ABSTRACT
In the literature on nationalism and national identity, a widespread distinction is that between state-nation and ethno-nations or cultural nations. The first are considered as being based on political and universal criteria, the latter on ethnic or cultural criteria. State-nations are also considered as being open and modern, ethno-cultural nations as traditional and exclusive. The present chapter investigates which elements qualify a person to be or to become a full member of a nation among the public in thirty-three nations around the world. The results clearly contradict the established concepts: both political (citizenship, respect for institutions) and ethnic/cultural (having been born in country, having national ancestry, language, religion) criteria are considered everywhere as being of utmost importance for belonging to a nation. Instead of this distinction, the chapter came upon another finding, that between ascriptive and action-related components of national identity. The chapter also shows that in different countries and regions of the world a different weighting of the several criteria of national identity can be observed, corresponding to their specific history, societal and political context. It also discusses the reasons for the preponderance of the established distinction and the perspectives that follow from the alternative view for the role of the nation-state and national identity in a globalized world.
