======================================================================
=                     Constitutional patriotism                      =
======================================================================

                             Introduction
======================================================================
Constitutional patriotism () is the idea that people should form a
political attachment to the norms and values of a pluralistic liberal
democratic constitution rather than a national culture or cosmopolitan
society. It is associated with post-nationalist identity, because it
is seen as a similar concept to nationalism, but as an attachment
based on values of the constitution rather than a national culture. In
essence, it is an attempt to re-conceptualise group identity with a
focus on the interpretation of citizenship as a loyalty that goes
beyond individuals' ethnocultural identification. Theorists believe
this to be more defensible than other forms of shared commitment in a
diverse modern state with multiple languages and group identities. It
is particularly relevant in post-national democratic states in which
multiple cultural and ethnic groups coexist. It was influential in the
development of the European Union and a key to Europeanism as a basis
for multiple countries belonging to a supranational union.


                         Theoretical origins
======================================================================
Constitutional patriotism has been interpreted in a variety of ways,
providing a range of positions. On one end, there is the vision that
the concept is a new means of identification to a supranational
entity; while on the other end, there is a focus on understanding the
attachment in terms of freedom over ethnicity. It is largely contested
whether constitutional patriotism is supposed to be read as a
replacement for nationality or traditional identity; or as a balance
between the two, allowing for the "transient account of identity
consistent with the diversity, hybridity, and pluralism of our modern
world." There are also multiple opinions as to whether a prior group
identity is necessary before a moral, political one is achieved.

The concept of constitutional patriotism originates from Post-World
War Two West Germany: "a 'half-nation' with a sense of deeply
compromised nationality on account of their Nazi past." In this
context, constitutional patriotism was a protective and state-centered
means of dealing with the memory of the Holocaust and militancy of the
Third Reich. The concept can be traced to the liberal philosopher Karl
Jaspers, who advocated the idea of dealing with German political guilt
after the war with 'collective responsibility'. His student, Dolf
Sternberger explicitly introduced the concept on the thirtieth
birthday of the Federal Republic (1979).  However, it is strongly
associated with the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas.


 Sternberger
=============
Sternberger saw constitutional patriotism as a protective means to
ensure political stability to maintain peace in Germany in the
aftermath of the Second World War. He framed the concept as a way for
citizens to identify with the democratic state in order that it could
defend itself against internal and external threats. Thus, with the
emphasis on state defense and protection, Sternberger linked
constitutional patriotism to the concept of militant democracy. He
drew on Aristotelianism, arguing that patriotism had traditionally not
been linked to sentiments towards the nation. Constitutional
patriotism is a development of Sternberger's earlier notion of
'Staatsfreundschaft' (friendship towards the state).


 Habermas
==========
Habermas played a key role in developing, contextualizing and
spreading the idea of constitutional patriotism to English-speaking
countries. Like Sternberger, Habermas viewed constitutional patriotism
as a conscious strengthening of political principles, however, "where
Sternberger's patriotism had centred on democratic institutions worth
defending, Habermas focused on the public sphere as providing a space
for public reasoning among citizens."

Post-war West Germany provided the context for Habermas's theories.
During the historian's dispute of the late 1980s, Habermas fought
against the normalization of "exceptional historical events" (the rise
of Nazism and the events of the Holocaust). Constitutional patriotism
was Habermas's suggestion as a way to unify West Germans. As he was
concerned by the shaping of German identity through attempts to return
to traditional national pride, he argued for Germans to "move away
from the notion of ethnically homogeneous nation-states." Thus it
became an "inner counterpart to the bond of the Federal Republic to
the West; it was not only an advance in respect to traditional German
nationalism, but also a step toward overcoming it." To Habermas,
post-national German identity was dependent on understanding and
overcoming its past, subjecting traditions to criticism. This
historical memory was essential to constitutional patriotism.

Habermas believed a nationalistic collective identity was no longer
feasible in a globalized modern world and scorned ethnic cohesion as a
part of nineteenth century nationalism irrelevant in a new age of
international migration. His theory was therefore grounded in the idea
that "the symbolic unity of the person that is produced and maintained
through self-identification depends... on belonging to the symbolic
reality of a group, on the possibility of localizing oneself in the
world of this group. A group identity that transcends the life
histories of individuals is thus a precondition of the identity of the
individual."  In a disenchanted world, individual and collective
identities were no longer formed by internalizing nationalist values
but by becoming aware of "what they want and what others expect from
them in the light of moral concerns" from an impartial position.

He argued that the European nation-state was successful because "it
made possible a new mode of legitimation based on a new, more abstract
form of social integration." Rather than a consensus on just values,
Habermas believed the intricacies of modern societies must rely on "a
consensus on the procedure for the legitimate enactment of laws and