What Defines a Nation?

What Makes a Nation? By: Michael E. Telzrow
http://www.questiaschool.com/read/5016654085

Max Weber, the celebrated German sociologist, wrote that on a basic level, "a nation is a community which produces a state of its own." Weber's definition is correct in that a nation is a self-defining political community. But what makes a nation? Is it merely a political community set within territorially defined borders, or is it something more? The history of [America] our nation, and that of most successful nations, tells us that it is something much more. Nationalism, or the idea of nationhood, is based upon clearly defined ideas and sentiments--feelings of distinction, a shared allegiance or a shared sense of belonging, a commitment to accepted moral and political principles, a common language, and a marriage between culture and politics that ensures the maintenance of political sovereignty.

A belief in the distinctive nature of a state's political and cultural community is a cornerstone of nationhood. Without such feelings of distinction, there is little impetus to establish a nation.

Eighteenth-century observers like David Ramsay seized upon the psychological shift in identity from colony to nation-state to push for a marriage of politics and culture. His contemporary account of the war for independence, The History of the American Revolution, published in 1789, called for strengthening America's cultural identity at a time when Americans still looked to England for much of their cultural cues.

cultural nationalists- pushed for the cohesion of cultural and political aspect of society.

A national culture is a characteristic of every nation-state, and the acknowledgment of past accomplishments is central to the unity of the nation.

A nation is much more than a line drawn on a map. It is an expression of shared principles, of a distinct culture, language, and institutions.


My Summay:
As claimed by Max Weber, the basic understanding of a nation is “a community which produces a state of its own.” However, Michael E. Telzrow adds in “What Makes a Nation,” that there is a bigger picture when it comes to a nation. Historian and President of the Contentantal Congress, David Ramsay observed a psychogical shift in the identity of the new-forming nation of America. He said that the centripetal factor for a nation, versus a colony, was the push for the combination of politics and culture. Past accomplishments, an expression of shared principles, and distinct culture and institutions help define a nation, in Telzrow’s words, help define a nation beyond the characterization of land.