Despite being part of the Arab and Muslim World together, it needs to be reiterated that Morocco and Tunisia are not same countries. It also needs to be highlighted that I’ve seen Morocco and Tunisia in different contexts. I lived in Morocco for five weeks, as immersed as possible in everyday culture. I only stayed a week in Tunisia, and any interactions I had with the culture was through the lens of an academic tourist. I met taxi drivers, hanoot (store) owners, food servers, and college students all in one day in Morocco. I met diplomats and politicians in Tunisia.
The Moroccan government and Tunisian government are also different. Morocco has a constitutional monarchy plus a parliamentary system. That is to say, there are executive, judicial, and legislative branches (where politicians do get elected by the people), but there is still a King who has a lot of executive power. For example, he nominates the Prime Minister, who then chooses the ministers in the Cabinet. So, part of the government is democratically elected, and the other is not.
The Tunisian government by contrast claims a full democratic system. There is a President, a Parliament, and Prime Minister, all of whom are elected in federal elections. This was achieved 
of the first revolution of the Arab Spring that happened in December of 2010. Since the revolution, the public has had a lot more say in the government. They were invited to help make the new constitution, civil society organizations are encouraged to provide input on new laws, and there are more consultations between entrepreneurs and politicians.
With these governmental differences in mind, people’s definitions of citizenship make more sense. In Morocco I asked citizens what they think the definition of citizenship is. I asked working people, people out of school, and most of the answers I got were along the lines of: family, culture, and giving back to the country.
They felt grateful for their country, even if there are some problems. In Tunisia, the people I spoke to were college students or organizers of our conference. They said that citizenship is defined by legality and a willingness to give to their country and hold their politicians accountable.
With these differences there are some similarities. A general vibe across the two countries is that citizens feel it’s their duty to give back to the country. In Morocco this need to give back manifests itself in passive participation through community service and civil society organizations. In Tunisia this participation manifests itself as active participation with activism and lobbying groups. Both Morocco and Tunisia also have a high unemployment rate, which leads to civil unrest. When I spoke with college age students in each country, they each were dissatisfied with their political system and the politicians in it, and the inability to get a job probably has something to do with it.
And below is an example of the cultural immersion we’ve witnessed in Morocco.
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