The extent of the citizenship concept regarding the proposition of popular action

Abstract

The objective of this research is to analyze the concept of citizenship for the purpose of filing popular action lawsuits. As an instrument of control of the Public Administration, the popular action lawsuit can be proposed by any citizen, which is legitimized by LXXIII of article 5 of the Brazilian Federal Constitution and is disciplined by Law n. 4717/65. Moreover, paragraph 3 of article 1 of Law n. 4717/65 states that the plaintiff must prove his status as a citizen in order to file the popular action lawsuit, by means of his voter registration or equivalent document. The requirement set forth by Law 4717/65 restricts the concept of citizen, by limiting its use exclusively to people with demonstrable political rights through their voter ID or equivalent documents. This study concludes that the concept of citizenship currently covers not only political rights, but also social and civil rights, which is why the term citizen, for purposes of filing the popular action lawsuit, must be broad, not limited to the contours established by Law 4.717/65, which in this aspect is not included in the Federal Constitution. This paper utilized the hypothetical-deductive method with literature review.