Learn the civic nationalism definition. Explore various types of nationalism, including ethnic, ideological, cultural, and civic nationalism. Compare and contract civic nationalism and liberal nationalism.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Civic Nationalism | Definition, Types & Examples
Table of Contents
- What is Civic Nationalism
- Types of Nationalism
- History of Civic Nationalism
- Examples of Civic Nationalism
- Controversies Associated with Civic Nationalism
- Lesson Summary
Frequently Asked Questions
What is nationalism civic education?
Nationalist civic education teaches students about the history, values and beliefs of their nation that form the basis of national identity. For example, in the US, it includes teaching about the US Constitution and key historical moments like Declaration of Independence, Revolutionary War, or Civil Rights Movement.
What is a simple definition of nationalism?
Nationalism has several meanings. One is an idea that each nation should control an independent sovereign state. The other is strong attachment to the nation and a desire to further the nation's interest, sometimes to the detriment of other nations.
Is the UK a civic nation?
The UK is primarily a civic nation not defined by ethnicity. It emphasizes liberal principles of representative government, civic liberties, and tolerance as guiding values associated with Britishness. Otherwise, it is composed of four constituent nationalities: English, Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish.
Is the United States a civic nation?
The US is given as a primary example of a civic nation not based on ethnicity but on common values, beliefs, and history. Those include beliefs in liberty, representative government, and inalienable rights.
Table of Contents
- What is Civic Nationalism
- Types of Nationalism
- History of Civic Nationalism
- Examples of Civic Nationalism
- Controversies Associated with Civic Nationalism
- Lesson Summary
In political science, a nation is defined as a group of people sharing certain common characteristics (such as history, culture, language, or territory), which either has control or desires control over an independent sovereign state. Nationalism has several meanings. At the basic level, it means a desire for one's nation to live in or maintain control over an independent state. Hence, for instance, if someone called themselves an Indian nationalist during British rule over India, it meant that they wanted India to be independent.
Nationalism might also mean strong attachment to a nation and a desire to promote its interests, which might harm of other nations. More rarely, attaching a label of "nationalist" to a racial or ethnic characteristic (e.g. white nationalist) could mean that someone associates a nation with membership or fighting for interests of such a narrower group.
Most scholars distinguish two basic types of nationalism: civic and ethnic. Civic nationalism considers nation a community of equal citizens bound by common territory, history, values, and beliefs. It is more common in multi-ethnic and post-colonial states. Under the concept of civic nationalism, all people living on the national territory regardless of ethnicity or other cultural features, except non-citizens, are members of the nation.
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Aside from civic nationalism, the other main type of nationalism is ethnic nationalism, also called cultural nationalism. Ethnic nationalism envisions a nation as a community bound by common culture, language, religion, but also history. In this case, a nation is closely associated, or even identical, to ethnicity (e.g. German nation with ethnic Germans).
The main commonality between civic and ethnic nationalism is a desire to create or maintain an independent national state. Both types of nationalism also both emphasize common history and narratives as a "glue' binding the national community. Moreover, most forms of civic nationalism include certain ethnic or cultural elements. For example, being American is associated with speaking English and following some traditions such as Thanksgiving.
Some scholars distinguish ideological nationalism, which could be treated as a variant of civic nationalism or a separate type of nationalism. Ideological nationalism associates the idea of a nation with adhering to a certain ideology, and emphasizes that only by accepting this ideology one can truly be a national. For example, Benito Mussolini linked the idea of being Italian with Fascism, while various revolutionary movements in Latin America, such as the Cuban Revolution, linked nationalism (e.g. Cuban nationalism) with socialism. Political movements across the world have tried to link nationalism with other ideologies, such as traditional conservatism in case of António Salazar's autocratic regime in Portugal.
Liberal Nationalism
Civic nationalism emerged during the Enlightenment when it was linked with liberal values, such as popular sovereignty, representative government, and inalienable rights. For that reason, it is often called or conflated with liberal nationalism. However, this is not necessarily a proper understanding because some variants of civic nationalism do not embrace liberal values. Therefore, liberal nationalism could be treated instead as a variant of civic nationalism that associates a national identity with adherence to the liberal ideology and values.
Liberal ideology is understood here in classical terms. It means embracing representative democracy (based on free and fair elections, in modern times held under universal suffrage), political rights, and civil liberties. The latter includes the right to vote and stand for office, due process rights, freedoms of speech, religion, association, etc. Newer understandings of liberal nationalism emphasize that national culture and traditions are important as they provide meaning and a sense of community to individuals imbued with inalienable rights. American, British, and modern French nationalism are strongly associated with liberal ideas.
Yet, one should emphasize that civic nationalism does not necessarily embrace nor is it associated with liberal values, as it could be linked to other ideologies (e.g. traditional conservatism) or non-liberal understandings of democracy. For example, multi-ethnic Singapore embraces a version of nationalism that is civic, but which emphasizes non-liberal values such as respect for authority, hierarchy, and tradition as the basis of the national community. Finally, many multi-ethnic post-colonial countries in Africa and Asia, such as Nigeria or Indonesia, espouse versions of civic nationalism emphasizing common history and origins in a common territory rather than any common binding ideology.
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Before emergence of modern nationalism, people had loyalty and attachment to their nations. Yet, this national identity was weaker than nowadays, and it was prevalent primarily among higher classes (nobility and aristocracy) and overlapped with other attachments (to the ruling dynasty, monarch, global religious community, or a smaller local community). The idea of a nation hardly applied to multiethnic empires (such as the Habsburg Empire), in which loyalty to the dynasty was emphasized instead.
Civic nationalism predated ethnic nationalism and emerged during the Enlightenment era (late 18th and early 19th centuries). The key events in this process were the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolution, and the wars for independence in Latin America. The Enlightenment advanced the ideas of popular sovereignty expressed through freely elected rulers and inalienable rights that should be protected by the government. Under this concept, popular sovereignty resided in the nation (the people) rather in an unelected monarch. The nation was understood as a group of people bound by common history and inhabiting a concrete territory, who enjoyed popular sovereignty and natural rights. This entailed the right to self-determination, that is, independence from any colonial powers.
During the Enlightenment, the nation was not defined ethnically because anybody living within the country's borders (including, for example, Native Americans in the former Spanish colonies, or immigrants) belonged to the national community provided they learned the official language (in this case Spanish). In this period some countries, such as Colombia or Mexico, eliminated slavery and created racially blind equal citizenship, but this did not eliminate unofficial racial discrimination. Other countries, such as the United States or Brazil, retained slavery or allowed legal discrimination of racial minorities.
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A primary example of a country founded on civic nationalism is the United States. When it was created during the Revolutionary War, the idea of being American became associated with a set of values and beliefs, such as popularly elected government and inalienable right enshrined in the Constitution. Moreover, being American was not defined in ethnic terms because any (white) person inhabiting the territory of the new republic, regardless of ethnicity or language, could become American (but, alas, native Americans, Asians, and enslaved Blacks were excluded). Gradually, this definition of the American nation was extended to encompass other racial groups.
Another example of a nation espousing civic nationalism is India. In India, nationhood is defined in non-ethnic terms because all people, regardless of ethnicity or religion, inhabiting the territory of India at the independence became members of the nation. Being Indian has been associated with certain values such as acceptance of democracy, equality, and secularism. This does not mean that such understandings of a nation are not contested. There is a strong movement in India arguing that only believers in Hinduism are truly Indian. Similarly, throughout American history there have been attempts to restrict nationhood to white Christians or only white Protestant Christians.
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Civic nationalism has been considered more open and tolerant than ethnic nationalism because it is associated with acceptance of certain values and beliefs rather than with belonging to an ethnic group or adopting a certain culture. Generally, it is easier to become a member of a "civic" nation. Still, civic nationalism is not without problems. Overall, it provides for a weaker sense of a national belonging and community than ethnic nationalism. Hence, it results in lesser social solidarity and willingness to support fellow nationals through, for example, accepting taxes for welfare programs or supporting war efforts. These goals are easier to accomplish in ethnic nations, where the sense of national community is stronger.
Moreover, civic nationalism often appeals to values deemed universal, such as democracy and human rights. Given that, one can ask what is unique about each nation in a situation when democracy and human rights are espoused by many of them (e.g. by Canada, France, or the United States). In other words, civic nationalism, because it lacks cultural elements, provides a weak foundation to justify existence of separate nations.
Civic nationalism is also not free from xenophobia against recent immigrant or ethnic groups considered non-native on the national territory. For example, multi-ethnic South Africa regularly experiences anti-immigrant riots, while Muslim ethnic Bengali immigrants to India have been denied a route to Indian citizenship.
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Civic nationalism defines the nation as a community of equal citizens bound by common values, beliefs, history, and territory. Under this concept, a nation has a right to self-determination, that is, to live in an independent state free of colonial domination. Civic nationalism emerged during the period of Enlightenment, in the second half of the 18th century. Because it is strongly linked to the liberal ideology with its emphasis on representative government and inalienable rights, it is often called or conflated with liberal nationalism (yet, not all variants of civic nationalism are liberal). One of the best examples of a country founded on civic nationalism is the United States. The sense of civic nationalism is codified in the US Constitution, which specifies the sets of basic rights to which all US citizens are entitled and does not link nationhood with any specific ethnicity or culture. Under civic nationalism, nationhood is linked with citizenship. This contrasts with ethnic nationalism, in which nationhood is linked to belonging to an ethnic group with its specific cultural features such as language, religion, and traditions.
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Video Transcript
What Is Civic Nationalism?
You've probably heard the term 'nation.' You've probably even heard of 'nationalism.' But civic nationalism? How does nationalism become civic? Let's start by defining some terms here. Nationalism is a sense of belonging and community, shared between people of the same nation. The nation is the body of people and shared identity that makes up a nation-state, or country. Following so far?
So, we know that nationalism is the shared sense of community that defines the people of a nation. The question is, what makes you a member of that nation, and how does your identity reflect that? There are actually multiple ways to define this. One of the big ones today is civic nationalism, which in the simplest terms, defines the sense of belonging through citizenship and political equality. You're a member of the nation because you're a citizen of the nation-state. Turns out, this may be an idea you've heard of, even if you didn't know it.
Elements of Civic Nationalism
Let's get into this a little deeper. Civic nationalism is directly tied to liberalism, which for the purposes of this lesson's topic is unrelated to the American concept of the leftwing side of the political aisle. Liberalism in this case, is the political ideology that elevates liberty and equality above all else, leading to political belief in the freedoms of speech, religion, press, etc. Since civic nationalism is part of the liberal ideology, it's sometimes called liberal nationalism as well.
So given all of this, civic nationalism seeks to address the main question in a liberal state: who belongs to the nation? The answer is that nationhood is granted through citizenship, so all citizens are members of the nation. Think about what this means. Any person can be part of the nation regardless of their wealth, race, ethnicity, sex, gender, religion, or place of birth. With civic nationalism, every person has equal access to nationhood without being blocked by pre-existing factors outside of their control.
The implication of this is that the nation, the community, isn't defined by exclusive categories like ethnicity or religion. It's defined instead by a shared devotion to a set of liberal political ideologies and the government built on those principles.
History and Examples
To better understand this, we need to understand where it came from. In European history, the concept of nationalism was traditionally tied to ethnicity. People of a shared ethno-linguistic group formed nations, which turned into countries. People of the English ethnicity formed England, people of the German ethnicity formed Germany, people of the Portuguese ethnicity formed Portugal, etc.
Then, in the 17th century, a few English and French philosophers started questioning all the assumptions in their lives. What if nationhood wasn't defined by ethnicity? What if the Church didn't dictate politics? What if the king shouldn't hold all political power? What if the people deserved representation in their government? This was the Enlightenment, which was the philosophical movement that first proposed ideas like the separation of Church and State, representative government in modern nations, and the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and property.
Liberalism was born in the Enlightenment, but entrenched aristocracies had no desire to give up power to the people for the sake of liberty and equality. However, that wasn't as true in the British colonies of America, where self-governance was already being practiced. In 1776, the American colonists put their liberal, Enlightenment ideologies into practice and drafted the Declaration of Independence.
The most well-known part of the Declaration reads as follows:
''We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.''
A few years after winning their revolution, the Americans cemented the idea of civic nationalism by writing the United States Constitution. This document created a government not on hereditary lineage or because someone pulled a magic sword from a stone. It wasn't a government made to represent one ethnic group. It was a government made of the people, by the people, and for the people. This new government recognized citizens of the nation as those who ascribed to these political ideals and not those who belonged to a singular ethnicity, religion, or class.
That was the start of civic nationalism as we know it. The ideology spread to Europe and formed the basis of the French Revolution, and later spread through Latin American independence movements from Mexico to Argentina. Even England eventually jumped on the bandwagon. Today, England is part of the United Kingdom, which united the ethnic groups of England, Scotland, and Wales under a shared devotion to Parliament and equal political rights.
Struggles of Civic Nationalism
Today, the majority of the world's nations have embraced some form of liberalism as well as a sense of civic nationalism. However, the distinction between civic nationalism and others is not always as clear as pure political theory might suggest. The reality is a bit messier.
In many places that were founded on ethnic types of nationalism but later adopted civic nationalism, there's still a strong association between the ideal citizen and membership in a specific ethnic group. Civic nationalism is supposed to be non-xenophobic, but even the United States voted to ban Chinese immigrants from entering the country in the 1882 as part of a massive effort to scapegoat an alien ethnic group for the economic problems facing the country at the time. However, it was all under the umbrella of the Chinese immigrants being considered un-American. There are even concerns in the 21st century that something similar is happening to Islamic populations in several Western countries, including the United States, though is hasn't reached the fever-pitch of the late 19th century as of yet. As some political scientists argue, civic nationalism is the dominant trend in governments, but more exclusive types of nationalism still pervade many nations.
Lesson Summary
Let's take a few moments to review what we've learned about civic nationalism and its examples. We first learned that nationalism is a sense of belonging and community shared between people of the same nation, and that the nation is the body of people and shared identity that makes up a nation-state, or country.
Civic nationalism, though, is the concept that nationhood and national identity are defined by citizenship and allegiance to a specific government or set of political ideologies. This type of nationalism opposes the more exclusive ethno-linguistic varieties that base membership on external factors. It's derived from liberalism, which is the political ideology that elevates liberty and equality above all else.
Civic nationalism was a product of the liberal ideologies of the Enlightenment, which was the 17th and 18th century philosophical movement that first proposed ideas like the separation of Church and State, representative government in modern nations, and the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and property. The principles of the Enlightenment were first put into practice in the United States, and later spread through the French Revolution and Latin American independence movements. With civic nationalism, everyone has equal access to nationhood, as long as they believe in liberty and equality. Those are ideas you've almost certainly heard of.
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Civic Nationalism | Definition, Types & Examples
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