1 ETHNIC OR CIVIC NATION?: THEORIZING THE AMERICAN CASE

The United States has often been viewed by ethnicity and nationalism scholars as the quintessential civic nation historically defined by its commitment to eighteenth century liberal ideology. This paper takes issue with such a perspective. Instead, the United States, for nearly its entire existence, is shown to be an ethnic nation characterized by non-conformist Protestantism and pre-Norman, Anglo-Saxon genealogy. This self-styled 'American ' ethnie sought to reshape the nation in its own image and saw its destiny in Puritan, millennial terms. Faced with large flows of non-British immigrants, the 'Americans ' employed techniques of Anglo-conformity in an attempt to transform the newcomers into 'WASP's. When this process was viewed as inadequate, movements of cultural nationalism and immigration restriction developed which resulted in the institution of a set of boundary-defending practices that began in the 1920's and continued into the 1960's. Developments in the 'West ' have since ushered in the era of liberal civic nationhood in which the U.S. has participated. In this manner, America's shift from ethnic to civic nationalism is not exceptional, but instead reflects a broader value shift in Western culture