citizenry
n.the people who live in a country and have the legal rights and duties of that country. It is a more formal way to talk about the general public.
n.the body of people who are legally recognized as members of a particular country. Often used in political or sociological contexts to refer to the collective population.
“The government must listen to the needs of the citizenry.”
“The new law was designed to protect the citizenry from rising crime rates in the city center.”
“Political theorists often debate whether a healthy democracy requires an informed citizenry or if it can function effectively with a population that remains largely apathetic to the legislative process.”
“Pennsylvania and Florida legislators argue, for example, that an informed citizenry needs to be able to read historical documents, which are often written in cursive script.”
From citizen + -ry.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.