“Constructed ideals of citizenship”

This means political thinkers, leaders, institutions, and societies develop ideas about:

what the ideal citizen should be like and what characteristics qualify someone for full membership.

For example, a society might historically associate the ideal citizen with:

• whiteness;
• property ownership;
• masculinity;
• independence;
• particular cultural characteristics.

Those ideas can influence institutions.

Importantly, “constructed” here does not mean “imaginary.”

It means:

historically produced through social and political processes.