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Constitutional Patriotism
Constitutional patriotism (Verfassungspatriotismus) refers to political attachment to the norms and values of a pluralistic liberal democratic constitution that equal citizens can justify to each other. It is associated with post-national identity, in the sense that it is seen as a similar concept to nationalism, though as an attachment based on values of the constitution rather than the nation. In essence, it is an attempt to re-conceptualise group identity yet the focus is on the interpretation of citizenship as a loyalty that goes beyond individuals' ethnocultural identification. Theorists believe this to be more defensible than other forms of shared commitment in a diverse modern state with multiple languages and group identities. It is particularly relevant in postnational democratic states in which multiple cultural and ethnic groups coexist. It was influential in the development of the European Union and key to Europeanism in giving a base for multiple countries to belong to a larger identity.

Constitutional patriotism has been interpreted differently amongst theorists, providing a range of positions. On one end, there is the vision that the concept is a new means of identification to a supra-national entity, while on the other end, there is a focus on understanding the attachment in terms of freedom over ethnicity. It is largely contested whether constitutional patriotism is supposed to be read as a replacement for nationality or traditional identity, or as a balance between the two, allowing for "transient account of identity consistent with the diversity, hybridity, and pluralism of our modern world" There are also multiple opinions as to whether a prior group identity is necessary before a moral, political one is achieved.

Critics have argued that loyalty to democratic values is too weak to preserve a deep bond to unify a state. This is because it is missing a key feature of individual identity for modern subjects - nationality, which in turn provides national identity; " essential for realizing important important liberal democratic values such as individual autonomy and social equality." They believe national identity is the base on which political morality can be achieved. In response to this, it has been questioned whether or not the nation should be responsible for the unity of a state.

The concept of constitutional patriotism originates from Post-war West Germany: "a 'half-nation' with a sense of deeply compromised nationality on account of the Nazi past." In this context, constitutional patriotism was a protective and state-centered means of dealing with the memory of the Holocaust and militancy of the Nazi past. The concept can be traced to the liberal philosopher Karl Jaspers, who advocated the idea of dealing with German political guilt after the war with 'collective responsibility'. His student, Dolf Sternberger explicitly introduced the concept on the thirtieth birthday of the Federal Republic. However, it is strongly associated with the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas.

Sternberger
Sternberger saw constitutional patriotism as a protective means to ensure political stability to maintain peace in Germany in the aftermath of the second World War. He framed the concept as a way for citizens to identify with the democratic state in order that it could defend itself against internal and external threats. Thus, with the emphasis on state defense and protection, Strenberger linked constitutional patriotism to the concept of streitbare Demokratie [militant democracy]. He drew on Aristotelianism, arguing that patriotism had traditionally not been linked to sentiments towards the nation. Constitutional patriotism is a development of Sternberger's earlier notion of Staatsfreundschaft [friendship towards the state] from around two decades prior to the thirtieth birthday of the Federal Republic.

Habermas
Like Sternberger, Habermas viewed constitutional patriotism as a conscious strengthening of political principles, however, "where Sternberger's patriotism had centred on democratic institutions worth defending, Habermas focused on the public sphere as providing a space for public reasoning among citizens." By the public sphere, he was referring to the recognition of one another as free and equal.

In the context of post-war Germany, Habermas was concerned by the shaping of German identity through attempts to return to traditional national pride.

He believed that the nationalistic collective identity was no longer feasible in a globalized modern world. In a disenchanted world, individual and collective identities were no longer formed by internalizing nationalist values but by becoming aware of "what they want and what others expect from them in the light of moral concerns" from an impartial position.

"The symbolic unity of the person that is produced and maintained through self-identification depends... on belonging to the symbolic reality of a group, on the possibility of localizing oneself in the world of this group. A group identity that transcends the life histories of individuals is thus a precondition of the identity of the individual."