Nation State

Difference between nationalism and nation state

Nation states are important parts of all sorts of political science today. One of these is the political ideology of Nationalism. In this ideology a person's loyalty and devotion to the nation state takes precedence over any individual or group interest.

The establishment of nation states is an integral component of nationalism, and nation states often arise out of nationalist movements. Therefore whilst nation states and nationalism are often intrinsically linked they mean different things, one is an ideology and sovereign state in which its members have a shared sense of identity.

Nation state building

There are two important components in nation state building:

1. A process of unification to formulate a cohesive group of people in which a shared desire for a sovereign state representative of their nation is expressed. This may take the form of uniting those from across the diaspora with a similar religious background for example being Jewish or the unification of those who shared liberal ideals in order to create a nation states.

2. Independence is critical to building a nation state, the strive for independence often takes the form of sustained protest or conflict. There are many examples of how nation states came into existence through independence movements, for example by gaining independence from colonial powers.

Aside from unification and independence, nation states require the formation of a government to preside over the newly independent nation of people.

Nation state examples

Nation states are often built on either ethnic, cultural or civic lines, these categories are not mutually exclusive and nation states often have elements of all three of these principles in varying amounts. Here we will examine ethnic and civic nation states and some examples of them.

Ethnic nation states are nation states that have a strong sense of collective identity and are based on a real or fictitious sense of shared ethnic and/or cultural identity. Within these nation states governance is based on the presence of a shared common ancestry or roots which often have racial connotations. Fewer than 10% of nation states today view themselves as ethnic nations.

In ethnic nations, there are fears of miscegenation or ‘melting pot’ societies as they believe that this leads to the loss of national and personal identity. As someone who does not shared the common ethnic background it can be incredibly hard to gain citizenship within these nation states.

Civic nation states are based on civic rights and citizenship. These nations require a shared set of civic values, often this is centred around liberal democracy. These nations often inspire patriotism. One must identify with the constitution and political institutions and be an active participant in civic duties. In civic nation states, there are fears of a shift to ethnic or cultural identity as the formation of nationhood. This threat can be seen with the collapse of Yugoslavia into numerous ethnic and cultural nations.

While many nation states are mainly civic or mainly ethnic, there are very few that are only one or the other, and we can often see aspects of both examples of nation states in countries across the world.

Nation state and economy

The rise of globalisation has posed a threat to nation states and their sovereignty. A particular way in which nation states are being threatened is in regard to economies. Globalisation has seen the rise of the internet travel and global banking. This has allowed for an interconnected global economy in which individuals can contribute to the fall of the nation states economy through tax avoidance and offshoring through simple internet use.

Origin of nation states

Despite the fact that nation states dominate international relations today, this wasn't always the case. The idea of the nation state dates back to the polis in Ancient Greece but didn't fully developed until the 16th and 17th centuries.

Aristotle: Polis - Ancient Greece

Aristotle’s conception of the polis is an early theorisation of the state and what the state represents. Polis is the Greek term for state or city-state. For Aristotle, the Polis was the endpoint of a process of natural development for the species and the polis was a natural institution. It was the only way that we as species could develop, so we could live in an ordered community, the polis gave us the capacity to reflect on its order whereby citizens could ask and answer questions on how we should organise life. The polis made citizenship possible. For Aristotle, the polis was a place of community, identity, and represented the fullness of human life.

Universalisation of nation states

The world as we know it today is made up of nation states. This is a relatively new concept that began in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. During this period we witnessed the breakdown of political state systems that were dominated by religion and the Church. These systems were instead replaced with a new kind of state - the nation state. These states had distinct territories and were sovereign. This new conception of states has since spread across the world.

The Peace of Westphalia is credited as being the starting point for this transformation. The Peace of Westphalia was the name of the treaty that ended the Thirty-Year war in Europe in 1648. The treaty articulated the concept of territorial sovereignty and brought about the end of the religious wars in Europe.