World's Most-And Least-Patriotic Countries

Sara Pardys
If the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center (NORC) conducted its survey on national pride this year, would the United States still rank No. 1?
In 2003, when the survey was last administered, more Americans said they were proud of their homeland than any other country's citizens. But considering President Bush's plummeting approval ratings and U.S. participation in an increasingly unpopular war, the world's most patriotic country may be in danger of losing its title.:lol:


How, exactly, can you measure patriotism? And does fighting a war--losing or winning--matter?
The NORC examines two factors: how proud respondents said they were to live in their respective countries, and whether they considered their own countries superior or inferior relative to other countries. For one part of the survey, respondents had to indicate whether they agreed or disagreed with five statements, for example: "I would rather be a citizen of my country than any other country in the world" and "There are some things about my country today that make me ashamed."

Consider your home country. Do you agree or disagree with these statements? Add your thoughts in the Reader Comments section below.

Novelty seems to enhance feelings of national pride, according to survey director Tom Smith. Many of the most patriotic countries in the world--like Israel, South Africa and the Philippines--are relatively new nations. Moreover, several of these countries were formed after winning independence from colonial powers or other occupying forces.

"These countries were formed through an act of political will," Smith says, which, in turn, heightens their citizens' loyalty.
Australia, a nation-state that gained independence from Great Britain in 1901, follows the United States in the most-patriotic rankings, with Austria, which dates back to the ninth century but took its current shape at the end of World War II, close behind.
The least patriotic country, according to the survey, is East Germany. Although that Soviet-occupied sovereignty hasn't existed since Germany was reunified in 1990, NORC conducted its first survey in 1985. To maintain consistency, Smith says, the survey is still administered among the same regions.

Even recently, residents of East Germany and West Germany respond differently to questions concerning patriotism. The latter region, which was under Allied control during the Cold War, reports more national pride than its counterparts to the east, who experienced Communist rule.
Behind East Germany are other nations formerly ruled by the Soviet Union, such as Latvia and Slovakia, and nations like West Germany and Norway, which were formed long ago and thus do not have a recent "creation myth" that inspires fervent pride.

War, though, critically influences a country's reported patriotism. Citizens feel it is their duty to support their nation while it is embroiled in international conflict, according to Scott Althaus, an associate professor of speech communication and political science at the University of Illinois. This assumption may explain the overnight spike in Bush's approval ratings after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
But such wartime pride is only temporary, according to Matthew Baum, a visiting associate professor of public policy at Harvard. Bush's initially high approval ratings dropped as the years passed and the fatalities in Iraq mounted.

If citizens do not see positive results, Baum says, a backlash in patriotism occurs. The desire to rally around the flag, then, doesn't last long. So America's patriotism is likely waning with each passing day.
Public displays of patriotism are as diverse as the nations that inspire them. There are serious manifestations, of course, such as when American families congregate to watch fireworks on the Fourth of July or Israeli soldiers gather in silence to mourn fallen comrades. But there are joyfully spirited demonstrations, too; face-painted soccer fans bellowed cheers for Spain (ranked 16th out of 32 countries in the NORC survey) to win the World Cup.

In the presence or absence of war, whether a nation is 50 or 500 years old, citizens of every country show pride in ways only they can truly understand.