Proposition nation
A proposition nation is a term in political philosophy "proposition country," "creedal nation" and "creedal country." The concept of a proposition nation is supported by neoconservatives, and opposed by paleoconservatives and most conservatives. Liberals are divided on the issue.
A product of the Enlightenment, which became popular in the late 20th century, a proposition nation is the belief that IDeaS are fundamental to a nation. In other words, for a nation to exist and survive, only ideas matter, not the particular ancestral or historical composition of its citizenry. This idea is quite popular among some liberals and some neoconservatives.
Patrick J Buchanan defines a proposition nation as:
"There is a rival view, advanced by neoconservatives and liberals, that America is a different kind of nation, not held together by the bonds of history and memory, tradition and custom, language and literature, birth and faith, blood and soil. Rather, America is a creedal nation, united by a common commitment to a set of ideas and ideals."(1)
In contrast to the proposition nation, as Buchanan and others note, there exists the traditional concept of a nation, often championed by conservatives and paleoconservatives. This older vision emphasizes blood and soil, kith and kin, and genophilia (instinctive attachment to family and tribe). 'Nation', they say, suggested by the Latin root nascere, implies link by blood.
Quotes Critical of the Proposition Nation:
Peter Brimelow:
"A nation in a real sense is an extended family. The merging process through which all nations pass is not merely cultural, but to a considerable extent biological through intermarriage."(2)
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan:
"a nation is a group of people who believe they are ancestrally related. It is the largest grouping that shares that belief."(1)
Joseph de Maistre:
“During my life, I have seen Frenchmen, Italians, Russians, and so on, but I must say, as for man, I have never come across him anywhere; if he exists, he is completely unknown to me.”(3)
John Jay:
"Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people—a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs, and who, by their joint counsels, arms, and efforts, fighting side by side throughout a long and bloody war, have nobly established their general liberty and independence."(4)
Samuel Huntington:
"America is a founded society created by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century settlers, almost all of whom came from the British Isles … They initially defined America in terms of race, ethnicity, culture, and most importantly religion. Then in the eighteenth century they also had to define America ideologically to justify their independence from their home-countrymen."(5)
Patrick J. Buchanan:
"Every true nation is the creation of a unique people. Indeed, if America is an ideological nation grounded no deeper than the sandy soil of abstract ideas, she will not survive the storms of this century any more that the Soviet Union survived the last. When the regime, party, army, and police that held that ideological nation together lost the will to keep it together, the USSR broke down along the fault lines of nationality, faith, and culture. True nations, held together not by any political creed but by patriotism, emerged from the rubble."(1)
Further Reading
- "Nation or Notion?", by Patrick J. Buchanan.
- “Proposition Nation – first sighting?", by Peter Brimelow.
- “Why America Is Not A Propositional Nation", by Robert Locke.
- “Who We Are", by Daniel Larison
References
- 1. "Nation or Notion?", by Patrick J. Buchanan.
- 2. Alien Nation.
- 3. Considerations on France by Joseph de Maistre.
- 4. Federalist Papers No. 2 by John Jay.
- 5. Keeping the Extremists Out CIS.