diff --git a/lib/democracy.js b/lib/democracy.js
index 397068c..ac3cd82 100644
--- a/lib/democracy.js
+++ b/lib/democracy.js
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ Democracy.prototype.init = function(options) {
   // Generate the details about this node to be sent between nodes.
   self._id = self.options.id;
   self._weight = self.options.weight;
-  self._state = 'follower';
+  self._state = 'citizen';
 
   // Setup the UDP socket to listen on.
   self.socket = dgram.createSocket({type: 'udp4', reuseAddr: true});
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ Democracy.prototype.resign = function(noElection) {
   var nodes = self.nodes();
 
   if (self._state === 'leader') {
-    self._state = 'follower';
+    self._state = 'citizen';
     self.emit('resigned', nodes[self._id]);
     self.send('hello');
   }