The incoherence of the patriotic state: a critique of 'constitutional patriotism'

The incoherence of the patriotic state: a critique of 'constitutional patriotism'

Habermas proposes a new solution to the problematic relation between republican values and democracy. He asserts that a new model of social cohesion is needed and he suggests that the sense of 'community' in a democratic
society should be founded exclusively on the acceptance and support of a system of constitutionally established rules which are the logical result of the historical evolution
of constitution-making. He argues that an account of the constitutional process which led to the formation of the modern republican state should provide the criteria for a rational set of norms which will exclude nationalism from the political arena. In this article, I point out the democratic hazards and the internal incoherence of Habermas's alternative to the national state and I argue that a theoretical substitute should consider the existence of national identities as one of the aspects of modern pluralistic society.

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