Civic & Ethnic Nationalism

Test your knowledge with free interactive questions on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

Civic Nationalism

Civic nationalism is the idea that a nation is comprised of those who subscribe to its values regardless of factors like ethnicity or religion.

The citizens of the nation, through their common values, form a coherent political community.
The nation is held together by a common history. Key historical moments, like war victories, are remembered and celebrated.
Countries like the United States (Independence Day) and Canada (Canada Day) celebrate national days which energise citizens behind common symbols such as flags, food, music and rituals.

Anyone who commits to these values can become a member of the nation through an established route like a citizenship process.
Most Western nations, such as Britain and the US, are civic in character. Britain, for example, allows immigrants to become citizens by living in the country for a prescribed period.
Tolerance is a key part of civic nations. Citizens are taught to respect, embrace and encourage diversity and difference.

Civic nationalism does not require a common culture. Civic nations only expect citizens to subscribe to the common good of the nation. Multiculturalism, where civic nations accept cultural differences such as religion and language, has been at the forefront of civic nations since the 1970s.
The growth of multiculturalism has challenged civic nations and their common values have come under strain. In Britain, for example, the government issued a list of ‘Fundamental British Values’ which schools have a legal duty to promote.

Unlike liberal nationalism, where anyone can gain membership, lineage from a common ethnic ancestry is central to the nation in ethnic nationalism.

Blood ties amongst the citizens are the central bond of the nation.
Factors like a shared faith and/or language are important cultural factors of an ethnic nation.
A country formed around the ethnic people is necessary and desirable.
Due to the prevalence of ancestry and blood ties, it is difficult, if not impossible, to become a member of the nation unless one is born into it.
Ethnic nations can, therefore, have a degree of exclusivity (as opposed to the inclusivity of civic nationalism).

Forms of ethnic nationalism have been at the forefront of conflict between nations and peoples within nations.
For example, the wars within the former Yugoslavia were ethnic conflicts as Serbs, Croats, Bosnians and Kosovans fought over independence and territory.

The division of Europe after the First and Second World Wars had a strong ethnic dimension as borders were redrawn to create new countries.
Ethnic conflict has, however, been a feature of European history as certain ethnic peoples sought self-determination and independence; for example, Kosovo.
Some ethnic peoples still lack their own nation-state (country). Ethnic Kurds, for example, talk about ‘Kurdistan,’ which is territory occupied by ethnic Kurds within the nation-states of Iran, Syria, Turkey and Iraq.