Ana Rita Gil and Nuno Piçarra naturalisation. Such a right is also recognised for minors. In some circumstances, naturalisation is allowed even if residence in Portuguese territory is not legal. The Portuguese Constitution uses the term ‘citizenship’, instead of ‘nationality’. However, the Portuguese statutory act is called the ‘Nationality Act’. This is despite the criticisms of several scholars regarding the disparity between the statutory terminology and the Constitution (Silva 2004: 96). The term ‘citizenship’ is considered to be more neutral from cultural and historical points of view (Silva 2004:19), since the term ‘nationality’ recalls the nationalist philosophy of the New State period, which the post-revolutionary Constitution of 1976 aimed to avoid. Some legal scholars also argue that the term ‘nationality’ is less concise (Miranda 2004:99), since it describes belonging to a nation, and not to a state. The term ‘citizenship’, therefore, would give more relevance to public participation in a democratic state. Furthermore, the exact meaning of these two concepts is not the same. Nationality is a broader concept than citizenship, as the legal person and some property (such as ships and aircrafts) can posses a nationality, but citizenship can only be possessed by people. From a different point of view, however, the citizenship concept can be broader than the concept of nationality. In Portugal there are some statuses of quasi-citizenship by which citizenship rights are given to people who do not have Portuguese nationality. This is the case of nationals of Lusophone countries living in Portugal who enjoy wide-ranging rights as far as political participation and access to public office are concerned. The movement towards a concept of citizenship which is disengaged from nationality goes beyond this special status. Any alien who resides in Portugal has the right to vote and be elected in local government elections, according to art. 15(4) of the Constitution, provided that there is reciprocity so that Portuguese citizens can enjoy equivalent voting rights in the alien’s country of citizenship. Normally, however, the two terms are used synonymously. In this report we will use the term citizenship, as this is a more accurate term in a juridical context, when referring to the status of full membership in a democratic state. 2. Historical background 2.1 The roots of Portuguese citizenship law: the 1603 Ordinations of King Philip The 1603 Ordination or compilation of legislation, ordered by King Philip, led to the first legal arrangements for citizenship in Portugal (Title LV of the Second Book). Only the acquisition of citizenship at birth was regulated, and this established a mixed system which gave prevalence to ius soli. Children with Portuguese fathers (ius sanguinis a pater3) were only Portuguese if they were born in Portugal (both ius soli and ius sanguinis); if they were born abroad they were not Portuguese unless their father (or mother, if the child was illegitimate) was in the king’s or the crown’s service. On the other hand, pure ius soli was not present. Legitimate children born in Portugal to a foreign father were only Portuguese if the father had been living in Portugal for at least ten years and had property there (Ramos 1992: 7-13; Gonçalves 1929: 511). 3 Ius sanguinis a mater was only relevant if the child was illegitimate. Discrimination against nationality being passed on by the mother influenced Portuguese law until 1976, when the III Portuguese Republic enshrined the principle of spousal equality and equality of children born in and outside wedlock (art. 36 of the Constitution). 2 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/1- © 2020 Author