Nations & Self-Determination

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Nations

Nations are groups of people who identify themselves as a cohesive unit based on shared values in society.

Nations and countries

The nation is the central focus of politics and political activity.
A nation does not just relate to a country. A nation may also be a political unit within a country.
- E.g. Scotland
- E.g. Quebec
A nation without a state, like Scotland or Quebec, may pursue a form of minority nationalism, whereby it seeks self-determination from the host-state in order to improve the economic, social and political condition of its people.

Nations and sovereignty

A nation may or may not have sovereignty depending on its constitutional settlement.
- For example, while Scotland has control over health and education, it is not sovereign. The UK government can take this power back by a simple majority in the UK Parliament.
In federal countries, however, some degree of sovereignty is given. French-speaking Quebec is a nation due to its language, culture, and traditions and also has sovereignty as a member of Canada.

Defining nations

The cohesiveness of a nation may be based on, for example, language, religion, ancestry, history and/or race.
A nation may not have the political structures that it desires. The people of a nation have common bonds which foster a sense of kinship but lack political autonomy.
Some nations lack distinct territory; for example, Kurds and Palestinians meet the requirements of a nation but have no territory of their own.

Example - Scotland

Scotland is within the UK but has a distinct identity that is rooted in its history as a separate country.
Despite the creation of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government in 1999 and the devolution of significant powers to Scotland, the SNP has consistently argued for independence from the UK.
They argue that Scotland can only achieve its true potential outside the UK and the aspirational character of this nationalism is replicated in most nations.

Self-Determination

Self-determination is the idea that the nation should have the right to govern itself and that only self-government can achieve the outcomes that are in the interest of the nation.

Statehood

The achievement of an independent nation-state (statehood) is the ultimate, and most desirable, goal.
Forms of political autonomy, like devolution in Scotland, are welcome but are not enough to satisfy the need for self-determination.
Only statehood (the formation of an independent nation-state) will suffice.

Forms of self-determination

The desire for self-determination today takes a number of forms:
- Nations without territory: the Kurds, for example, have no territory of their own. The desire for their own nation-state has led some to take up arms against host-states who they feel illegally and unfairly occupy their territory.
- Nations that are occupied or under coercive control: Taiwan is a nation which has been de facto independent since 1950. However, its sovereignty is disputed by China which seeks its reunification with the mainland.

Forms of self-determination

The desire for self-determination today takes a number of forms:
- Nations seeking independence by democratic means: Scotland, Quebec and Catalonia seek independence through secession - the severing of the territory from the host state (the UK, Canada and Spain).
- They seek a mandate for this action by achieving a majority in a referendum.
- This implies that the route to statehood is through negotiation.

International law

International law, after WW2, recognised the right to self-determination.
In the latter half of the twentieth century, self-determination was achieved through independence from Empires (as in Africa) or larger political units (as in eastern Europe from the Soviet Union).
It became a jus cogens rule, a law that all states recognise as binding.
However, this does not give an automatic right to statehood so nations usually have to prove that they have majority national support.