Nation-state

:This article is about the political concept. For the Internet game, .

History

The origins of the nation-state are disputed: see the main article on nationalism. Some theories see them as a 19th-century European invention, the product of nationalist movements, facilitated by developments such as mass literacy and the early mass media. Some see the nation-state as emerging in a few specific states, such as France and its rival England. They expanded from a core region, and developed a national consciousness, and sense of national identity ('Englishness'). Both assimilated peripheral regions and their cultures (Wales, Brittany, Aquitaine and Occitania), where regionalism and nationalism resurfaced in the 19th century.

Related Topics:
Nationalism - Literacy - Mass media - France - England

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The idea of a nation-state is associated with the rise of the modern system of states, usually dated to the Treaty of Westphalia (1648). The balance of power, which characterises that system, depends for its effectiveness on clearly-defined, centrally controlled, independent entities, whether empires or nation-states. The nation-state received a philosophical underpinning from the era of Romanticism, at first as the 'natural' expression of the individual peoples (romantic nationalism). Since then many varieties of nationalism have developed.

Related Topics:
Treaty of Westphalia - Balance of power - Romanticism - Romantic nationalism - Nationalism

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The increasing emphasis on the ethnic and racial origins of the nation, during the 19th century, led to a redefinition of the nation-state in ethnic and racial terms. That reached its height in the fascist movements of the 20th century. The combination of 'nation' ('people') and 'state' expressed in such terms as the Völkische Staat made fascist states such as early Nazi Germany qualitatively different from non-fascist nation-states. Obviously minorities, who are not part of the Volk, have no authentic or legitimate role in such a state. (The ultimate development of the Nazi state was determined by the total war which its conquests initiated, rather than Nazi theories of the state).

Related Topics:
Fascist - Nazi Germany - Total war

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In recent years, the nation-state's claim to absolute sovereignty within its borders has been much criticised. A global political system based on international agreements, and superanational blocs characterized the post-war era. Non-state actors, such as international corporations and non-governmental organizations, are widely seen as eroding the economic and political power of the nation-states.

Related Topics:
Absolute sovereignty - Bloc - International corporations - Non-governmental organizations

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