proposition nation

English

Noun

proposition nation (plural proposition nations)

  1. (politics) A nation founded on certain creeds or ideals.
    • 2009, Barbara Perry, Hate Crimes, volume 3, page 117:
      Because they view the world through a racial lens, white nationalists do not agree with the notion that America is a creedal or proposition nation, meaning one whose societal and cultural norms are based on acceptance of the Declaration of Independence and the other founding documents.
    • 2020, Nativism, Nationalism, and Patriotism, page 121:
      During the Cold War, conservative intellectuals, including Straussians and the brilliant Jesuit priest John Courtney Murray, advanced the concept of America as a “proposition nation” that was in conflict with a rival ideological nation, the Soviet Union. This conception of American identity based primarily on shared ideas took hold on the right.

Usage notes

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