The nation is the central concept. Four strands of nationalism share that conviction but differ on what makes a nation, who deserves self-rule, whether culture or civic values bind a nation together, and whether the international order is cooperation, dominance or liberation. Built around the four strands and the five Edexcel named thinkers.
Nationalism is the political ideology built around the claim that the nation is the natural and proper unit of politics. All nationalists agree the nation matters. They disagree about almost everything else - what a nation is, whether every nation deserves a state, whether the bond is civic or cultural, whether some nations stand above others, and whether nations should cooperate or compete. This walk-through opens with the foundational distinction between civic and cultural nationalism, then takes you through the four strands in scrolly detail with their Edexcel named thinkers, then compares them across the four dimensions, and finally maps the strands onto the six spec subsections the exam tests directly.
The foundation everything else builds on.
A nation is a group of people who identify themselves as a cohesive community on the basis of shared values. The 9PL0 specification is open from the start: "there are very different ways of defining a nation." That is the question at the heart of nationalism.
Two definitions run through the ideology. The first is civic nationalism - the nation is a political community of people who share political values and consent to common laws. Membership is voluntary, open and inclusive. Jean-Jacques Rousseau's account of the general will and Giuseppe Mazzini's call for each nation to become a state belong here. So does Marcus Garvey's anti-colonial reassertion of equal national dignity.
The second is cultural nationalism - the nation is bound by shared language, history, customs and traditions, the volksgeist or national spirit (Johann Gottfried von Herder). Membership is organic, inherited, slow to acquire. This carries the romantic and emotional weight of nationalism.
Most disagreements in the ideology trace back to which of these definitions a strand takes. Charles Maurras's integral nationalism pushes cultural nationalism into chauvinist superiority, often blurring into racialism. That route is what the 9PL0 spec calls "the darker side of nationalism."
Scroll - each strand lights with its Edexcel named thinkers and its position on the four dimensions.
The 9PL0 spec recognises four strands of nationalism: liberal, conservative, anti/post-colonial and expansionist. Each shares the centrality of the nation but differs on what binds it, who deserves self-rule and how nations relate. The five Edexcel named thinkers - Rousseau, von Herder, Mazzini, Maurras and Garvey - sit across the strands. Scroll through; the figure beside you holds the four-strand summary card with the strand you are reading lit.
Liberal, Conservative, Expansionist, Anti/post-colonial. All four take the nation as central. They differ on what a nation is, who gets to rule themselves, whether the bond is civic or cultural, and whether nations should cooperate or dominate.
Liberal nationalism defines the nation civically: people united by shared political values and consent to common laws (Rousseau). Self-determination is a universal right - every nation deserves a state (Mazzini). The nation-state is the natural political unit, and sovereign nation-states cooperate as equals in a liberal international order. The 2020 mark scheme calls this a 'more positive view of human nature' and a 'more inclusive form of nationalism.'
Critics (conservative, expansionist) argue this ignores the cultural depth of national belonging.
Conservative nationalism defines the nation culturally: people bound by shared language, history, customs and a distinctive national spirit or volksgeist (von Herder). Membership is organic and inherited, slow to acquire. The state should reflect and protect the national culture - a romantic embodiment of the people. Less universalist than liberal nationalism: the focus is the cohesion and continuity of one's own nation. The 2020 mark scheme: conservative nationalism sees humans as 'not rational and security seeking,' driving a desire to belong to a nation based around a common culture.
Critics (liberal) argue this risks exclusion; defenders argue civic nationalism alone is too thin.
Expansionist nationalism defines the nation exclusively and ranks it above others. Integral nationalism (Maurras): the individual exists for the nation, subservient to the national project. The state is supreme - militaristic, imperial, used to dominate other peoples. The 9PL0 spec is explicit: expansionist nationalism 'rejects the right of all nations to self-determination, usually linked to chauvinism.' Some variants are racialist - the strand the spec identifies as 'the view held by a very small group of nationalists.' The 2020 MS: expansionist nationalism is based on 'chauvinism; the feeling of superiority to other nations.'
Critics (all other strands) reject the rejection of universal self-determination.
Anti/post-colonial nationalism defines the nation through shared experience of colonialism and the right to reclaim self-rule. Garvey's Black pride and pan-Africanism are exemplary: equal moral worth of all peoples, particularly those whose worth had been denied by colonial racism. The 9PL0 spec: 'rejects colonial rule and seeks to have governance returned to the indigenous population.' The 2022 mark scheme: 'liberal and anti/post-colonial nationalism take a rational view that nations have the right to govern themselves free from domination or oppression.'
Often paired with liberal nationalism in the mark schemes as the rational, progressive family.
Liberal: civic nation, universal self-determination, internationalist cooperation. Conservative: cultural nation, volksgeist, national cohesion first. Expansionist: exclusive nation, hierarchy between nations, dominance. Anti/post-colonial: liberated nation, dignity of formerly colonised peoples, pan-national solidarity.
All four agree the nation is central. They disagree on what the nation is, who deserves self-rule, and what nations should do to each other. The exam expects you to know which strand says what on each of the four dimensions you have just seen.
Scroll - each dimension lights one card per strand so you can read across.
The four dimensions are how the 9PL0 spec maps political ideology: human nature, the state, society and the economy. The Paper 2 Q5 question typically lands on one of them. Strong answers hold all four strands' positions on the dimension clearly. Scroll through; the figure beside you shows the four strand cards with the dimension you are reading highlighted.
Human nature, the state, society, the economy. Scroll through each - the figure beside you shows the four strands with the dimension you are reading highlighted.
Agreement: All four see the nation as central to human identity. Disagreement: Rational-progressive (Liberal, Anti-colonial) versus pessimistic-security-seeking (Conservative) versus chauvinist-superiority (Expansionist). The 2020 MS frames this as the progressive-vs-regressive divide.
Agreement: All four want the state aligned with the nation. Disagreement: The 2021 MS captures the four-way split: 'the state can be a realm of freedom for some nationalists and a force of oppression for others.'
Agreement: All four believe society is held together by national identity. Disagreement: Inclusive civic (Liberal, Anti-colonial) versus exclusive cultural (Conservative) versus aggressive racially-defined (Expansionist). The 2023 MS treats this as the central social divide.
Agreement: All four see the economy as something with national meaning, not a purely global system. Disagreement: Openness, protection, dominance or liberation - the economy is not the heaviest tested dimension but appears across the mark schemes.
Pick the dimension your 24-mark question is about. Run through the four strands' positions in order. Identify what they agree on and what they disagree on. Reach a clear judgement on whether agreement or disagreement is greater. The textbook structure uses three paragraphs - typically two agreement paragraphs and one disagreement, or one agreement and two disagreement, depending on which way the judgement lands.
Scroll - each spec idea lights with its definition and how it sits across the strands.
Now the spec subsections themselves. The 9PL0 spec lists six core ideas of nationalism: nations, self-determination, nation-state, culturalism, racialism, and internationalism. Each Paper 2 Q5 question is built off one of these (or the four dimensions). Scroll through. The figure beside you holds all six cards with the spec idea you are reading lit.
Nations, self-determination, nation-state, culturalism, racialism, internationalism. The figure beside you holds all six cards with the spec idea you are reading lit. Scroll through.
People who identify themselves as a cohesive group based on shared values in society. The 9PL0 spec is open from the start: 'there are very different ways of defining a nation.'
Strand positions: Liberal and anti/post-colonial define the nation civically (Rousseau, Garvey). Conservative defines it culturally (von Herder - volksgeist). Expansionist defines it exclusively and ranks it above other nations (Maurras - integral nationalism). The split between civic and cultural is foundational.
The belief that nations should decide how they are governed. The 9PL0 spec: 'the nation as a genuine political community capable of self-government.'
Strand positions: Liberal and anti/post-colonial treat self-determination as a universal right (Mazzini, Garvey). Conservative affirms it for one's own nation but is less universalist (von Herder). Expansionist rejects it as a universal principle - the spec is explicit: it 'rejects the right of all nations to self-determination' (Maurras).
A nation that rules itself in its own state and controls its own economy. The 9PL0 spec adds the qualification: 'while supported by most nationalists, [it] is not universally supported.'
Strand positions: Liberal sees the nation-state as the natural unit of a sovereign-equals order (Mazzini). Conservative wants the state to embody and protect the national culture (von Herder). Expansionist wants the state supreme and imperially expansive (Maurras). Anti/post-colonial wants the nation-state as a vehicle of liberation, though pan-national projects sometimes contest the inherited colonial borders (Garvey).
Nationalism based on shared cultural and societal values. The 9PL0 spec: 'some forms of nationalism are grounded in more mystical, emotional ties and also reflect on the darker side of nationalism.'
Strand positions: Conservative nationalism puts culturalism at the heart (von Herder - volksgeist). Anti/post-colonial nationalism reasserts cultural identity that colonialism suppressed (Garvey - Black pride). Liberal is cool on culturalism; the bond is civic, not cultural. Expansionist takes cultural pride to hostile superiority (Maurras).
The view that humankind can be meaningfully divided into separate 'races' with different natures. The 9PL0 spec is explicit: this is 'the view held by a very small group of nationalists who believe that nationhood is determined purely by biological factors.'
Strand positions: Confined to some variants within expansionist nationalism (Maurras). Liberal, conservative and anti/post-colonial all reject racialism. Anti/post-colonial in particular asserts the equal moral worth of all peoples (Garvey) - the opposite of racial hierarchy. The exam answer needs to handle racialism without overstating its prevalence.
The view that the world should unite across boundaries to advance common interests. The 9PL0 spec captures the tension: 'some forms of nationalism also have an internationalist perspective, whereas other internationalists reject nationalism.'
Strand positions: Liberal nationalism is warm to liberal internationalism - cooperation between sovereign nation-states (Mazzini). Anti/post-colonial sympathises with pan-national solidarity (Garvey - pan-Africanism). Conservative is cool, prioritising national cohesion. Expansionist is hostile - the international order is a contest for dominance (Maurras).
Direct links to every nationalism essay-writing resource on Panther, plus a worked answer.
The exam tests nationalism through Paper 2 Q5a and Q5b - 24 marks each. Below are the strand-comparison exercise, the spec checklist, the quiz, and past questions to drill against. Use them in this order: strand comparison to test your strand knowledge, then drill past questions with the agreement/disagreement framework, then the quiz to check recall.
Likely 24-mark questions to practise.
Approach: Para 1 agreement - all four strands see the nation as central to human identity (Rousseau, von Herder, Maurras, Garvey). Para 2 disagreement - rational and progressive (Liberal, Anti-colonial) versus pessimistic and security-seeking (Conservative). Para 3 disagreement - chauvinist superiority (Expansionist - Maurras) sits at the far end. Judgement: disagreement greater than agreement; the rational-vs-chauvinist split is fundamental.
Approach: Para 1 agreement - all four want the state aligned with the nation. Para 2 disagreement - civic nation-state (Liberal - Mazzini) versus romantic embodiment of culture (Conservative - von Herder). Para 3 disagreement - integral and imperial (Expansionist - Maurras) versus vehicle of liberation (Anti-colonial - Garvey). Judgement: 2021 MS frames as 'realm of freedom for some, force of oppression for others.' Disagreement greater.
Approach: Para 1 agreement - all four believe society is bound by national identity. Para 2 disagreement - inclusive civic society (Liberal, Anti-colonial - Rousseau, Garvey) versus exclusive cultural society (Conservative - von Herder). Para 3 disagreement - exclusive racially-defined society (Expansionist - Maurras) at the far end. Judgement: 2023 MS captures inclusive-vs-exclusive as the central social divide. Disagreement greater.
Approach: Para 1 agreement - all four take the nation as the primary political unit. Para 2 disagreement - warm liberal internationalism (Liberal - Mazzini) versus hostile (Expansionist - Maurras). Para 3 disagreement - sympathetic pan-national solidarity (Anti-colonial - Garvey) versus cool national-cohesion-first (Conservative). Judgement: disagreement greater; the divide is fundamental.
Judgement. The shared agreement that the state should align with the nation is genuine but thin. The deeper disagreements on what the state is for - civic equality, cultural preservation, imperial dominance or liberation - go to the heart of what each strand thinks politics is. The 2021 MS treats the question as a four-way split. On balance there is more disagreement than agreement within nationalism on the state.
Nation. A group of people who identify themselves as a cohesive community on the basis of shared values. The 9PL0 spec opens with the line: 'there are very different ways of defining a nation.'
Civic nationalism. The nation defined as a political community of people sharing political values and consenting to common laws. Voluntary and inclusive. Associated with Rousseau, Mazzini and Garvey.
Cultural nationalism. The nation defined by shared history, language, customs and traditions. Organic and inherited. Associated with von Herder.
Self-determination. The belief that nations should decide how they are governed - the nation as a political community capable of self-government.
Nation-state. A nation that rules itself in its own state and controls its own economy.
Volksgeist. The national spirit - the distinctive cultural soul of a nation, expressed in its language, customs, art and traditions. von Herder's key concept.
Integral nationalism. An intensely emotional form of nationalism where the individual exists for the nation; the state is supreme. Maurras's key concept.
Chauvinist nationalism. A nationalism based on the feeling of superiority over other nations. Often linked to expansionist and integral nationalism.
Racialism. The view that humankind can be meaningfully divided into separate 'races' with different natures. The 9PL0 spec describes it as held by 'a very small group of nationalists.'
Liberal internationalism. Cooperation between sovereign nation-states - the international order built on mutual respect, trade and treaty between independent nations.
Black nationalism. Nationalism asserting the dignity, cultural pride and political self-rule of Black peoples after colonialism. Garvey's contribution.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778). Founding civic-nationalist thinker. The general will - government based on the indivisible collective will of the community; nations have the right to govern themselves. Civic nationalism is legitimate because it is built on active citizen participation.
Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744-1803). Founding cultural-nationalist thinker. Every nation has its own unique cultural character. Identified the Volk - the people - as the root of national culture, expressing its volksgeist or national spirit.
Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-1872). Liberal-nationalist thinker. Humans can express themselves only through their nation; freedom rests on the creation of one's own nation-state. Action, not pure intellectualism - 'thought and action.'
Charles Maurras (1868-1952). Integral-nationalist and expansionist thinker. Integral nationalism - intensely emotional, submerging the individual in the nation. Militarism - a strong military ethos as a feature of national greatness.
Marcus Garvey (1887-1940). Black-nationalist and anti-colonial thinker. Black pride - African peoples should be proud of their race and see beauty in their own kind. Pan-Africanism - African peoples worldwide are one people and must transcend cultural and ethnic differences to progress.