Question

Highlight the features of active and passive citizens of France.

Answer 1

Hint:
There are only a few cases in which the sole fact of birth on French soil qualifies a child to automatically receive French citizenship. Pursuant to articles 19 and 19-1 of the Civil Code. Those cases include.
1) Any child born in France of an unknown father and mother,
2) Any child born in France of stateless parents, and
3) Any child born in France for whom foreign laws on nationality do not permit in any way the conveyance of the nationality of either one of the parents to him/her.
The child, however, will be considered to have never acquired French citizenship if, before reaching the age of majority, one of his parents is found (in the case of a child born of an unknown father and mother) and he acquires the parent’s citizenship, or the foreign citizenship acquired or possessed by one of the parents is conveyed to him or her.
Finally, a child is French if born in France to at least one parent also born in France. If only one parent was born in France, the child may renounce French citizenship.

Complete step by step solution:
Active citizen:
Active citizens are citizens who are literate and have knowledge about the law. They have a continuous income and consist of the right to vote. To become an active citizen one must be above 25 years of age and had to pay taxes equal to at least 3 days of laborer’s work
Active Citizens numbered around four million men. They were required to be literate, speak French, and have been a resident for more than one year. They had a stake in the government bodies. They paid taxes equal to about three days’ work a year. These men met in primary assemblies to nominate electors and members of the councils in their municipalities. Active citizens (and their sons over the age of 18) were also, in that period, the basis for the French National Guard, the military bastion of the middle class. They elected the electors.
Roughly one in every hundred active citizens became electors. To qualify as an Elector one had to pay taxes equal to 10 days work a year: typically 5 to 10 livres. There were about 50,000 electors in France at the time. These electors also met in assemblies where they nominated deputies, judges, and members of other departments. To pay taxes equal to at least 3 days of a laborer’s wages.

Passive citizen:
Passive citizens are citizens who are illiterate and have no knowledge about law and government. They don't have jobs but they are under the protection of the government. They don't have the right to vote. The women, men below 25 years of age, children and men above 25 years of age who didn't have enough to pay the taxes were listed under passive citizens.
Passive Citizens were those who had no property rights or voting rights. They were entitled to protection by law with relation to their belongings and their liberty, but had no say in the making of government bodies. This group totaled around three million men within France. The constitution of 1791 reduced the women of France to passive.

Note:
The features of active and passive citizens of France are as follows:-
1. Those citizens who were entitled to vote were termed as active citizens.
2. Only men above 25 years of age who paid taxes were entitled to vote and considered as active citizens.
3. Women, children, and other people were considered as passive citizens.
4. Women, children, and other people were not entitled to vote
5. The distinction between active and passive citizens was made during French Revolution.
6. Passive citizens had no property rights.
7. Active citizens were required to pay taxes equal to about three days’ work a year.