A nation is a group of people who share common history, culture, ethnic origin and language Language is a term most commonly used to refer to so called "natural languages" — the forms of communication considered peculiar to humankind. By extension the term also refers to the type of human thought process which creates and uses language. Essential to both meanings is the systematic creation, maintenance and use of systems of, often possessing or seeking its own independent government.[1] The development and conceptualization of a nation is closely related to the development of modern industrial states and nationalist movements in Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,[2] although nationalists would trace nations into the past along uninterrupted lines of historical narrative. Though the idea of nationality and race The term race or racial group usually refers to the categorization of humans into populations or ancestral groups on the basis of various sets of heritable characteristics. The physical features commonly seen as indicating race are salient visual traits such as skin color, cranial or facial features and hair texture. Conceptions of race, as well are often connected, the two are separate concepts, race dealing more with genotypic The genotype is the genetic constitution of a cell, an organism, or an individual usually with reference to a specific character under consideration. For instance, the human albino gene has two recessive alleles, recessive a and recessive a. It is a generally accepted theory that inherited genotype, transmitted epigenetic factors, and non- and phenotypic A phenotype is any observable characteristic or trait of an organism: such as its morphology, development, biochemical or physiological properties, behavior, and products of behavior . Phenotypes result from the expression of an organism's genes as well as the influence of environmental factors and the interactions between the two similarity and clustering, and nationality with the sense of belonging to a culture.

A nation is different from a country A country is a geographical region considered to be the physical territory of a sovereign state, or to a smaller, or former, political division within a geographical region. Usually, but not always, a country coincides with a sovereign territory and is associated with a state, nation or government in that a country is the land that belongs to a nation, and from a state in that a state is the government A government is the organization, or agency through which a political unit exercises its authority, controls and administers public policy, and directs and controls the actions of its members or subjects of the nation and country.

Benedict Anderson Benedict Richard O'Gorman Anderson is Aaron L. Binenkorb Professor Emeritus of International Studies, Government & Asian Studies at Cornell University, and is best known for his celebrated book Imagined Communities, first published in 1983. Anderson was born in Kunming, China to James O'Gorman and Veronica Beatrice Mary Anderson, and in 1941 argued that nations were "imagined communities The imagined community is a concept coined by Benedict Anderson which states that a nation is a community socially constructed, which is to say imagined by the people who perceive themselves as part of that group. Anderson's book, Imagined Communities, in which he explains the concept in depth, was published in 1983" because "the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion", and traced their origins back to vernacular print journalism, which by its very nature was limited with linguistic zones and addressed a common audience.[3] Although "nation" is also commonly used in informal discourse as a synonym for state A sovereign state is a political association with effective internal and external sovereignty over a geographic area and population which is not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. While in abstract terms a sovereign state can exist without being recognised by other sovereign states, unrecognised states will often find it hard to or country A country is a geographical region considered to be the physical territory of a sovereign state, or to a smaller, or former, political division within a geographical region. Usually, but not always, a country coincides with a sovereign territory and is associated with a state, nation or government, a nation is not identical to a state. Countries where the social concept of "nation" coincides with the political concept of "state" are called nation states The nation-state is a state that self-identifies as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a country as a sovereign territorial unit. The state is a political and geopolitical entity; the nation is a cultural and/or ethnic entity. The term "nation-state" implies that the two geographically coincide, and.

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Ambiguity in usage

In the strict sense, terms such as "nation," "ethnos," and "people" (as in "the Danish people") denote a group of human beings. The concepts of nation and nationality have much in common with ethnic group and ethnicity, but have a more political Politics , is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, but politics has been observed in other group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious institutions. It consists of "social relations involving authority or power" and refers connotation, since they imply the possibility of a nation-state The nation-state is a state that self-identifies as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a country as a sovereign territorial unit. The state is a political and geopolitical entity; the nation is a cultural and/or ethnic entity. The term "nation-state" implies that the two geographically coincide, and. Country denominates a geographical territory,[citation needed] whereas state expresses a legitimized administrative and decision-making institution. Confusingly, the terms national and international are used as technical terms applying to states. International law International law is the term commonly used for referring to laws that govern the conduct of independent nations in their relationships with one another. It differs from other legal systems in that it primarily concerns provinces rather than private citizens. However, the term "international law" can refer to three distinct legal, for instance, applies to relations between states, and occasionally between states on the one side, and individuals or legal persons The term legal person is a concept in philosophy of law topics wherein an entity is regarded by law to be like a person with such status being granted legal rights to protections and/or privileges under law. It is a term found in business-corporate law and animal rights law contexts, wherein corporations are regarded as highly productive human on the other. Likewise, the United Nations The United Nations Organization or simply United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of represent sovereign states A sovereign state is a political association with effective internal and external sovereignty over a geographic area and population which is not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. While in abstract terms a sovereign state can exist without being recognised by other sovereign states, unrecognised states will often find it hard to, while nations are free, per se, are not admitted.[4]

History

Etymology and early use

The English English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into South-East Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria. Following the economic, political, military, scientific, cultural, and colonial influence of Great Britain and the United Kingdom from the 18th century, and of word A word is the smallest free form in a language, in contrast to a morpheme, which is the smallest unit of meaning. A word may consist of only one morpheme (e.g. wolf), but a single morpheme may not be able to exist as a free form (e.g. the English plural morpheme -s) "nation" comes from the French word "nation" (itself derived from the Latin Latin or sometimes Roman is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Although often considered a dead language, in view of the fact that it has no native, fluent speakers, Latin continues to be taught in schools and has been, and currently is, used in the process of new word production in modern languages from many term natio) (nātĭō, stem nātiōn-), meaning:[5][6]

  • The action of being born; birth; or and

As an example of how the word natio was employed in classical Latin, consider the following quote from Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists's Philippics A philippic is a fiery, damning speech, or tirade, delivered to condemn a particular political actor. The term originates with Demosthenes, who delivered several attacks on Philip II of Macedon in the 4th century BC Against Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (c. January 14, 83 BC–August 1, 30 BC), known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. He was an important supporter and the loyal friend of Gaius Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia. After Caesar's assassination, in 44 BC Year 44 BC was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Antony (or, less frequently, year 710 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 44 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in. Cicero contrasts the external, inferior nationes ("races of people") with the Roman civitas ("community").:

"Omnes nationes servitutem ferre possunt: nostra civitas non potest." ("All races are able to bear enslavement, but our community cannot.")[7]

St. Jerome Saint Jerome (formerly Saint Hierom) (Latin: Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; Greek: Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος) was an Illyrian Christian priest and apologist. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia (and was overthrown by the Goths). He is best known for used this "genealogical-historical term ... in his Latin translation of New Testament The New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christian Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament. Unlike the Old Testament, the contents of the New Testament deal explicitly with Christianity, although both the Old and New Testament are regarded, together, as Sacred Scripture. The New Testament to denote non-Christians — that is, 'others.'"[8] An early example of the use of the word "nation" in conjunction with language and territory is provided in 968 by Liutprand Liutprand was a Lombard historian and author, and Bishop of Cremona, bishop of Cremona The diocese of Cremona is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in northern Italy, a suffragan of the archdiocese of Milan. Its see is the Cremona Cathedral, who, while confronting Nicephorus II Nikephoros II Phokas, latinized Nicephorus II Phocas , was a Byzantine Emperor (963-969) whose brilliant military exploits contributed to the resurgence of Byzantine Empire in the tenth century, the Byzantine emperor This is a list of the Emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly known as the Byzantine Empire by modern historians. This list does not include numerous co-emperors who never attained sole or senior status as rulers on behalf of his patron Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor Otto I the Great , son of Henry I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke of Saxony, King of Germany, King of Italy, and "the first of the Germans to be called the emperor of Italy" according to Arnulf of Milan. While Charlemagne had been crowned emperor in 800, his empire had been divided amongst his grandsons, and following the, declared:

"The land...which you say belongs to your empire belongs, as the nationality and language of the people proves, to the kingdom of Italy.'" (Emphasis added.)[9]

Although Liutprand was writing in Latin, his native tongue was Lombard Lombardic or Langobardic is the extinct language of the Lombards , the Germanic speaking people who settled in Italy in the 6th century. The language declined from the 7th century, but may have been in scattered use until as late as ca. AD 1000. The language is only preserved fragmentarily, the main evidence being individual words quoted in Latin, a Germanic The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all the languages in this branch is Proto-Germanic, spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe. Proto-Germanic, along with all of its descendants, is characterized by a language.

A significant early use of the term nation, as natio, was at mediaeval universities Medieval university is an institution of higher learning which was established during High Middle Ages period and is a corporation (see: nation (university) A nation are regional corporations of students at university, once widespread across central and northern Europe in medieval times, they are now largely restricted to the two ancient universities of Sweden. The students, who were all born within the same region, usually spoke the same language, and expected to be ruled by their own familiar law), to describe the colleagues in a college College is a term most often used today in Ireland and the United States to denote a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution and in other English-speaking countries to refer to a secondary school in private educational systems. More broadly, it can refer to any group of colleagues, such as an electoral college, a College of Arms or the or students, above all at the University of Paris The University of Paris was founded in the mid 11th century, and officially recognized as a university likely between 1160 and 1170 (or possibly as early as 1150). In 1970 it was reorganized as 13 autonomous universities (University of Paris I–XIII). The university is often referred to as the Sorbonne or La Sorbonne after the collegiate, who were all born within a pays, spoke the same language and expected to be ruled by their own familiar law Law is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. Laws can shape or reflect politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets. Property law defines rights and. In 1383 and 1384, while studying theology at Paris, Jean Gerson Jean Charlier de Gerson , French scholar, educator, reformer, and poet, chancellor of the University of Paris, a guiding light of the conciliar movement and one of the most prominent theologians at the Council of Constance, was born at the village of Gerson, in the bishopric of Reims in Champagne was twice elected procurator for the French natio (i.e. the French-born Francophone students at the University). The division of students into a natio was also adopted at the University of Prague Charles University in Prague is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1347, it was also the first university in the Holy Roman Empire and in Central Europe in general, and is considered the earliest German university. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe, where from its opening in 1349 the studium generale Studium generale is the old name for a medieval university which was registered as an institution of international excellence by the Holy Roman Empire. Most of the early studia generalia were found in Italy, France, England, Spain and Portugal, and these were considered the most prestigious places of learning in Europe. The Vatican continues to was divided among Bohemian, Bavarian, Saxon and Polish nations.

Political nation and the constitution of the state

In the domain of political sciences, the political nation is the holder of the sovereignty which shapes the fundamental norms governing the functioning of the state.

From the French Revolution up to today, the differences and similarities between the concepts of "political nation" and "people" have been object of heated debates. A related debate concerns the concepts of national sovereignty National sovereignty is the doctrine that sovereignty belongs to and derives from the nation, an abstract entity normally linked to a physical territory and its past, present, and future citizens. It is an ideological concept or doctrine derived from liberal political theory. It traces back to John Locke in late 17th century England and to and popular sovereignty Popular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people is the belief that the legitimacy of the state is created by the will or consent of its people, who in this belief system are the source of every political power. It is closely associated with the social contract philosophers, among whom are Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

A classical distinction exemplifies "national sovereignty" in the French Constitution of 1791. In this system, sovereignty is held by a parliament elected by census suffrage Suffrage is the civil right to vote, or the exercise of that right. It is also called political franchise or simply the franchise. Suffrage may apply to elections, but also extends to initiatives and referendums. Suffrage is used to describe not only the legal right to vote, but also to the practical question of the opportunity to vote, which is. This contrasts with the Constitution of 1793, in which the population is understood as a conjunct of individuals. This idea would eventually lead to direct democracy Direct democracy, classically termed pure democracy, is a form of democracy and a theory of civics in which sovereignty is lodged in the assembly of all citizens who choose to participate. Depending on the particular system, this assembly might pass executive motions, make laws, elect or dismiss officials, and conduct trials. Direct democracy and universal suffrage Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens (or subjects) as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens. Although suffrage has two necessary components, the right to vote and opportunities to vote, the term universal suffrage is associated only with the right to vote and. Nevertheless, these senses already started to get blurred in the very same revolutionary period. Many authors employed the words with divergent meanings. Following Guillaume Bacot,[10] the differences started to become merely a matter of terminology, and between 1789 and 1794 the unified revolutionary concept of sovereignty Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided. The concept has been discussed, debated and questioned throughout history, from the time of the Romans through to the present day, was used.

"Nation" and "people" were used In 1789 by the abbot Sieyès Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès or Abbey Sieyes was a French Roman Catholic abbé and clergyman, one of the chief theorists of the French Revolution, French Consulate, and First French Empire. His liberal 1789 pamphlet What is the Third Estate? became the manifesto of the Revolution that helped transform the Estates-General into the National Assembly in as synonyms, with a socio-economic meaning. But only shortly thereafter, he changed the meaning of his words, establishing a fundamental difference for his ideas of sovereignty and the constitutional state. He defined the nation then as emanating from natural law Natural law or the law of nature has been described as a law whose content is set by nature and that therefore has validity everywhere. As classically used, natural law refers to the use of reason to analyze human nature and deduce binding rules of moral behavior. The phrase natural law is opposed to the positive law (meaning "man-made law&, prior to the state. "People" was determined as following from the concept of nation after the creation of the State. For Sieyès, the nation is the holder of sovereignty, which it exerces through the pouvoir constituant. After the establishment of a constitution, "people" is defined as the holder of the pouvoir constitué. In short, the people is defined by Seyès as a nation organized by a constitution.

Nicolas de Condorcet only uses the word "people", but he agrees with Seyès in emphasizing the dinstinction between pouvoir constituent and pouvoir constitué as the basis for the functioning of a liberal and democratic state.

For those two authors, the role of holder of sovereignty ("nation" or "people", as the case may be) is exhausted after the use of the pouvoir constituent". What remains is only a reminder of the foundation of the State, which could only become manifest in exceptional case, e.g. rebellion against a tyrant.

The ideas of Sieyès and Condorcet lay the foundation for a basic idea of a constitutional state, still common today: this kind of state has no sovereign (cf. Martin Kriele, Ignacio de Otto)

In international relations, the nation is not a subject in international law, but the State is.

Cultural nation

The concept of cultural nation poses one of the major problems in the humanities since there is no consensus how to define it. A base line would be to say that the members of a cultural nation are aware of constituting an ethical-political body together, which is differentiated from others by the members sharing a number of defining cultural features. Those features can include language, religion, tradition, or shared history. All this can be taken as a sign of a historically evolved distinct culture. The question whether a nation needs to have an associated territory is subject of debate.

The concept of cultural nation is normally coupled with a historical doctrine taking as a principle that all humans can be divided into groups called nations. In this sense, we are dealing with an ethical and philosophical doctrine which is at the basis of the ideology of nationalism. The members of a nation are distinguished by a common identity and generally by a shared origin and the sense of common ancestry.

National identity specially refers to the distinction of specific features of a group. A vast array of different criteria are used, with a range of different applications. Like this, small differences in pronunciation or different dialects can be sufficient to categorize someone as a member of a different nation. On the other hand, some persons can have diverging personalities and beliefs, live in different places and speak different languages and still see each other as members of the same nation. Furthermore, there are cases in which a group of persons defines itself as a nation not based on the features they have, but for the features they lack or dislike. The feeling of belonging to a nation is then used as a defense against other groups, even if these other groups would appear to be closer in matters of ideology cultural practices. Finally, members of a nation can emphasize their common history despite ethnic and linguistic differences, as is the case of Switzerland, which sees it self as a "Willensnation" (nation by will). The United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia all display national pride based on their common history rather than on a common geographical origin.

The cultural nation and the state

A state which identifies itself explicitly as the home of a cultural nation is a nation-state. Many of the modern states are in this category or try to legitimize their existence in this way, although there might be disputes and contradictions as to the appropriateness of this. Because so many of the states are nation-states, the words "nation", "country", and "state" are often used synonymously.

If the cultural nation is conceptualized as exclusively ethnic, and not as requiring a territory, a number of nations without land can be found. A prominent example would be the "gypsy nation"-- a cultural nation can exist without having an independent state, and not all independent states are cultural nations. Many independent states are simply administrative unions of different cultural nations or peoples.

Other examples of cultural nations without states are the Jews before the creation of the state of Israel. On the other hand, states like Belgium consist of several cultural nations, most prominently Flemish and Walloons. The question of whether the state of Canada harbours one cultural nation or two (British Canadian and Québécois) has been object of political debate as well. It could also be said that the nations of the English, Scottish and Welsh are also nations without states as they exists as a larger sovereign state known as the United Kingdom.

Liberalism and the nation

Liberalism, starting in the 17th century with authors like John Locke was the main philosophical current which alimented systematic theories of nationhood and its political implementations. Opposing the theoretical principles of the Ancien Régime, the 17th century liberals called into question the bases of absolute monarchism, and especially the sovereignty of the monarch. They introduced the concept of "citizen", to replace the older notion of "subject". Furthermore, the sovereignty passed from the hands of the absolute monarch into the hands of the nation. The criteria for nationhood were based on rationalism, individual liberty and equality before the law, largely ignoring ethnical or cultural considerations. Thus, the concept of nation employed was the political nation, and not the cultural nation.

In the American Declaration of Independence and the Declaration of Human Rights, the requirements for nation formation were the same for everybody. The will of the individuals to constitute a political community was sufficient to form a nation.

Romanticism and the nation

The military victories of Napoleon Bonaparte, who in theory pretended to extend the values inherited from the French Revolution, led to a surge of nationalist reactions against the invader. German nationalism stood out and rejected American and French liberalism, leading to a different conceptualization of nation, the cultural nation.

The principal proponents of German nationalism were intellectuals and writers following idealism and romanticism, such as Herder or Fichte. This current defined essentially in opposition to the values of aforementioned Revolutions. Against rational change towards progress and justice it put the weight of history and traditions; against cosmopolitism, the particularity of each people; against reason, instinct.

The nation as defined by these theorists has an inalienable right to give itself its own political organization, i.e. constitute a state. But in distinction to the liberal model of the United States or France, this type of nation is thought to be beyond the sum of individuals with the will to form a nation. Every people thus has its own traits which define it and serve to distinguish it from other peoples. This cultural personality (Volkgeist (Herder)) allows the people to identify who is the political subject that can legitimately constitute the state. But this identity cannot be seen by the mere expression of the will of a group of individuals at a given moment. It is something more transcendent, given that the people at the base of the romanticist nation are seen as a living and persisting organism, and a moral entity greater than the sum of its parts. For German romanticist nationalist, the Volksgeist was objective, while universal suffrage was subjective. That is to say, the conception of romanticists was the exact opposite of the ideas earlier brought forward by the liberals.

The socialist nation

Marx and Engels considered nation states as a product of "bourgeois revolution" and a further step within the logic of their theory of historical materialism. Given their importance, they considered nation states a better starting point for the subsequent gradual evolution towards socialism than the former "nations without history" because the nation states had a higher number of proletarians.

In 1917, after the Russian Revolution. the Bolsheviks under Lenin seized power. Inspired by internationalism, they put terms to the Russian nationalism, up to then very influential. Nevertheless, national interests continued to be important in practice afterwards, and the soviet leadership of the Communist International frequently covered up national interests.

In 1924, Stalin took a further step in that direction and promulgated this doctrine of Socialism in one country.

The nation under fascism and national-socialism

After World War I, political movements with radical approaches to nationalist ideology emerged, especially in Italy and Germany. They created stereotypes to establish nations, frequently based on ethnicity. Although the idea of "ethnically homogeneous" nation states had been formulated earlier, it found its climax in the 20th century with eugenics[citation needed] and ethnic cleansing, with the Nazi Holocaust being the most important example.

The two most representative politicians of the fascist ideology are Benito Mussolini of fascist Italy and Adolf Hitler of national-socialist Germany. During their rules they tied the idea of the nation, and the path they had to follow, to their personal will. As a consequence, the nation was embodied by the leaders themselves.

The nation in Africa and Asia

Main article: Decolonization

Nationalism appeared in Africa and Asia after World War I. But only after World War II did its influence really become apparent in political processes, especially in the formation of states as a result of decolonization.

In 1945, when the United Nations were founded, eight of its members were Asian states, and four, African. Forty years later, more than 100 new countries had been accepted in the organization, nearly all of them from Asia or Africa.

In a certain sense, the creation of democratic states in Africa and Asia is a return to the Franco-American concept of the political nation from the end of the 18th century. This is due to the fact that the majority of the new states have their origin in territorial demarcations drawn by the European colonial powers.following geostrategical considerations, and regardless of the ethnicity of the people in the territories. Under this ethnic heterogeneity, the new states had to build a base of political cohesion among all of their new inhabitants, putting aside racial, cultural and religious considerations, which was not always successful and often led to genocide between tribes.

Other usage

Besides the two scientific meanings explicated above, "nation" is used in other sense as well, and some of them are very frequent in colloquial language or journalism. It is common to use the term "nation" for "state" even if the state is not a democratic one. For instance, the United Nations Organization, despite its name, has states as its members, and not nations. "Nation" is also used for "territory", "country" and "conjunct of all inhabitants of a country rules by the same government."

"Nation" can also be found as a synonym of "ethnic group", "cultural group" or "linguistic group" without implication of the ethic-political sense of the cultural nation.

Defining nation

The concept of a national identity refers both to the distinguishing features of the group, and to the individual's sense of belonging to it. A very wide range of criteria is used, with very different applications.[citation needed] Small differences in pronunciation may be enough to categorize someone as a member of another nation.[citation needed] On the other hand, two people may be separated by difference in personalities, belief systems, geographical locations, time and even spoken language; yet regard themselves, and be seen by others, as members of the same nation.[citation needed]

Primordial or perennial definition

Main article: Primordialism

The first requirement for the definition is that the characteristics should be shared—a group of people with nothing in common cannot be a nation. Because they are shared, the national population also has a degree of uniformity and homogeneity. And finally, at least some of the characteristics must be exclusive—to distinguish the nation from neighbouring nations. All of the characteristics can be disputed, and opposition to secessionist nationalism often includes the denial that a separate nation exists.

Primordialism argues that those shared characteristics have an ancient root, and nations are natural phenomena over different historical eras.

Common descent

Almost all nationalist movements make some claim to shared origins and descent, and it is a component of the national identity in most nations. The fact that the ancestry is shared among the members of the nation unites them, and sets them apart from other nations, which do not share that ancestry.

The question is: descent from whom? Often, the answer is simply: from previous generations of the same nation. More specifically:

Usually, these factors are assumed to coincide. The well-defined Icelandic nation is assumed to consist of the descendants of the island of Iceland in, say, 1850.[citation needed] Those people also spoke the Icelandic language, were known as Icelanders at that time, and had a recognised culture of their own. However, the present population of Iceland cannot coincide exactly with their descendants: that would imply complete endogamy, meaning that no Icelander since 1850 ever had children by a non-Icelander. Most European nations experienced border changes and, migration over the last few centuries, and intermarried with other national groups. Statistically, their current national population can not coincide exactly with the descendants of the nation in 1700 or 1500, even if was then known by the same name. The shared ancestry is more of a national myth in some cases than a genetic reality—but still sufficient for a national identity nevertheless. This national myth concept becomes even more complicated for nations whose populations are largely relatively recent immigrants and their descendants, such as the United States.

Common language

A language is the primary ingredient in the making of a nation. Without a common language a nation cannot evolve. A common culture, a common history is dependent on language. Also to deal with everyday affairs within a group of people living in a specified boundary need a common mean of communication to trade and socialize. Thus even if a group of people sharing common Language, Culture and History may live in different countries but would still consider themselves attached to their respective nations as long as they share the same language.

Common culture

Many nations are constructed around the idea of a shared culture, the national culture. The national culture can be assumed to be shared with previous generations, and includes a cultural heritage from these generations. As with the common ancestry, this identification of past culture with present culture may be largely symbolic. The archaeological site of Stonehenge for instance is owned and managed by English Heritage, although no 'English' people or state existed when it was constructed, 4 000 to 5 000 years ago. Other nations have similarly appropriated ancient archaeological sites, literature, art, and even entire civilizations as 'national heritage'.

Common history

A nation can be constructed around a common history i.e. a chronologically recorded events in the past, their ancestors have gone through.

Common religion

Religion is sometimes used as a defining factor for a nation, although some nationalist movements de-emphasize it as a divisive factor, such as in Ireland where The Republic of Ireland has a majority of Catholics and Northern Ireland holding a majority of Protestants, de-emphasising religion as a factor of National Identity in Ireland is largely unsuccessful. Again it is the fact that the religion is shared, that makes it national. It may not be exclusive: several nations define themselves partly as Catholic although the religion itself is universalist. Some religions are specific to one ethnic group, notably Judaism. Nevertheless, the Zionist movement generally avoided a religious definition of the 'Jewish people', preferring an ethnic and cultural definition. Since Judaism is a religion, people can become a Jew by religious conversion, which in turn can facilitate their obtaining Israeli citizenship. Jews in Israel who convert to other religions do not thereby lose Israeli citizenship, although their national identity might then be questioned by others.

Definition by social constructionism

Main article: Social constructionism

Primordialism encountered enormous criticism after World War II, and scholars turn their eye on how nations are constructed by the process of nationalism, which is driven by technology and modernization. Nation is not defined by what common characteristic is shared, but by how it is constructed.

Voluntary definitions (will)

Some ideas of a nation emphasise not shared characteristics, but rather on the shared choice for membership. In practice, this has always been applied to a group of people, who are also a nation by other definitions. The most famous voluntarist definition is that of Ernest Renan. In a lecture in 1882, Qu'est-ce qu'une nation? he rhetorically asked "What is a Nation?", and answered that it is a 'daily plebiscite'. Renan meant, that the members of the nation, by their daily participation in the life of the nation, show their consent to its existence, and to their own continued membership. Renan spoke in the context of the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine by the German Empire. At the time, the region was ethnically more German than French, and the Alsatian language is a west German language: Renan opposed such 'objective' criteria for a nation. Like Renan, most voluntarist definitions appeal to consent for existing nations, rather than promote explicit decisions to found new ones. Renan saw the nation as a group "having done great things together and wishing to do more" ("avoir fait de grandes choses ensemble, vouloir en faire encore").

Nations as imagined or invented

Main article: Imagined communities

Benedict Anderson argues nation are imagined communities that are imagined as limited and sovereign. The imagination is made possible by extensive use of printing press, mass media and capitalism. Nations are therefore defined by how the communities are imagined.

On the other hand, Eric Hobsbawm argues nations are invented tradition, include invention of education, public ceremonies and mass production of public monuments. The nations are defined by those invented traditions.

Ernest Gellner similarly argues there is strong tie between nationalism and modernization. His words "It is nationalism which engenders nations, and not the other way round." is often quoted.[11]

English author, Anglican priest and Cambridge professor William Ralph Inge famously said "A nation is a society that nourishes a common delusion about its ancestry and shares a common hatred for its neighbors."

See also

Look up Nation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

Notes
  1. ^ "Nation", The New Oxford American Dictionary, Second Edn., Erin McKean (editor), 2051 pages, May 2005, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-517077-6.
  2. ^ Dictionary of the Historyhumza of Ideas: s.v. "Nationalism"
  3. ^ Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities, p. 6-7. ISBN 0-86091-329-5
  4. ^ Only sovereign states may become members. See Articles 3 and 4 of the UN Charter. Nation-states, on the other hand, may become members.
  5. ^ Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, (1879). A Latin Dictionary. Entry for natio. Online at Tufts.edu
  6. ^ Harper, Douglas (November 2001). "Nation". Online Etymology Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=nation. Retrieved 2007-11-08. .
  7. ^ M. Tullius Cicero, Orationes: Pro Milone, Pro Marcello, Pro Ligario, Pro rege Deiotaro, Philippicae I-XIV (ed. Albert Clark, Oxford 1918.) Online at Tufts.edu
  8. ^ Amos Elon: The Pity of It All: A History of the Jews in Germany, 1743-1933 (Metropolitan Books, 2002) p.23. ISBN 0805059644
  9. ^ Relatio de legatione Constantinopolitana ad Nicephorum Phocam. Online translation at UCdavis.edu
  10. ^ Guillaume Bacot: Carré de Malberg et l'origine de la distinction entre souveraineté du peuple et souveraineté nationale, Paris, 1985, ISBN 978-2-271-05858-4.
  11. ^ WikiQuote - Ernest Gellner
Further reading

External links

Categories: Nationality | Ethnicity | Philosophical concepts | Nationalism | Political science terms | Political geography | Aesthetics

 

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What has your nation done to make your government more democratic and accountable to the people?
Q. Here in the US, there is a big problem concerning our voting system, ballot access, media bias and the corrupting influence of campaign finance. What has your nation done to make the democratic process stronger, resistant to corruption and government more accountable and transparent? What ideas and suggestions do you have for the US to make their nation better reguarding elections? Please tell me where you are from and why do you think your suggestion would work? Enough with the flak and white noise. I know what the problem is but I want to hear some ideas.
Asked by PeguinBackPacker - Wed May 5 18:30:30 2010 - - 5 Answers - 0 Comments

A. Have congressional bills only cover one topic (quit attaching unrelated riders). I was also going to say get rid of lobbyists as an entity, but that would cut out the only voice some of us have and leave the wealthy to continue playing golf with our leaders, so I changed my mind on this one.
Answered by jl - Thu May 6 19:32:04 2010

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