Civic Nationalism

State derives it’s political legitimacy through an active participation of it’s citizens. The degree of political legitimacy correlates with the degree of people’s will’s representation. The idea of civic nationalism was coined by Jan-Jak Russo and was spread through his theories of social contract. The term social contract itself derives from his book, entitled as Social Contract, published in 1762. Civic nationalism fits well with the framework of nationalisms’ traditions and liberalism. As a type of nationalism, it is in a sharp contrast with ethnic nationalism. Membership in a civic nation is voluntaristic. The civic national ideas were heavily influenced by the development of representative democracy in countries, like the United States and France[1].
[1]Wikipedia http://www.wikipedia.org/