone strikes aimed at Al Qaeda. "Who did we get today?" he would ask.^[81]

In 2010, Emanuel was reported to have conflicts with other senior members of the president's team and ideological clashes over policy. He was also the focal point of criticism from left-leaning Democrats for the administration's perceived move to the center. By September 2010, with the Democrats anticipating heavy losses in midterm elections, this was said to precipitate Emanuel's departure as Chief of Staff.^[82]

Mayor of Chicago[link]

2011 Chicago mayoral campaign[link]

Wikinews has related news: White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel steps down to run for Mayor of Chicago

On September 30, 2010, it was announced that Emanuel would be leaving his post as White House Chief of Staff to run for Mayor of Chicago. He was replaced by Pete Rouse on October 2, 2010.

After being cleared as eligible to run for mayor by the Board of Elections and the Cook County Circuit Court (his eligibility was challenged on the basis of his lack of residency in Chicago for one year prior to the election), a divided Court of Appeals reversed holding on January 24, 2011, that residency for purposes of a candidate is different from residency for purposes of being a voter.^[7] Nevertheless, a further appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court resulted in a unanimous decision reversing the Court of Appeals and affirming Emanuel's eligibility to run for mayor. Emanuel was elected mayor on Tuesday, February 22, 2011.^[8][83] He is Chicago's first Jewish mayor.^[84]

Emanuel's electoral campaign was the inspiration for a Twitter account, @MayorEmanuel, which was written by Chicago journalist Dan Sinker. The account received over 43000 followers, and was more popular than Emanuel's real Twitter account. Emanuel announced on February 28 that if the author would reveal himself, he would donate $5000 to the charity of his choice.^[85] When Sinker revealed himself, Emanuel donated the money to Young Chicago Authors, a community organization which helps young people with writing and publishing skills.^[86]

Mayoralty[link]

Emanuel was sworn in as the 55th Mayor of Chicago on May 16, 2011 at the Pritzker Pavilion. At his inauguration were outgoing Mayor Richard M. Daley, Vice President Joe Biden, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and William M. Daley, who succeeded Emanuel as White House Chief of Staff and is the brother of the outgoing Mayor Richard Daley.^[87][88]

Electoral history[link]

Works[link]

References[link]