Patriotism and Citizenship: A Contractual Theory of the Impact of Patriotism

By: Sean Richey

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Synopsis: What is the impact of patriotism on citizens in democracies? Despite many judging patriotism negatively, we do not know much about its effect on citizenship. Most of the work on patriotism focuses on potential negatives that may derive from patriotism, such as its relationship with bigotry. Crucial debates over whether education should promote patriotism must revolve around a cost-benefit analysis over whether this is worthy of inclusion in pedagogy. This book aims to empirically demonstrate patriotism's impact on citizenship to determine whether it should be emphasized or abridged fully. Using data from multiple novel surveys and experiments, Sean Richey shows that patriotism is highly correlated with many normatively beneficial aspects of democratic citizenship and is not associated with unthinking obedience or xenophobia as is often suggested. Patriotism correlates with greater validated voter turnout and civic engagement, fewer incorrect predictions about the economy and conspiracy theory beliefs, and greater political trust, political efficacy, and satisfaction with democracy. This research provides a fuller picture of the impact of patriotism on public opinion and political behavior than has been provided previously in political theory or political psychology. It shows the benefits of patriotism for liberal democratic societies.