Private citizen

Not to be confused with Sovereign citizen movement.

A private citizen is a citizen who does not have an official or professional role in a given situation.[1]

The same person may be a private citizen in one role, and an official in another. For example, a legislator is an official when voting in the legislature, but a private citizen when paying taxes or when undertaking a citizen's arrest in a public place.

A person may remain a private citizen even when having considerable political power and influence:

...Pericles, in his capacity as a private citizen, was able to dominate the affairs of the Athenian assembly, and to direct and guide the demos for nearly a generation.[2]

  1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd edition, 2014, s.v., definition 5
  2. ^ Graham Maddox, "Democratic theory and the face to face society", Politics 9:1:56-62 (1974) as quoted in Sparkes, A. W. (1988). "Idiots, ancient and modern". Australian Journal of Political Science. 23 (1): 101–102. doi:10.1080/00323268808402051.