Liberal Democracy and National Minorities

Abstract

This chapter probes the limits of liberal individualism from a different angle. It argues that liberalism welcomes individual but not group differences, those resulting from individual choices but not those that are ascriptive or inherited. It is also committed to the homogenous nation state granting an identical basket of rights to all its citizens, and feels deeply nervous in the presence of loosely structured and sometimes asymmetrical polities based on regional autonomy. As a result, liberalism finds it difficult to deal with the demand for greater regional autonomy, and often unwittingly provokes secessionist movements.