So, let me try again to propose that being part of the democratic system is the main aspect of identity. If one tries to nail identity down to specific behaviors, one runs into the problem of diverse kinds of citizenship – X votes, Y protests, Z lobbies, A participates in talk radio. The question for me is whether one joins in the rule system.
I hope I am not being anti-methodological, but tying identity to particular behaviors (or factor groups of behaviors) is risky because it implies a standardized form of citizenship. Peter seems right in pointing to the mix of people which comprises democracy. My non-sophisticated reading of the nation’s formation (I am now reading Madison) is that people fought uniformity and the beauty of democracy was that it allowed for diversity in interests to get along.
I don't know how to handle Dan's concern with the example of Africa, about which I know little.