Civic nationalism

Civic nationalism is a form of Nationalism that aims to embrace all current residents of a nation regardless of race, religion or language. Many, though not all, civic nationalists are liberals. The USA is an example of a country riven between civic nationalists and religious and Ethno Nationalists, with Democrats and moderate Republicans extolling a nationalism that embraces all Americans whilst Ann Coulter and her ilk are uncomfortable about the idea that Americans can be Moslems, Atheists, Gays etc etc.

Nationalist movements can mutate and change their political ideology over generations as to which groups they embrace or reject. The Irish Tricolour contains both Catholic Green and Protestant Orange to symbolise the Civic nationalism of Wolf Tone and Charles Stewart Parnell, both of whom were Irish Protestants. But in the twentieth century all Irish political parties with a "nationalist" ideology, whether Irish Nationalist or Ulster Unionist (British nationalist), have been religious nationalists, and whether someone is born Catholic or Protestant is the usual predictor of their form of nationalism.

Currently Scottish Nationalism is probably the best European example of a civic nationalist party, though it does have an undercurrent of Anti English prejudice.