finally political or direct democracy implies a very different conception of citizenship than the usual liberal and socialist conceptions in this conception political activity is not a means to an end but an end in itself so that one does not engage in political action simply to promote ones welfare but to realize the principles intrinsic to political life such as freedom equality and solidarity this in contrast to the liberal and social-democratic conceptions which adopt an instrumentalist view of citizenship ie a view which implies that citizenship entitles citizens with certain rights that they can exercise as means to the end of individual welfare