Description
Book SynopsisEmpirically thorough and conceptually clear, Crafting State-Nations will have a substantial impact on the study of comparative political institutions and the conception and understanding of nationalism and democracy.
Trade ReviewUseful and important. Choice For its conceptual innovation, erudition, and real-world applicability, this book deserves to be widely read... The authors tell us that the goal of their analysis is "to expand our collective political imaginations" (p. xiv) about how to combine democracy and ethnic diversity. They have brilliantly succeeded in meeting that goal. -- Ashutosh Varshney Journal of Democracy This book offers a compelling account of "state-nation" -ism as a political model. -- Louise Tillin Publius The book makes a very timely and important intervention to understanding nationalism and democracy in the study of comparative politics. -- Rohit K. Dasgupta Asian Affairs As they intended, Stepan, Linz, and Yadav have imagined alternative democratic formations for managing deeply pluralistic societies. Their models of state-nations, and of federacies, expand the realm of what might be considered politically possible in democracies. For this reason, their work will be of interest to scholars interested in pluralistic societies and concerned about democracy in all parts of the world. -- Daniel Jasper International Journal on World Peace
Table of ContentsList of Tables and Figures
Preface
1. Comparative Theory and Political Practice: Do We Need a ''State-Nation'' Model as Well as a ''Nation-State'' Model?
2. India as a State-Nation: Shared Political Community amidst Deep Cultural Diversity
3. Four Indian Cases That Challenge State-Nation Theory?
4. Tamils in India: How State-Nation Policies Helped Construct Multiple but Complementary Identities
5. Tamils in Sri Lanka: How Nation-State Policies Helped Construct Polar and Conflictual Identities
6. Ukraine: State-Nation Policies in a Unitary State
7. Federacy: A Formula for Democratically Managing MultinationalSocieties in Unitary States
8. The U.S. Federal Model and Multinational Societies: Some Problems for Democratic Theory and Practice
Bibliography
Index
