Exploring the economic basis of nationhood

ISSN： 1353-7113

Source： Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, Vol.9, Iss.2, 2003-06, pp. : 23-49

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Abstract

This article investigates whether and how wealth and economic equality influence the nation-building process. The article is divided into three sections. First, it reviews the theoretical literature on the relationship between a state's economic performance and nationhood. Next, the article organizes arguments on the relationship between economic performance and national identity and unity into four hypotheses and derives testable empirical predictions from them. Finally, the article statistically tests three of the hypotheses using survey data from two cross-national public opinion datasets. It finds that the level of absolute and relative wealth produced by a nation-state and its level of economic equality among individuals are generally not positively related to feelings of national identity -- thus disconfirming the hypotheses.