Civic nationalism
Topic: Nationalism and National Self-determination · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 7 "Nationalism"
Meaning
Civic nationalism sees the nation in political terms. A person belongs through citizenship, through loyalty to the values written in the Constitution (democracy, secularism, liberty) and through duties to fellow citizens. Religion, race and language do not decide membership. NCERT (Class 11, Nationalism) prefers this political basis because it can include everyone in a diverse society. Citizens accept each other's rights, and this creates duties. NCERT calls accepting these duties "the strongest test of loyalty to the nation".
Example
India's Constitution builds a civic nation. The Preamble opens with "We, the People". Every Indian has single citizenship, the state is secular, and there is no national language. Other examples are the French republic and the American creed.
Don't confuse with
- Cultural nationalism: civic nationalism rests on shared political values and citizenship. Cultural nationalism rests on a shared language, religion or descent.
- Kohn's "civic West": Hans Kohn (1944) treated civic nationalism as Western. Critics reply that civic nations also have a cultural core, such as a language, holidays and a founding story.