Answer:
This is in relation to conditions in France after the French Revolution.
The populace was divided into Active and Passive citizens.
The requirement to be an active citizen was that one must be a Frenchman who was at least 25 years of age and paid enough taxes to cover three days of work.
Passive citizens therefore, were women, anyone who wasn't French, anyone below the age of 25 and anyone whose wages could not cover three days of work. Of course this brought discontent and strife between the Active and Passive citizens.