Cercle (French colonial) would still fall under the Indigénat. The "Lamine Guèye law" of 7 April 1946 formally extended citizenship across the empire, indigènes included. Third, the law of 20 September 1947 removed the two tier court system and mandated equal access to public employment. Reduced to a political subdivision roughly equivalent to a French department and stripped of the personal power of the Cercle Commander system, the Cercle name retained enough imperial connotations to be changed by most nations upon independence to Departments or Sub-Prefectures. Mali is the only nation in Sub-Saharan Africa to retain the name Cercle for its second level
What Is a Nation? that a nation is Thus the idea of nation is based upon common glories in the past,common will in the present to live together,having performed great deeds together and wish to perform still more for the nation,having future program to put into effect and having suffered, enjoyed and hoped together. A very important element of nationhood, says Renan, is the desire to continue forming part of the nation. Renan's second frequently quoted statement is: The existence of a nation (you will pardon me this metaphor) is a daily referendum, just as the continuing existence of an individual is a perpetual