National

Civic nationalism lies within the traditions of rationalism and liberalism. It is the theory behind constitutional democracies such as the United States.

Ethnic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives political legitimacy from historical cultural or hereditary groupings (ethnicities). This was developed by Johann Gottfried von Herder, who introduced the concept of the Volk.

Romantic nationalism (also organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of ethnic nationalism in which the state derives political legitimacy as a natural ("organic") consequence of race; in the spirit of Romanticism and opposed to Enlightenment rationalism. Romantic nationalism relies upon the existence of a historical ethnic culture which meets the Romantic Ideal; folklore developed as a Romantic nationalist concept. The Brothers Grimm were inspired by Herder's writings to create an idealized collection of tales which they labeled as ethnic German. See Populism and Nationalism.

Giuseppe Mazzini (Italy), Jules Michelet (France), Johann Gottlieb Fichte (Germany).

Religious nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives political legitimacy as a consequence of shared religion. Zionism is an example, though many, if not most, forms of ethnic nationalism are in some ways religious nationalism as well. For example, Irish nationalism is associated with Catholicism; Indian nationalism is associated with Hinduism. In general, religious nationalism is viewed as a form of ethnic nationalism.

Sometimes however religion is more of a marker of a group than the motivation for their nationalism. For example although most Irish nationalist leaders of the last 100 years are Catholic, in the 19th century and especially in the 18th century many nationalistic leaders were Protestant. Irish nationalists are not fighting for theological distinctions like transubstantiation, the status of the Virgin Mary, or the primacy of the Pope. Rather they are fighting for an ideology that identifies the geographical island of Ireland with a particular view of Irish culture, which for some nationalists does include Catholicism but has as a more dominant element other elements of culture.

Islam is fiercely opposed to any notion of Nationalism, Tribalism, Racism, or any other categorization of people not based on one's beliefs. However, Islamist groups can be considered as racist and nationalist (and are therefore by some not recognized as truly Islamic).

Some political theorists make the case that any discrimination of forms of nationalism is false. All forms of nationalism rely on the population being a nation; that is, that all the members of the population believe that they share some kind of common culture, and culture can't be wholly separated from ethnicity. Even the supposedly ethnically neutral "civic culture" of the United States, for example, relies on English as the one national language, has "God" on its coinage and in its Pledge of Allegiance, and designates official holidays, which promote cultural biases. See also the concept of Manifest Destiny, American nativism, the House Un-American Activities Committee.

The modern vernacular use of nationalism refers to the political (and military) exercise of ethnic and religious nationalism.

Fascism is usually marked by ethnic nationalism, the most extreme example being National Socialism in Nazi Germany.

In some cases there has been a reaction against nationalism. An example was the perception in pre-World War I, European socialist movements that nationalism was being used to prevent workers uniting against capitalism. Another example is in present day Germany, Israel and Ireland where there are people who are not comfortable with any nationalistic, patriotic, or even cultural symbols, because these have become associated (and permanently discredited in their view) with violent nationalism (see self-hatred).

• the Italian unification under the rule of Piedmont and Sardinia
• the Franco-Prussian War and the unification of Germany under the rule of Prussia
• the French Revolution
• World War I and World War II

Ethnic nationalist conflicts

• Americas
  • 1837 -- Patriotes Rebellion
  • 1898 -- Spanish-American War
  • 1970 -- October Crisis
• Balkans
  • 1821-28 -- Greek War of Independence
  • 1878 -- Bulgarian War of Independence
  • 1990-99 -- wars in the former Yugoslavia (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo)
• China
  • 1900 -- Boxer Rebellion
• Europe in general
  • 1870-71 -- Franco-Prussian War
  • 1914-18 -- World War I
  • 1939-45 -- World War II and the Holocaust
  • 1945-50 -- expulsion of ethnic Germans
• Ireland
  • 1798 -- 1798 rebellion
  • 1848 -- Young Irelanders' rebellion
  • 1867 -- Fenian rebellion
  • 1916 -- Easter Rising
  • 1919-20 -- Irish War of Independence
  • 1920-21 -- Irish Civil War
  • 1969-2001 -- Northern Ireland's Troubles
• Middle East
  • 19th century-present -- Kurdish conflict against Turkey
  • 1915-present -- Kurdish conflict against Iraq
  • 1917-present -- Arab-Israeli conflict
• Spain
  • 1960-2001 -- Basque conflict

Ethnic nationalist organizations

• China
  • Boxers
• Ireland
  • United Irishmen
  • Young Irelanders
  • Fenian Brotherhood
  • Irish Republican Brotherhood
  • Irish Republican Army
• Middle East
  • PKK
  • KDP
  • PLO
• Spain
  • ETA

Nationalism and patriotism

Some theorists believe that nationalism became pronounced in the 19th century for the simple reason that language became more important as unifier due to increased literacy. With increasing numbers of people reading newspapers, books, pamphlets, etc... which were increasingly widely available and read since the spread of the printing press, it became possible for the first time to develop a broader cultural attachment that went beyond the local community. At the same time, differences in language solidified, breaking down old dialects, and excluding those from completely different language groups.

Nationalist movements from Ireland to India promote the teaching, preservation, and usage of traditional languages, such as Celtic, Hebrew, and Hindi.

Even the U.S. have a long tradition of discrimination for other languages than english. Prominent examples are the german language which was nearly extinct during WWI. Also french and italian have nearly disappeared from U.S. everydays life.

On the other hand only the availability of an easy to learn language made integration of such different cultural and ethnic groups as they were found in the U.S. under a common identity possible. Whether a similar integration can be reached some day in Europe is still highly controversial.

• Populism and nationalism
• Jingoism
• self-hatred

External links

Initially, both parties competed against each other, but from 1931 until 1935, a coalition between the United and Reform parties held power in New Zealand. The coalition went into the 1935 election under the title the National Political Federation, a name adopted to indicate that the new group would serve New Zealanders from all backgrounds (in contrast to the previous situation, where United served city-dwellers and Reform served farmers). The new coalition, however, was beaten by the Labour Party, the rise of which had originally prompted the alliance.

A new party, called the New Zealand National Party, was formed at a meeting held in Wellington on May 13 and 14, 1936. Former members of the United and Reform parties made up the bulk of the new party. George Forbes, the Prime Minister from 1930 until 1935 and United Party Leader opened the conference which formed the National Party in May 1936 and was Leader of the Opposition and the New Zealand National Party until October 1936 when Adam Hamilton was elected as the Leader of the New Zealand National Party. Hamilton led the Party into its first election in 1938. Adam Hamilton was elected leader, primarily as a compromise between George Forbes (leader of United) and Gordon Coates (leader of Reform). Hamilton, however, was not able to effectively counter Labour's popular Prime Minister, Michael Joseph Savage. This, along with perceptions that he was too much under the control of Coates and a lack of real support from his party colleagues, saw Hamilton fail to prevent Labour's reelection in 1938.

In 1940, Hamilton was replaced by Sidney Holland. The 1943 election saw Labour's majority reduced, but did not remove it from power. In the 1946 elections, National also failed to unseat Labour. However, in the 1949 elections, thirteen years after the party's foundation, National finally won power. Holland became Prime Minister.

Under Holland, the National Party won reelection twice (in the 1951 elections and the 1954 elections). Towards the end of the third term, however, Holland became increasingly ill, and stepped down from the leadership in 1957. Keith Holyoake, the party's long-standing deputy leader, took Holland's place.

In the election later that year, Holyoake was defeated by Labour's Walter Nash. However, Nash's government proved to be unpopular, primarily due to matters of economics and taxation. After only one term in office, Labour was defeated by Holyoake in the elections of 1960. Holyoake's government lasted fifteen years, being reelected three times (in 1963, 1966, and 1969). He retired at the beginning of 1972, and was replaced by Jack Marshall.

In the 1972 elections, the National Party lost heavily to Labour, led by the popular Norman Kirk. In response, National removed Marshall as leader and replaced him with Robert Muldoon, who had previously been Minister of Finance. Muldoon assumed the leadership in 1974. The expected contest between Kirk and Muldoon, both formidable politicians, was predicted to be intense.

Kirk, however, died in office. His replacement, Bill Rowling, performed poorly against Muldoon, and National won office in the 1975 elections. The Muldoon administration, which favoured interventionist economic policies, is looked upon with mixed opinions by the free-market adherents of the modern National. The "Think Big" initiatives, designed to invest public money in major projects, are also in contrast to the party's modern views. It was Muldoon's interventionist economics, increasingly unpopular with both the public and the party, that caused an attempted leadership change in 1980. Led by ministers Derek Quigley, Jim McLay, and Jim Bolger, the challenge against Muldoon aimed to replace him with Brian Talboys, his deputy. However, the plan collapsed as the result of Talboys' unwillingness, and Muldoon kept his position.

Dissent against Muldoon continued to grow, however. Rebel MPs Marilyn Waring and Mike Minogue were of particular concern to the leadership, threatening National's thin majority in parliament. When, in 1984, Marilyn Waring refused to support Muldoon's policy over nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed ships, Muldoon called a snap election. Muldoon made the television announcement of this election while visibly inebriated, and some believe that the decision was later regretted. National lost the election to Labour's David Lange.

Shortly after this loss, Muldoon was removed from the party leadership. Jim McLay, who had replaced Brian Talboys as deputy leader shortly before the election, was elevated to the leadership. McLay, however, failed to restore the party's fortunes, partly due to being undermined by a bitter Muldoon. In 1983, Jim Bolger took over the leadership.

In the 1990 elections, National defeated Labour and formed a new government. However, the party lost support when it continued the economic reforms which had damaged the previous Labour government - these policies, started by Finance Minister Roger Douglas, were based around privatization of state assets and the removal of tariffs and subsidies. These policies alienated traditional Labour supporters, who saw them as a betrayal of the party's left-wing character, but were not entirely accepted by the right-wing National party either. Many more conservative National supporters preferred Muldoon's more authoritarian and interventionist policies over the free market liberalism promoted by Douglas. However, the new National Party Finance Minister, Ruth Richardson, was a strong supporter of the ideas, actually believing that Douglas had not gone far enough.

Nevertheless, National retained office in 1993 due partly to a strongly recovering economy. At the same time as the 1993 election, however, there was a referendum which established the MMP electoral system for future use. This was to have a significant impact on New Zealand politics. It was as a result of the change that New Zealand First, led by former National MP Winston Peters, held the balance of power after the 1996 elections. After a prolonged period of negotiation, in which New Zealand First played National and Labour off against each other (both parties negotiated complete coalition agreements), New Zealand First entered into a coalition with National.

Under the coalition agreement, Peters became Deputy Prime Minister, and had the post of Treasurer especially created for him. New Zealand First extracted a number of other concessions from National in exchange for its support. The influence of New Zealand First angered many National MPs, particularly Jenny Shipley. When, in 1997, Shipley toppled Bolger to become leader, relations between National and its coalition partner deteriorated. When Peters was sacked from Cabinet in 1998, the New Zealand First party split into two groups - half the MPs followed Peters out of the coalition, but remainder broke away, establishing themselves as independents or as members of new parties. It was from the latter group that National gained enough support to continue in government.

In 1999, however, National lost the election to Labour's Helen Clark. Shipley continued to lead the party until 2001, when she was replaced by Bill English. English, however, was unable to gain traction against Clark, and National suffered its worst ever electoral defeat in the 2002 elections. Many hoped that English would be able to rebuild the party, given time, but a year later, the party was performing only slightly better than in the election. In October 2003, English was replaced by Don Brash, a former governor of the Reserve Bank who joined National in the 2002 election. Within a week the leadership change resulted in more positive poll results for the National Party.

The following is a complete list of National Party leaders.

• George Forbes (1936)
• Adam Hamilton (1936 - 1940)
• Sidney Holland (1940 - 1957)
• Keith Holyoake (1957 - 1972)
• Jack Marshall (1972 - 1974)
• Robert Muldoon (1974 - 1984)
• Jim McLay (1984 - 1986)
• Jim Bolger (1986 - 1997)
• Jenny Shipley (1997 - 2001)
• Bill English (2001 - 2003)
• Don Brash (2003 - )

Following the European colonization of the Americas, the United States became the world's first modern democracy after its break with Great Britain, with a Declaration of Independence in 1776. The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution of a more centralized federal government in 1789. During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original thirteen as the nation expanded across the North American continent and acquired a number of overseas possessions. Two of the major traumatic experiences in the nation's history were the American Civil War (1861-65) and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Buoyed by victories in World War I and World War II and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the U.S. remains the world's most powerful nation-state.

See also: Military History of the United States, Timeline of United States history

The United States of America consists of 50 states with limited autonomy in which federal law takes precedence over state law. In general, matters that lie entirely within state borders are the exclusive concern of state governments. These include internal communications; regulations relating to property, industry, business, and public utilities; the state criminal code; and working conditions within the state. Many state laws are quite similar from state to state. Finally, there are many areas of overlap between state and federal jurisdictions.

In recent years, the federal government has assumed broader responsibility in such matters as health, education, welfare, transportation, and housing and urban development. The constitutions of the various states differ in some details but generally follow a pattern similar to that of the federal Constitution, including a statement of the rights of the people and a plan for organizing the government. On such matters as the operation of businesses, banks, public utilities, and charitable institutions, state constitutions are often more detailed and explicit than the federal constitution.

The federal government itself consists of three branches: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. The head of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The legislative branch consists of the United States Congress, while the Supreme Court of the United States is the head of the judicial branch. The President is elected to a four year term by the U.S. Electoral College. The various electors are in turn chosen primarily by the popular votes in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Members of Congress are elected at varying dates, as are state Governors and state legislatures.

The federal and state government is dominated by two political parties, the Republicans and the Democrats. The dominant political culture in the United States is, as a whole, somewhat to the right of the dominant political culture in European democracies. Given their complex support bases it is difficult to specifically categorise the two major parties' appeal. Within the US political culture, the Republican Party is described as center-right and the Democratic Party is described as center-left. Minor party and independent candidates are very occasionally elected, usually to local or state office, but the United States political system has historically supported catch all parties rather than coalition governments. The ideology and policies of the sitting President of the United States commonly play a large role in determining the direction of his political party, as well as the platform of the opposition.

The two parties exist on both the state and federal level, although the parties' organization, platform, and ideologies are not necessarily uniform across all levels of government.

Both major parties draw some support from all the diverse socio-economic classes which compose the mature multi-ethnic capitalist society which makes up the United States. Business interests provide the major funding and support to the Republican Party while labor unions and minority ethnic groups provide major support to the Democrats. Access to funds is vital in the political system due to the financial costs of mounting political campaigns. Thus, through lobbying, corporations, unions, and other organized groups that provide funds and political support to parties and politicians can play a large role in determining the political agendas and government decision-making.

At the Declaration of Independence, the United States consisted of 13 states. In the following years, this number has grown steadily due to expansion to the west, conquest and purchase of lands by the American government, and division of existing states to the current number of 50 :

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky

Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota

Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

The contiguous part of the US (i.e. without Hawaii and Alaska) is called continental United States.

The states are divided into smaller administrative regions, called counties in most states--exceptions being Alaska (boroughs) and Louisiana (parishes). Counties can include a number of cities and towns, or sometimes just a part of a city. See County (United States).

Geography

As the world's third largest nation (land area), the United States landscape varies greatly: temperate forestland on the East coast, mangrove forests in Florida, the Great Plains in the centre of the country, the Mississippi-Missouri river system, the Rocky Mountains west of the plains, deserts and temperate coastal zones west of the Rocky Mountains and temperate rainforests in the Pacific Northwest. The arctic regions of Alaska and the volcanic islands of Hawaii only increase the geographic and climactic diversity.

The climate varies along with the landscape, from sub-tropic in Florida to tundra in Alaska. Large parts of the country have a continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Some parts of the United States, particularly parts of California, have a Mediterranean climate.

The economy of the United States is organized on the capitalist model and is marked by steady growth, low unemployment and inflation, a large trade deficit, and rapid advances in technology. The American economy can be regarded as the most important in the world. Several countries have coupled their currency with the dollar, or even use it as a currency, and the American stock markets are globally seen as an indicator of world economy.

The country has rich mineral resources, with extensive gold, oil, coal and uranium deposits. Agriculture brings the country among the top producers of, among others, maize, wheat, sugar and tobacco. American industry produces cars, airplanes and electronics. The biggest sector is however service industries; about three-quarters of Americans are employed in that sector.

The largest trading partner of the USA is its northern neighbor, Canada. Other major partners are Mexico, the European Union and the industrialized nations in the Far East, such as Japan and South Korea. Trade with China is also significant.

See also: List of American companies

Most of the 280 million people currently living in the United States descend from European immigrants that have arrived since the establishment of the first colonies. Major components of the European segment of the United States population are descended from immigrants from Germany, England, Scotland, Ireland and Italy with many immigrants also from Scandinavian countries and the Slavic and other populations of eastern and southern Europe and French Canada; few immigrants came directly from France. Likewise, while there were few immigrants directly from Spain, Hispanics from Mexico and South and Central America are considered the largest minority group in the country, comprising 13.4% of the population (38.6 million people) in 2002. This has brought increasing use of the Spanish language in the United States (see Languages in the United States). About 12% (2000 census) of the people are African Americans who largely descend from the African slaves that were brought to America. A third significant minority is the Asian American population (3.6%), who are most concentrated on the West Coast. The native population of Native Americans, such as American Indians and Inuit make up less than 1% of the population.

American culture has a large influence on the rest of the world, especially the Western world. American music is heard all over the world, and American movies and television shows can be seen almost anywhere. This is in stark contrast to the early days of the American republic, when the country was generally seen as an agricultural backwater with little to offer the culturally advanced world centers of Asia and Europe. Nearing the end of its third century, nearly every major American city offers classical and popular music; historical, scientific and art research centers and museums; dance performances, musicals and plays; outdoor art projects and internationally significant architecture. This development is a result of both contributions by private philanthropists and government funding.

The United States is also a great center of higher education, boasting more than 1,500 universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher learning, the top tier of which include schools considered to be among the most prestigious and advanced in the world. Among these are the eight Ivy League Universities, elite private universities, numerous private colleges, which provide primarily undergraduate education, and an extensive system of public universities and colleges.

Other