Comparing regional membership: people-centric citizenship norms in ECOWAS and ASEAN

This article examines how citizenship initiatives by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), whether legally defined or informally structured, reflect the organisations’ proclaimed commitments to people-centric governance. People-centric citizenship norms aim to foster inclusive regional membership, grounded in the principles of rights, political participation, and collective identity. Despite these aspirations, the practical implementation of such norms frequently falls short of achieving substantive political inclusion. This comparative analysis draws on institutional documents and semi-structured interviews conducted with officials from the ECOWAS Commission, the ASEAN Secretariat, affiliated ASEAN institutions, non-governmental organisations, and civil society organisations. The concept of a citizenship regime serves as the analytical framework, encompassing four interrelated components: rights and responsibilities, access to political participation, legal and identity-based belonging, and institutional and governance structures. The findings illustrate that, while ECOWAS and ASEAN aspire to inclusive regionalism, their practical adoption of people-centric citizenship norms remains inconsistent, reflecting broader tensions between rhetoric and institutional realities. The analysis contributes to broader debates on citizenship building as well as norm diffusion and interpretation, illustrating how the adaptation of people-centric citizenship norms is shaped by governance structures, legal traditions, and historical legacies.