Nation, Nationality, and National Identity: Uses, Misuses, and the Hungarian Case of External Ethnic Citizenship

Abstract The article looks at the changing terrain of inclusion and exclusion, through mapping the shifts in Hungarian citizenship law and its political context. More specifically, it deals with the legal aspects of the definitional exercise of belonging to the Hungarian nation, starting with an analysis of the relevant provisions of the 2011 Fundamental Law of Hungary and moving on to assess the phenomenon of external ethnic citizenship. The surrounding political and legal debates are read together with insights from normative scholarship to trace the changing meaning of who belongs to the nation, in what sense and with what practical consequences. The paper discusses the political context of the changing constitutional and citizenship rules to demonstrate the circularity in defining the nation: who gets to vote will have an impact on who decides on who gets to vote which in turn will have an impact on who gets to vote, how, and for how long. The article concludes that supplanting the political nation with the ethno-cultural concept means that overinclusion has given way to underinclusion. For instance, some who used to be defined as part of the ethno-cultural nation have come to be viewed as voluntary outsiders: with the availability of non-residential naturalization, those who opted not to acquire Hungarian citizens can now be seen as also falling outside the nation, rewriting basic tenets of national identity.