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Constitutional Patriotism offers a new theory of citizenship and civic allegiance for today's culturally diverse liberal democracies. Rejecting conventional accounts of liberal nationalism and cosmopolitanism, Jan-Werner Müller argues for a form of political belonging centered on universalist norms, adapted for specific constitutional cultures. At the same time, he presents a novel approach to thinking about political belonging and the preconditions of democratic legitimacy beyond the nation-state. The book takes the development of the European Union as a case study, but its lessons apply als

Constitutional Patriotism offers a new theory of citizenship and civic allegiance for today's culturally diverse liberal democracies. Rejecting conventional accounts of liberal nationalism and cosmopolitanism, Jan-Werner Muller argues for a form of political belonging centered on universalist norms, adapted for specific constitutional cultures. At the same time, he presents a novel approach to thinking about political belonging and the preconditions of democratic legitimacy beyond the nation-state. The book takes the development of the European Union as a case study, but its lessons apply also.

In this paper I will discuss the options of political identity the Lebanese have at their disposal against the background of the German experience. Germany and Lebanon, states at first glance completely different from each other, show some similarity in their historical experience. In the context of this comparison I will discussconstitutional patriotism, a political concept in circulation in Germany over the last fifteen years or so, and its potential application in the Lebanese case. Constitutional patriotism, unlike many other concepts originating in the West, has yet not entered the political vocabulary of the Middle East. The debate on democracy and the civil society is widespread in the whole of the Middle East, including Lebanon. Lebanon's political culture, polity and national identity, however, show some peculiar traits that might justify the introduction of the term constitutional patriotism into the Lebanese political debate.

In recent years, two dominant models for understanding the source of common political identities have emerged in the European context: the universalist paradigm of constitutional patriotism and the communitarian paradigm of 'civic nationalism'. In view of this dichotomy, one could be tempted to think that only a combination of these two positions could deal with the mixed nature of European architecture. The European Union would thus give birth to the appealing synthesis of a 'cosmopolitan communitarianism'. This choice of a middle way is challenged in this paper. Instead, I argue that the national or communitarian challenge would be better met by the development of constitutional patriotism rather than by a loose compromise. Contrary to what most commentators seem to believe, constitutional patriotism has practical significance, is historically embedded and seeks to promote a shared political culture.

In recent years, two dominant models for understanding the source of common political identities have emerged in the European context: The universalist paradigm of constitutional patriotism and the communitarian paradigm of 'civic nationalism'. In view of this dichotomy, one could be tempted to think that only a combination of these two positions could deal with the mixed nature of European architecture. The European Union would thus give birth to the appealing synthesis of a 'cosmopolitan communitarianism'. This choice of a middle way is challenged in this paper. Instead, I argue that the national or communitarian challenge would be better met by the development of constitutional patriotism rather than by a loose compromise. Contrary to what most commentators seem to believe, constitutional patriotism has practical significance, is historically embedded and seeks to promote a shared political culture. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/published

THE QUESTION POSED IN THIS ESSAY IS WHY ERNEST GELLNER SHOULD IN HIS LAST WORK HAVE PROVIDED A THEORY OF CIVIL SOCIETY WITH SO LITTLE TO SAY ABOUT INTERMEDIATE ASSOCIATIONS OR SOCIAL WELFARE OR SOCIAL MOVEMENTS. INSTEAD HE DISPLAYED AN ECONOMISTIC VISION THAT READS LIKE A TRIUMPHALIST APOLOGIA FOR CAPITALISM. ALSO, WHY DID JURGEN HABERMAS PROVIDE A THEORY OF CONSTITUTIONAL PATRIOTISM IN WHICH FORMAL LEGAL PRINCIPLES OF CONSTITUTIONALITY PREVAIL OVER POLITICS, ECONOMICS AND CULTURE? THE ANSWERS LOOK TO PROBLEMS OF TEMPORALITY (TIME-GAINING AND TIME-BINDING) AND OF POLITICAL DEMOBILIZATION AS EXPLANATIONS FOR THE SPARTAN CHARACTER OF BOTH VISIONS. IT IS ARGUES THAT THE HUMAN DECENCY WHICH BOTH THEORISTS CRAVE FOR THEIR RESPECTIVE SOCIETIES (CZECH REPUBLIC AND GERMANY) CANNOT AVOID THE PROBLEMS OF DEMOCRACY WHICH THESE THEORISTS WISH TO CHANNEL EITHER INTO ECONOMIC ENERGY OR INTO FIDELITY TO CONSTITUTIONAL NORMS.

Abstract not provided by publisher.