Citizenship, civil society and nation state. Children of Vienamese Immigrants in the CR Amidst Active and Passive Citizenship.

This paper analyzes the relationship between citizenship, civil society and nation state. It argues that citizenship is often viewed only in relation to the state and its active potential - arising from public activities mediated through communication media and civil society institutions - is neglected. As a result increasing number of permanent resident immigrants is in a long run denied full political rights which in turn endangers representative potential of liberal democracies. In the Czech Republic this situation concerns Vietnamese immigrant children who, though fully integrated into the Czech society and able to actively participate in public space, i.e. able to use the active citizenship element, usually do not enjoy Czech citizenship status (passive citizenship) and therefore they are not represented in public administration bodies. Current system of granting of Czech citizenship endangers representative character of our democracy and at the same time does not utilize the potential of young active people living in our territory for a long time