essay on role of democracy in nation building

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By Carolyn Stephenson

January 2005  

Introduction

Nation-building is a normative concept that means different things to different people. The latest conceptualization is essentially that nation-building programs are those in which dysfunctional or unstable or "failed states" or economies are given assistance in the development of governmental infrastructure, civil society, dispute resolution mechanisms, as well as economic assistance, in order to increase stability. Nation-building generally assumes that someone or something is doing the building intentionally.

But it is important to look at the evolution of theories of nation-building and at the other concepts which it has both supplanted and included. Many people believe that nation-building is evolutionary rather than revolutionary, that is takes a long time and is a social process that cannot be jump-started from outside. The evolution of the Italian city-states into a nation, the German city-states into the Zollverein customs union and later a nation, the multiple languages and cultural groups in France into the nation of France, the development of China from the warring kingdoms, took a very long time, and were the result, not only of political leadership, but of changes in technology and economic processes (the agricultural and then industrial revolutions), as well as communication, culture and civil society, and many other factors.

In what Seymour Martin Lipset has called The First New Nation , the United States, at first 13 colonies with diverse origins, came together to form a new nation and state.[1] That state, like so many in contemporary times, faced the prospect of secession and disintegration in 1865, and it took another 100 years for the integration of black and white, North and South, East and West. This was a new type of nation-state, because its people were not all of the same ethnicity, culture, and language, as had been thought to be the case in the early defining of the concept of nation-state.

But nation-building by one nation may destroy others. In the building of the US nation and others, aboriginal nations were erased or marginalized. The Six-Nations Confederacy of the Iriquois had existed before the US nation (and was thought by some to be a model for it). Today many "First Nations" are in the process of nation re-building, re-building the social, cultural, economic and political foundations for what is left of self-governance. First nations seek to re-build cultural identities as nations in order to challenge their disintegration by others in the creation of their own states.

Association of First Nations National Chief Matthew Coon cited the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development (released in 2001 by the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard) proposal of a Nation Building Model of Economic Development. The project defined Nation-building as: "Equipping First Nations with the institutional foundation necessary to increase their capacity to effectively assert self-governing powers on behalf of their own economic, social and cultural objectives." [2] The study identified four core elements of a nation building model: 1) genuine self rule (First Nations making decisions about resource allocations, project funding and development strategy), 2) creating effective governing institutions (non-politicized dispute resolution mechanisms and getting rid of corruption), 3) cultural match (giving first nations institutions legitimacy in the eyes of their citizens), and the need for a strategic orientation (long-term planning).

One of the reasons for the difficulties of what many consider "failed states" is that some peoples who had been integrated were taken apart by European colonialism, while others who were separate peoples were integrated together in new states not based in common identities. Particularly in Africa and the Middle East, new political borders paid little attention to national identities in the creation of new states. Thus the notion of nation-state, a nation which developed the governmental apparatus of a state, was often nonsense. While in Europe nation-building historically preceded state-building, in post-colonial states, state-building preceded nation-building. The aftermath of colonialism led to the need for nation-building.

What IS nation-building?

A 2003 study by James Dobbins and others for the RAND Corporation defines nation-building as "the use of armed force in the aftermath of a conflict to underpin an enduring transition to democracy."[3] Comparing seven historical cases: Germany, Japan, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan, "in which American military power has been used in the aftermath of a conflict to underpin democratization elsewhere around the world since World War II," they review the lessons learned. This definition of nation-building is substantially different than those which see nation-building as the province of people within a nation. The definition centers around the building of democratic processes, but many argue that the use of the military to bring about democracy may be inherently contradictory. Whether nation-building can be imposed from outside is one of the central questions in this field, and whether that can be done by the military is a further part of the question.

What is a nation?

To understand the concept of nation-building, one needs to have some definition of what a nation is. Early conceptions of nation defined it as a group or race of people who shared history, traditions, and culture, sometimes religion, and usually language. Thus the United Kingdom comprises four nations, the English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh. The people of a nation generally share a common national identity , and part of nation-building is the building of that common identity. Some distinguish between an ethnic nation, based in (the social construction of) race or ethnicity, and a civic nation, based in common identity and loyalty to a set of political ideas and institutions, and the linkage of citizenship to nationality.

Today the word nation is often used synonymously with state, as in the United Nations. But a state is more properly the governmental apparatus by which a nation rules itself. Max Weber provided the classic definition of the state:

Today, however, we have to say that a state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory. Note that "territory" is one of the characteristics of the state. Specifically, at the present time, the right to use physical force is ascribed to other institutions or to individuals only to the extent to which the state permits it.[4]

In approaching the question of nation-building, and in particular its relationship to state-building, it is important to keep in mind that this definition specifies the legitimate use of force.

The Evolution of Nation-Building Theory

The term nation-building is often used simultaneously with state-building, democratization , modernization, political development, post-conflict reconstruction , and peacebuilding . But each concept is different, though their evolution is intertwined. The concept of nation-building came to be used especially among American political scientists a decade or so after World War II, to describe the greater integration of state and society, as citizenship brought loyalty to the modern nation-state with it. Reinhard Bendix focused on the expansion of citizenship and of rights to political participation. [5] Karl Deutsch focused on the role of social communication and national integration in nation-building in Western societies.[6] Others began to apply it to non-Western societies as well.

Almond and Coleman argued for the functional approach to understand and compare the political systems of developing countries.[7] They argued for the interdependence and multi-functionality of political structures, and argued especially that the input functions of political systems could help to distinguish stages of political development. They defined input functions as: 1) political socialization and recruitment, 2) interest articulation, 3) interest aggregation, and 4) political communication. Output functions were: 5) rule-making, 6) rule application, and 7) rule adjudication. [8] Most nation-building after the end of the Cold War seems to focus more on the output functions.

Lucian Pye linked modernization with Westernization and "the diffusion of a world culture," what we might today call globalization .[9] He identified political development with:

.A world culture based on advanced technology and the spirit of science, on a rational view of life, a secular approach to social relations, a feeling for justice in public affairs, and, above all else, on the acceptance in the political realm that the prime unit of the polity should be the nation-state.[10]

Pye identified multiple meanings of political development, among them:

• as prerequisite to economic development,
• as politics typical of industrial societies,
• as political modernization,
• as administrative and legal development,
• as mass mobilization and participation ,
• as the building of democracy , and
• as stability and orderly change.

He identifies equality as one of the basic themes running through all of these.[11] While nation-building after 9/11 still incorporates many of these meanings of political development, equality does not seem to play a major role in practice.

Dudley Seers, in his presidential address to the Society for International Development in 1969, presaged what has become the concept of human development . He said:

The questions to ask about a country's development are therefore: what has been happening to poverty? What has been happening to unemployment? What has been happening to inequality? If all these have declined from high levels, then beyond doubt this has been a period of development....[12]

In the 1990s the UN Development Program brought out the Human Development Report and the Human Development Index to focus on those aspects of development other than economic, including in the index both health and education. Many UN programs, as well as NGO efforts, focus on these aspects, and the World Bank has begun to focus on poverty, but to date there seems no effort by the US in either Afghanistan or Iraq to include poverty, unemployment, or inequality in nation-building efforts.

Almond and Verba in 1963 introduced the concept of The Civic Culture to the development literature. The civic culture, which combines tradition and modernity, is one of the processes that sustain democracy. Almond and Verba defined as part of this civic culture the obligation to participate and the sense of civic competence and cooperation. They also noted the importance of the role of education in the development of a civic culture.[13] Alexis de Toqueville had noted the importance of associations in sustaining Democracy in America at its earliest stages.[14] Robert Putnam, in exploring the civil traditions in modern Italy that make democracy work, includes in his notion of the civic community: civic engagement, political equality, and solidarity, trust , and tolerance , in addition to associations.[15] He finds the presence of choral societies in Italy, bowling leagues in the US, and other associations, to be important, but in Bowling Alone , finds such associations to be reducing in the US today.

The importance of civil society also became clear as a factor in the movement from authoritarianism toward democracy in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe at the end of the Cold War. The role of civil society received much support in early nation-building/democratization efforts in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, but has drastically declined since then. This notion of the importance of civil society as an underpinning to democratic nation-building seems to be given lip-service in current efforts, but in reality it is not seen as significant by nation-builders if one measures this by any spending measure.

If nation-building in the 20th century is to be successful, it may want to return to look at some of its early theorists. The importance of democratic values, of the civic culture and civil society that develop and sustain them, the importance of increasing social, political, and economic equality, and of human development, rather than just economic development or state-building, are key in any successful strategy for long-term democratic nation-building. Nation-building is more than just state-building. To be a sustainable force for peacebuilding, it must incorporate more than just the Western appendages of democracy. Voting systems and free market development and increasing the GNP per capita are not likely to bring stable peace .

Why does nation-building matter?

Nation-building matters to intractable conflict because of the theory that a strong state is necessary in order to provide security , that the building of an integrated national community is important in the building of a state, and that there may be social and economic prerequisites or co-requisites to the building of an integrated national community.

Further, when nation-building implies democratization, there is the further hypothesis known as the democratic peace hypothesis. Originally explicated by Immanuel Kant in the 17th century, the democratic peace hypothesis says that perpetual peace can be achieved by developing a federation or league of free republican nations. Representative democracies, organized in an international organization, would bring peace. Political scientists who have explored this hypothesis have focused on one of two versions: democracies don't make war against each other, or democracies don't initiate war at all. There is certainly evidence of the former, and some evidence of the latter.

The other side of the coin is that nation-building may sometimes be simply another name for external intervention and the extension of empires. If it can be said that failed states are the cause of national, regional, or world security problems, or that human rights abuses are so extensive that the need to overcome them in turn overcomes the traditional sovereignty rights of states under international law , then intervention in the name of nation-building can be seen to be justified. Sometimes nation-building may simply be used as a justification for the expansion of imperial control. So nation-building matters, but what is meant by nation-building matters even more.

What can be done?

The first major question that needs to be asked is whether nation-building should be done at all. In the context of intractable conflict, is nation-building an appropriate method of providing stable peace and a secure community, which can meet the needs of the people within it? There are mixed conclusions here. The democratic peace hypothesis argues that democratic states do not initiate wars, or alternatively, in its more limited version, do not initiate wars against each other. Immanuel Kant's original statement of the hypothesis in his essay on Perpetual Peace in the 17th century argued both for the necessity of republican (or representative democracy) governments, and for their participation in a league of peace, or federation of free nations.[16] This would mean that the simple creation of democratic nations would not be enough; peace would require also the creation of some sort of international governance and international law.

There is disagreement among current theorists of nation-building as to the relationships between the development of a free market economy and the development of democratic participation, as well as over the necessity of building a civil society as a prerequisite for the development of state institutions for democratic participation. Different theories of nation-building emphasize different parts of the arguments. Different versions of nation-building benefit different groups. Some appear to benefit more the outside countries, and/or the international governmental and nongovernmental organizations which are involved. Some benefit elites in the nation being built or rebuilt. Some spread benefits widely in the society; some do not.

Nation-building that will be likely to contribute to stable international peace will need to emphasize the democratic participation of people within the nation to demand rights . It will need to build the society, economy, and polity which will meet the basic needs of the people, so that they are not driven by poverty, inequality, unemployment, on the one hand, or by a desire to compete for resources and power either internally or in the international system. This does means not only producing the formal institutions of democracy, but the underlying culture which recognizes respect for the identities and needs of others both within and outside. It means development of human rights -- political, civil, economic and social, and the rule of law. But it also means development of sewer systems, and roads, and jobs. Perhaps most important, it means the development of education . Nation-building must allow the participation of civil society , and develop democratic state institutions that promote welfare. Democratic state-building is an important part of that. This is a multi-faceted process that will proceed differently in each local context.

WHO? Military or Civilian?

The second major question in what can be done about nation-building is the question (if it should be done) of who should do it, and who CAN effectively do it. The literature is divided over these issues. Clearly the US leadership of the years 2001-4 believes that nation-building in Iraq is primarily the province of the US military. It has shut out even much of the US State Department in this effort, let alone other countries, let alone Iraqis themselves. But the US military itself remains divided on the issue of whether the military should be involved in peacekeeping, peacebuilding, and nation-building. Some argue that this is not the function of the military; it is to exert force, or as retired Colonel Fred Peck announced in an NPR interview October 22, 2001: "Our job is to kill people and smash things." Some argue that this would weaken the military and make them less capable of doing their primary task of defending US national interests. Some argue that the institution that projects force cannot at the same time build peace or build a nation. The U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command's "Mission Statement and Commander's Intent" says that it develops competent and adaptive leaders ..., imbu[ing] the qualities and skills necessary to dominate across the spectrum of conflict."[17] Is it possible to dominate across the spectrum of conflict at the same time as helping to build a nation?[18]

There are others in and out of the US military who argue for a kinder, gentler military, and argue that military training needs to be changed to reflect these new tasks. In a 2003 article in The Atlantic Monthly , Robert Kaplan [19] laid out 10 rules for "Managing the World." The first rule: "Produce More Joppolos," refers to Major Victor Joppolo, from John Hersey's novel, A Bell for Adano .[20] Kaplan argues that Joppolo, a US civil affairs officer who became the post-WWII military mayor of Adano, and worked to settle internal disputes, return fishermen to the sea, and find a replacement for the bell Mussolini had melted down for arms, can be a model for soldiers in military occupations and peacemaking operations. US Army Lt. Colonel Patrick Donohoe argues that the Army must prepare leaders for nation building, by providing training in "culture; basic law and civics; city planning and public administration; economics; and ethics," as well as language, and "how a free, democratic government is supposed to work."[21] He argues that ethics training must include knowledge of the Geneva Conventions and the Law of Armed Conflict. While all of these may be important, one is still left with the question of whether the military is the best institution for nation-building.

WHO? The US? or the UN?

Another question is whether an outside country can build a nation in another country. Is nation-building more effectively done by a single country, by the UN or UN-related organizations, by regional organizations, or by some combination of these? Michael Ignatieff, in a cogent article critiquing "nation-building lite" in Afghanistan, prior to the start of the second Iraq war, argues for "imperial nation-building," for the importance of sufficient US application of force and sufficient and much larger application of dollars in development aid to make a difference in a critical period. He acknowledges this as imperialism, arguing that "nation-building is the kind of imperialism you get in a human rights era, a time when great powers believe simultaneously in the right of small nations to govern themselves and in their own right to rule the world."[22] He argues that Afghans "understand the difficult truth that their best hope of freedom lies in a temporary experience of imperial rule."

The 2003 RAND study by James Dobbins and others reviews the lessons learned in US nation-building efforts. Comparing seven historical cases: Germany, Japan, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan, "in which American military power has been used in the aftermath of a conflict to underpin democratization elsewhere around the world since World War II,"[23]

Dobbins and colleagues come to the following conclusions:

Dobbins and colleagues recognize the advantages of a multilateral approach, arguing that while it is more complex and time-consuming, it is less expensive for any one participant and, more important, is better at producing both transformation and regional reconciliation. They also recognize the important role of neighboring countries. They make no mention of the US attempt to win hearts and minds in Vietnam.

The United Nations has participated in nation-building efforts both through the Security Council's authorization of peacekeeping missions involving primarily military, but also civilian and police participants as well. Among these have been Cambodia, Angola, and Bosnia in the early 1990s, and Kosovo and East Timor. Some have been more, some less, successful. It has also participated in development and human rights efforts completely aside from peacekeeping. Efforts range from those of UNICEF in fostering children's rights, to the UN Development Program in providing human development aid , to the Ad Hoc Criminal Tribunals on Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, to the World Food Program, to UNESCO's Education for All program. These are also an important component of nation-building. Economic, social, and political development, and institutions which protect human rights and provide for the rule of law, are important not only to post-conflict peacebuilding , but to nation-building at any stage of development or any stage of conflict . And it may well be that the international legitimacy that can be provided by a global institution may be better for nation-building than efforts by any single country, or a regional organization, or a "coalition of the willing." Accusations of "imperial nation-building" are reduced when there is greater international consensus.

But Donini, Niland and Wermester question whether Western approaches, military and technological, can foster just outcomes, whether through individual countries efforts or through UN agencies. They raise questions of how UN agencies and international NGOs interact with national and local communities in the process of providing aid for political reconstruction and human rights development. Can nation-building really come from outside at all? It may be necessary to go back to the debates over the definition and purposes of nation-building to answer that question.

WHO? IGOs , States or NGOs ?

NGOs and state development agencies have also played important roles in nation-building projects. Mary Anderson has argued that foreign development aid has often fostered the propensity for greater conflict rather than reducing it. She urges that state development agencies first be certain to "do no harm."[24] As states began both to realize the costs of development aid, both financial and otherwise, NGOs became increasingly involved. Supposedly NGOs, with smaller budgets and staffs, could have a greater likelihood of actually reaching the needs of people. But both IGOs and NGOs have now become big business, and many now have the same disadvantages of states.

The issue is not so much which agency, but how the agency functions. Does it simply throw money at the problem? Does it exacerbate tensions by providing money or projects unevenly across ethnic groups or regions in such a way as to generate competition or, worse, security fears? Is its presence so big that it overwhelms the local or national governing structures it is trying to nurture? Is it culturally knowledgeable and sensitive? If one of the components of nation-building is to nurture the further development of civil society, how does an outside organization interact with civil society? This brings us to our final question: can nation-building be done by external actors, or is it only effective when done by those whose nation is being built?

WHO? Indigenous or exogenous actors?

Nation-building is an evolutionary process. It takes a long time. One of the problems with outside actors is that they come and they go. While it may be considered useful for an outside military occupation or peacekeeping force to provide the temporary stability and security necessary in order to allow the process of nation-building to proceed, the question of whether this is the best method remains. If a military stays too short a time, expectations of a dependable peace for the foreseeable future may not develop, and thus people will be unlikely to invest in the future. If, on the other hand, a military stays too long, people will rely on the security provided by outsiders and fail to develop their own institutions for providing it.

The same questions may be asked about outside civilian actors, whether a single state, a regional organization, a global organization, or an NGO. While a significant influx of resources may be necessary, especially in the period immediately following a violent conflict, the right amount, the right methods, and the right length of time are critical. In general, it appears that nation-building is best left in the hands of those whose nation it is or will be, and that outside organizations support, rather than direct, nation-building.

Arguing for the importance of indigenous nation-building does not mean that outside actors should ignore the process. If an outside military is to be involved, it must be funded and supplied sufficiently so that it can bring order and security following conflict. Or it must stay out. Similarly, if there is to be outside civilian involvement, whether state-based, IGO or NGO, it must also have sufficient funding and technical skills in order to provide what is needed and to stay the course. Arguing for the indignity of the process should not be an excuse for exiting the process where there is need for outside help.

[1] Lipset, Seymour M.(1979). The First New Nation .W.W. Norton & Co. Inc.

[2] Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development. Available online at http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/hpaied/res-main.htm . Accessed Feb 9, 2005.

[3] Dobbins, James. (2003). "Nation-Building: the Inescapable Responsibility of the World's Only Superpower." RAND Review, Summer 2003.

[4] Weber, Max. "Politics as a Vocation," in Gerth and Mills. From Max Weber. New York, 1946. 48.

[5] Reinhard Bendix, Nationbuilding and Citizenship (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977).

[6] Karl Deutsch, "Nation-Building and National Development: Some Issues for Political Research," in Karl Deutsch and William Foltz, eds., Nationbuilding (New York: Atherton, 1963) 7-8.

[7] Almond, Gabriel A. and James S. Coleman (eds.) The Politics of the Developing Areas. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1960.

[8] Ibid, p 17.

[9] Pye, Lucian W. Aspects of Political Development. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1966.

[10] Ibid, p. 9

[11] Ibid, pp. 33-45

[12] SeErs, Dudley, "The Meaning of Development," in Uphoff, Norman T. and Warren F. Ilchman (eds.). The Political Economy of Development. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972. p. 124.

[13] Almond, Gabriel A. and Sidney Verba. The Civic Culture. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1963, pp. 315-324.

[14] Tocqueville, Alexis de. Democracy in America . Hardcover ed. New York: Signet Books, 2001.

[15] Putnam, Robert D. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993, pp. 86-91.

[16] Kant, Immanuel. Perpetual Peace, and Other Essays on Politics, History, and Morals. Hacket Publishing Company, 1983.

[17] As cited in Donohoe, "Preparing Leaders for Nationbuilding"Military Review. http://www.Leavenworth.army.mil/milrev/download/English/MayJun04/don.pdf

[18] Army Training and Doctrine Command, "Mission Statement and Commander's Intent," on-line at http://www.tradoc.army.mil/tpubs/regs/r870-1.pdf , accessed 16 April 2004.

[19] Robert Kaplan, "Supremacy by Stealth," The Atlantic Monthly (July-August 2003): 65.

[20] John Hersey, A Bell for Adano. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1944.

[21] Donohoe, Patrick. "Preparing Leaders for Nationbuilding"Military Review. http://www.Leavenworth.army.mil/milrev/download/English/MayJun04/don.pdf

[22] Michael Ignatieff. "Nation-Building Lite," New York Times Magazine, 28 July 2002.

[23] Dobbins, James. (2003). "Nation-Building: the Inescapable Responsibility of the World's Only Superpower." RAND Review, Summer 2003.

[24] Anderson, Mary. "Do No Harm." Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1999.

Use the following to cite this article: Stephenson, Carolyn . "Nation Building." Beyond Intractability . Eds. Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess. Conflict Information Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted: January 2005 < http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/nation-building >.

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Nation-Building

Introduction, reference works: concepts and definitions.

• Structural Explanations
• State-Planned Policies
• Third-Party Nation-Building
• Contingency, Events, and Demonstration Effects
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• Self-Determination Movements
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Nation-Building by Harris Mylonas LAST REVIEWED: 24 September 2020 LAST MODIFIED: 24 September 2020 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199743292-0217

Nation-building may be defined as the process through which the boundaries of the modern state and those of the national community become congruent. The desired outcome is to achieve national integration ( Reference Works: Concepts and Definitions ). The major divide in the literature centers on the causal path that leads to national integration. Thus, nation-building has been theorized as a structural process intertwined with industrialization, urbanization, social mobilization, etc. ( Structural Explanations ); as the result of deliberate state policies that aim at the homogenization of a state along the lines of a specific constitutive story—that can and often does change over time and under certain conditions ( State-Planned Policies ); as the product of top-bottom processes that could originate from forces outside of the boundaries of the relevant state; and as the product of bottom-up processes that do not require any state intervention to come about ( Contingency, Events, and Demonstration Effects ). Since the emergence of nationalism as the dominant ideology to legitimate authority and the template of the nation-state as an organizational principle of the international system, state elites have pursued different policies toward the various unassimilated groups within their territorial boundaries ( Seminal Case Studies ) with variable consequences ( Nation-Building and Its Consequences ). Thus, scholars have suggested that the nation-building experience of each state—or lack thereof—has had an impact on patterns of State Formation and Social Order , Self-Determination Movements , War Onset , and Public Goods Provision .

The concept of nation-building cannot be understood without the help of certain key concepts such as the nation, national identity, nation-state, and nationalism. The term “nation” has been defined by multiple philosophers, scholars, and practitioners. These definitions range from essentialist ones that reify certain characteristics as purely national ones ( Herder 2004 , Fichte 2008 ) to more constructivist ones highlighting collective ascription as a key element for the existence of a nation ( Renan 1995 , Anderson 1983 ). Tension exists between scholars who see the emergence of modern nations as a natural outgrowth from centuries of development and those who understand national identity as a modern social construct. Naturally, most nationalists themselves adopt a primordialist understanding of nationhood but prominent scholars also highlight the ethnic origins of modern nations ( Smith 1986 ). Modernization scholars ( Gellner 2006 , Anderson 1983 ) and, later on, various strands of constructivists ( Laitin 2007 , Brubaker 1996 ) have pointed out the limitations of the primordialist view. The view of nations being the natural outgrowth of premodern ethnies often assumes phenotypical commonalities that do not correspond to realities on the ground. Moreover, constructivists echo Renan’s critique that shared ethnic attributes do not necessarily mean a shared national identity or imply anything about loyalty to a nation. Finally, a primordialist perspective that essentializes attributes cannot help us explain identity change ( Laitin 2007 ) or the timing of “national awakenings.” Regardless of the definition of the nation and debates about the origins of nationalism, most scholars agree that nationalism—the “political principle which holds that the political and the national unit should be congruent” ( Gellner 2006 , see p. 1)—is one of the most potent ideologies in modern times. In fact, what differentiates an ethnic group from a stateless national group is the fact that the former is not motivated by a nationalist ideology, namely the belief that the world is divided into national units (“nation-states”), that the primary loyalty should be to the nation and not to the family, the kinship group, or some other local or supranational unit, accompanied by a claim to sovereignty over a territorially bounded homeland. Nationalism takes different forms depending on the position that the group making the claim to sovereignty currently occupies in relation to other groups ( Hechter 2000 ).

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism . London: Verso, 1983.

Anderson introduces an influential definition of nationalism that focuses on the constructed nature of nations, calling them “imagined communities.” He defines the nation as an imagined impersonal community, defined by its common history and perceived distinctiveness, that is believed to exercise the collective right to sovereign control over a given territory.

Brubaker, Rogers. Nationalism Refrained: Nationhood and the National Question in the New Europe . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511558764

Brubaker’s theme is the nationalization of the political sphere. He highlights the dynamic interaction in the triadic nexus involving national minorities, nationalizing states, and external national homelands. The three entities are far from fixed according to Brubaker, who invites us to stop treating the “nation” as an entity and approach it as “an institutionalized form.”

Fichte, Johann Gottlieb. Addresses to the German Nation . Edited and translated by Gregory Moore. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008.

Fichte (1808) defined the nation by objective criteria such as shared attributes. For Fichte, language is a natural phenomenon. Indeed, the possession of a shared language defines the natural boundaries of a Volk or a Nation. Fichte’s writings developed in reaction to the occupation of German territories by Napoleon’s forces.

Gellner, Ernest. Nations and Nationalism . 2d ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 2006.

This pathbreaking book was originally published in 1983. Gellner famously defined nationalism as “primarily a political principle that holds that the political and the national unit should be congruent” (p. 1). He emphasized the role of industrialization in the emergence and spread of nationalism through the introduction of mass schooling and assimilation into a high culture.

Hechter, Michael. Containing Nationalism . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Hechter defines nations as “territorially concentrated ethnic groups” (p. 14). He focuses on the transition from indirect to direct rule and identifies different types of nationalism: State-Building Nationalism, Peripheral Nationalism, Irredentist Nationalism, Unification Nationalism, and Patriotism. Hechter, echoing Gellner, defines nationalism as “a collective action designed to render the boundaries of the nation congruent with those of its governance unit” (p. 15).

Herder, Johann Gottfried. Another Philosophy of History and Selected Political Writings . Edited and translated by Ioannis Evrigenis and Daniel Pellerin. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 2004.

This is a reliable English translation of Herder’s writings from the second half of the 18th century. Herder argued that “Nature raises families; the most natural state is therefore also one people, with one national character. Through the millennia, this national character is maintained within a people and can be developed most naturally if its native prince so desires, for a people is as much a plant of nature as a family, only with more branches” (p. 128). He is considered as one of the fathers of romantic nationalism.

Laitin, David. Nations, States, and Violence . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.

Laitin defines the nation as a population with a coordinated set of beliefs about their cultural identities whose representatives claim ownership of a state for them by dint of that coordination either through separation, amalgamation, or return. Benefits of coordination explain the stickiness of these national identities.

Renan, Ernest. “What Is a Nation?” In The Nationalism Reader . Edited by Omar Dahbour and Micheline R. Ishay, 143–155. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press, 1995.

This is an English translation of a lecture that Renan gave in 1882 at Sorbonne University. It presents one of the first coherent and thorough critiques of the romantic nationalist view. Renan reviews the most common markers used to define nations in Europe, such as race, dynasty, language, religion, and geography, and discusses their limitations. For Renan, “the existence of a nation is a daily plebiscite” (p. 154).

Smith, Anthony D. The Ethnic Origins of Nations . Oxford: Blackwell, 1986.

Smith has famously engaged Gellner’s claim that “any old shred and patch would do” for the purposes of constructing a nation. Smith, instead, highlights the importance of ethnic roots in the formation of nations. He takes issue with the emphasis on the exclusively modern quality of nations and argues that most nations have premodern origins in the form of long-standing cultural symbols that are building blocks for modern nation-building.

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Nation-Building and Development as Ideology and Practice

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Mass dictatorships are transnational formations of modernity that are inextricably linked to broader historical interactions on the global scale. All nations converge on the common project to create modern nation-states, yet the differing starting points gave urgency to the notion of “catching up with the rest.” The connection between nation-building and development manifested first in nineteenth-century Europe, where a perceived sense of crisis emerged from a fatal fear of falling economically behind. Great Britain established dominance in world trade through its linkages with the Atlantic nexus of slaves, sugar plantations and industrialization. Combined with the Asian trade in commodities such as tea and opium, a formidable economic powerhouse emerged that became the envy of the world. Contrary to theories that emphasize “Protestant ethics,” industrialization did not emerge because of an inherent industriousness of the British workforce. Great Britain was the first to integrate successfully with the global market by rapidly connecting its economy to the key “peripheral regions” beyond Europe. Other European powers soon followed this expansionist path to construct empires that spanned the globe.

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Kim, M. (2016). Nation-Building and Development as Ideology and Practice. In: Corner, P., Lim, JH. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Mass Dictatorship. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-43763-1_5

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Lessons Learned About Nation Building

Veteran diplomat Keith Mines shares lessons from decades in the world's hot spots

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DURHAM, N.C. – In the view of one seasoned diplomat, there's never a failure in nation-building, "there's just an incomplete success.”

And that answered the question posed by the title of a webinar featuring diplomat Keith Mines: “Is Nation-Building Ever Successful: Lessons from Afghanistan, Colombia, the Balkans and Elsewhere.”

Mines has taken part in nation-building efforts as a Special Forces officer, diplomat, occupation administrator and United Nations official.

Last Thursday, he and former ambassador Patrick Duddy, now director of Duke’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies , discussed Mines’ take on nation-building from his vast experience.

Duddy, the United States’ most recent ambassador to Venezuela, opened by asking Mines where nation-building has worked.

Namibia, Cambodia, Mozambique, East Timor, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Balkans are among the nation’s where nation-building helped stem crisis including famine, genocide and war, Mile said.

“They're all successes that we have to be realistic about what's possible,” he said. “We're not turning countries into Switzerland, we're turning them away from civil war.”

Iraq and Afghanistan are recent examples of where the U.S. and others largely did not get it right, he said. Quickly training security forces, creating jobs and being present – but not overwhelmingly visible – are some of the areas that fell short, he said.

“We’ve got to be cautious about how heavy-handed we are, how visible we are ...,” Mines said. “The only way to do anything was to liberate the country and then start a process where you know somebody was running the country, but I think we were very inconsistent about how we applied those principles of being cautious. ...”

Mines, now director of the Latin America program at the U.S. Institute of Peace, used a pair of analogies to support his views, which are expanded upon in his recent book, “Why Nation-Building Matters” (Potomac Books, 2020).

He believes helping a nation recover from war, corrupt governance and other challenges requires a long-term commitment and an understanding it will likely be messy for some time.

Mines likened the effort to a sheriff and a mayor.

“Do we want to be the sheriff that every time there's an attack we run out and up a posse and go take care of that attack? Or do we want to try to support the mayor in in that small Western town to where the sheriff has less to do because it's being well-governed and they have situational awareness and all the other things that go along with the governance?

“So that's the question that I think we're debating and I think we have gone all the way back 20 years in our thinking in some ways in saying that the answer is just to wait for another attack and then go out with the posse. I would argue that that that is a fool's errand (that’s) not going to be very effective, and I think it is, it is also a bit sloppy.”

Mines also compared nation-building to Multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells that has affected him. A treatment drug is debilitating and costs $17,000 a month, he said.

“I asked the doctor, I said, ‘Well how long does this go on, I mean when are we done?’ He said, ‘Well, how long do you want to live?’

Keeping countries stable and from falling into extreme fragility that leads to more problems requires a similar perspective as the merits of a maintenance drug, he said.

He also said some in the U.S. politicize the UN unfairly. The organization can sometimes do a much better job of helping rebuild a nation than we can, largely because of their expertise, Mines said.

When asked by a viewer to describe how democracy and nation-building, which requires a strong state, can coexist, Mines acknowledged it’s “tricky.”

“The question of democracy, what I would suggest is that the only long-term road to stability ultimately is consensual governance and so democracy, I think, is the ultimate goal, I think. In many cases, everyone would be better served by accepting something less than democracy on the road to that consensual governance, to that ultimate democracy.”

Regarding the way forward in Afghanistan, where he started working in 2002, Mines said sanctions and embargoes can be used “as a weapon against a political leadership, but we must also recognize that the country is going to need assistance.”

“We need some way to weave between the anger that the international community may have toward the Taliban and a recognition that there are still 30 million Afghans that are going to need international assistance to get through the winter. So I would hope that there's some kind of a balance between.”

The webinar was organized by the  DUCIGS/Rethinking Diplomacy Program  and co-sponsored by the  Duke Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies , the  Duke Center of International Development  and the  Duke Program in American Grand Strategy .

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Nation-Building and Education

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Alberto Alesina, Paola Giuliano, Bryony Reich, Nation-Building and Education, The Economic Journal , Volume 131, Issue 638, August 2021, Pages 2273–2303, https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/ueab001

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Democracies and dictatorships have different incentives when it comes to choosing how much and by what means to homogenise the population, i.e., ‘to build a nation’. We study and compare nation-building policies under the transition from dictatorship to democracy in a model where the type of government and borders of the country are endogenous. We find that the threat of democratisation provides the strongest incentive to homogenise. We focus upon a specific nation-building policy: mass primary education. We offer historical discussions of nation-building across time and space, and provide correlations for a large sample of countries over the 1925–2014 period.

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Work Session Proceedings: Reports Lidija R. Basta Fleiner Constitution Making and Nation Building (Work Sessions 5 and 17) 1. Introduction: key questions Constitution making and nation building in multicultural societies is in fact an issue of state building. The authors of the Theme II Paper rightly say that the critical challenge can be defined as “finding a political compromise between two sources that results in an institutional equilibrium” (see Fleiner, Kälin, Linder, Saunders, Part C). Given that “state making does not axiomatically or mechanically lead to building of a nation” (see Haysom, Part C), this political compromise has to be reached at a constitutive, state-building level. The nature and even viability of pouvoir constituant for multiethnic societies is a major stake. The constitutions in this case also have to “reconcile sameness and difference” by addressing identity politics. This objective implies that a constitution may receive an additional role as an instrument that can mediate identity conflicts where major liberal virtues supporting liberty and popular sovereignty – those of tolerance and trust respectively – are not at hand. In consequence, the interrelationship of constitution and nation building is an area where major policy recommendations necessarily have to flow almost directly from basic conceptual considerations about constitutive particularities of multiethnic societies. Together with federalism, multiculturalism calls for revision of the major liberal democratic principle, namely that majority as such is the legitimate expression of the sovereign will of the people. One can indeed talk of a twofold structural challenge to constitutionalism. First, multiculturalism questions the intrinsic premise behind the modern nation state, which is that only a society homogenised in (one) identity can lead to political consensus as democratic consensus. Second, the demand that ethnic, religious, and cultural identities should publicly matter makes an epochal departure from the constitutive principle of modern politics, that of the neutrality of the public sphere against ethnic, cultural and religious group identities. When translated into demands for minority rights and territorial autonomy, identity politics cast a new light on the citizenship as the principle symbolising universality within a particular nation state. Minorities do not fit into the constitutive principles of modern polity as (through majority defined) democratic polity. In terms of constitution making and nation building, this means that two major problems have to be revisited: that of design of pouvoir constituant, and that of citizenship as the principle defining members of a polity. Put differently, a new answer is needed for the critical question on legitimacy: whose is the state? To ensure that the work sessions provided the vital link between the conceptual and the empirical, the following key questions formed a leitmotif in the case statements: ƒ Does the promotion of a common national identity complement or erode the existence of ethnic or sub-national identities in a multicultural society? What are the conditions for a positive interrelationship? ƒ In what circumstances, and how should the constitution itself expressly address and codify identity divisions in a multicultural society? ƒ How and in what circumstances can the federal model reduce (or assist in managing) ethnic conflict in a multicultural society? How and in what circumstances does it exacerbate such conflict? ƒ Can the design of a constitutional reform process yield a constitution more likely to address and manage identity-based divisions in a multicultural society? 2. Major points, lessons learned and policy recommendations 2.1. Constitution-Making Process – the cases of Cyprus and Serbia/Montenegro 2.1.1. Major Points To start with, the two cases indeed demonstrated quite a few commonalities. ƒ Illegitimate pouvoir constitutant and absence of a democratically constituted nation lie behind the present disputed state and constitutional design. ƒ The existing constitutional design was also instrumental in creating the political impasse and confrontation between elites. ƒ Absence of tolerance and trust as necessary conditions for peaceful and democratic society is evident; in the case Cyprus this seems likely to be irreversible, since a profoundly different perception was apparent in terms of key factors causing the conflict, as well as in terms of the assessment of present situation. ƒ Minority lines of argument (that of Montenegrins and Cypriot Turks respectively) and majority lines of argument (that of Cypriot Greeks and Serbs respectively) are similar among themselves: in both cases, the two correlating sides of the conflict are producing analogous “simulations”. Turks and Montenegrins “simulate” that the two independent states already exist; Yugoslav and Serbian government and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus “simulate” the existence of democratic legitimacy for the whole, neither of which is the case. ƒ There is international community moderation in both cases, and the “internationalisation” of otherwise nation-state constitution making is taking place. Nevertheless, significant, and even structural differences were also observed. Given different historical background, the case of Serbia and Montenegro is not a case of bi-communal ethnic conflict. Here the crucial issues of the conflict initiated by political elites, are crosscutting through Serbia and Montenegro. In Cyprus, the long-lasting conflict seems to have irreversibly radicalised the situation and in the last decades has generated new “facts”. In consequence, the conflict dominates all spheres of politics and society within Turkish and Greek communities respectively. 2.1.2. Lessons learned and policy recommendations ƒ The minority always tries to get as many “veto points” as possible in order to remain protected from overruling. ƒ It is minorities that focus on external rights for their territorial entities. This shows that they take negotiated solutions as somehow “transitory”. In the “internationalisation” of their position they sometimes see a “manoeuvring space” to reopen their issue. ƒ The categorical nature of ethnic conflicts inevitably leads to different readings even of the causes of the conflict. In this situation it is almost impossible to reach agreement on the constitutive nature of future common state framework. ƒ It is important that the foundations of commonalities as a road to common identity start with identifying common benefits of “staying together”. This presupposes ceasing to look backwards (turning away from history) and starting to look forwards. In addition, the political will to understand the “other side” is of major importance. In this context, federalism can play a major role. Constitutionally, federalism is not only a device for self-rule, but also a structure for shared rule, and this shared-rule structure is equally important for commonalities. ƒ The role of the elite is critical, and the paradox of the situation lies in the fact that the positions of the elites cannot be democratically verified. ƒ Democracy is possible only when the state exists. If the state issue has not been solved, or has been reopened, there is not much space for democratic legitimacy as the only solid basis for nation building. ƒ Whatever institutional design for the solution of such conflicts is pursued, it is essential that it does not leave space for “reopening” or re-negotiating constitutive foundations of the common state on a dayto-day basis, when differences occur between the elites representing different communities. ƒ The paradox of the involvement of the international community lies in the fact that it operates under geo-strategic terms of reference, and these usually have nothing to do with internal viability, i.e. inside legitimacy of the proposed solution. Geo-strategic stability in the region, not common identity, is the subject of major concern. An internationally defined/imposed framework for the solutions remains in principle nonnegotiable. ƒ At the same time, interventions from the outside in such cases have not demonstrated major positive effects to date. This is particularly the case if international community intervenes during the nation-building process. Namely, nation-building processes form power relations from the inside, which foreign interventions can only distort. In addition, this is also the reason why foreign pressure usually proves ineffective: power relations are distorted and there remain no reliable actors to respond to the pressure. 2.2. Nation and Federal-Unit Building – the cases of Switzerland and South Africa 2.2.1. Major points Given their profoundly different historical background, hardly any commonalities between Switzerland and South Africa were identified in the debate. Instead, significant comparative differences were addressed. Considerable time was devoted to the case of internal secession of the canton of Jura from the canton of Bern, because the discussion on Jura case was primarily pertinent to the interrelationship between nation building and federalunit building. On the other side, the South African case proved critical in displaying the role which constitution making can play in nation building. Last but not least, the debate on these two cases clearly mapped two structurally different types of federalism. The difference affects not only institutional design, but also underlying structural tenets and the role assigned to federal instruments in each of the two cases respectively. Several points arose during the debate. ƒ Specific features of the Jura internal secession can be explained only by basic principles of Swiss federal design: political pragmatism, long historical evolution, participative nature of Swiss issue-driven half-direct democracy, and the understanding of diversity as a virtue to be accommodated and further promoted through federalism. This, quite untypical, understanding of cultural diversity is an inherent part of the common Swiss identity. Swiss “Willensnation”, (i.e. political concept of nation) is built upon democratic integration of cultural diversities. This explains why over-proportional representation of minorities remains immanent in the Swiss understanding of minority accommodation. ƒ Switzerland is a unique case of “strong cantons in a strong federalism”. The constitution combines every mechanism to allow checks and balances. In other words, energy is used to reach consensus, not to build majority. ƒ The Jura case can be indeed seen as part of the “laboratory of federalism”, since some of the major issues relating to federalism in multiethnic societies have been paradigmatically displayed. Since the French-speaking Catholic minority was not irredentist, the central state could play a role together with the unitary canton of Bern. ƒ On the other side, unlike Switzerland, South Africa is a case of federalism understood purely as devolution of power, a system of vertical checks and balances in a constitutionalist sense of power control. Whereas in Switzerland asymmetric federal design accommodates national cohesion that relies upon maximal accommodation of sub-national identities, in South Africa as in most multiethnic countries, minorities are an “inevitable evil”. There is no paradigm as to what to do with them or how to build up democratic unity based on the pluralist nature of society. ƒ However, equally important is that nation building in South Africa has relied for almost ten years first upon reconciliation, and then transformation. In consequence, the South African case demonstrated a specific, inclusive nature of the constitution-making process that gave people the feeling of “ownership” of the constitution. Politically controlled devolution as a process and federalism as institutional design, have been part and parcel of the nation-building process since 1999. Paradoxically enough, constitutional safeguards have played a rather ineffective role to date. 2.2.2. Lessons learned and policy recommendations ƒ In academic discourse, federalism has been predominantly discussed as a reluctantly adopted solution for multiethnic societies instead of being viewed as an opportunity to reflect on the advantages of federal solutions in terms of good governance. ƒ There is a misapprehension that multiculturalism is a problem per se. This is empirically wrong. It becomes true only if multicultural properties cumulate into segmentation. This is why examples such as Switzerland are “success stories”. ƒ Federalism can protect only certain minorities, geographically concentrated on smaller territories. ƒ When federalism as a system of vertical checks and balances aims at accommodating multicultural pluralism (as in Switzerland), it inevitably builds on vertical power sharing and proportional representation, unlike the Westminster model of horizontal checks and balances. ƒ Federalism should also be understood in terms of power relations. It is an anti-majoritarian device and one of the major checks-and-balances instruments. This is why in a constitutionalist setting, instruments of legal control of political power, rule of law, human rights, independent judiciary and the like, are indispensable in order for federalism to work. ƒ Federalism should not only be related to minority issues, not even in case such as Switzerland. It is equally important as a set of designs for accomplishing devolution and making the subsidiarity principle effective. ƒ Both history and institutions play major roles. It is the power-sharing institutions that can induce a political culture of compromise and respect for the arguments of others (Swiss case). ƒ Procedure design is critically important in cases of secession, as the Jura case convincingly demonstrated. The cascade referendum tried to avoid an ethnic foundation for the new canton. It also had a strong democratic line of argument: people, not elites, should decide. Put differently, the Jura case gives an example of how a civic answer can be provided for cultural and ethnic divisions. ƒ The role of the procedure in a case of secession is of key importance in another sense, too. As the cases of Quebec and Jura showed, it is necessary to design a procedure that could discourage and thus prevent secession. ƒ The question of how federalism can contribute to nation building remains equally relevant for federal-unit building. In this regard, the South African case was most instructive. It showed that the inclusiveness of the constitution-making process in developing a constitutional compact (involvement of the people through public debates, “representativeness” of the constitution-making body) is decisive for the development of common identity to underlie nation building (“sense of building constitutional institutions”). 3. Crosscutting issue: legitimacy As has already been pointed out, the interrelationship of constitution making and nation building in multicultural societies in fact addresses the issue of state building. Democratic integration of multicultural societies remains a major challenge, not only as an objective, but also as a strategy. In this respect the problem can be taken as a common denominator for the discussion in both work sessions. Violent elections and refusal to accept the outcome of democratic procedure remain one of the major paradoxes of majoritarian democracies in multicultural societies. The “winner takes all” system within pluralist and segmented societies inevitably produces illegitimate group politics. In consequence, people start to turn away from constitutional designs – the stake is too high! Here, federalism can offer something. The major line of argument in both sessions showed that – when analysed within the context of constitution making and nation building in multicultural societies – federalism gains still more relevance: that of a legitimacy model. It is federal design organised as a structural link to consensus-driven democracy within a given nation state, which becomes relevant here. Put diffferently: it is federalised democracy both as an objective and as a strategy of constitution making, which can critically contribute to nation building in multicultuiral societies. References Basta Fleiner, L.R., 2000. Minority and Legitimacy of a Federal State. An Outsider’s Perception of the Swiss Model. In: L.R. Basta Fleiner and T. Fleiner, eds. Federalism and Multiethnic States. The Case of Switzerland. Fribourg: PIFF and Helbing & Lichtenhahn. Basta Fleiner, L.R., 2002. Can Ethnic Federalism Work? Forthcoming in: Jahresbericht Institut für Föderalismus 2002. Freiburg. Basta Fleiner, L.R., 2000. Fédéralisme, multiculturalisme et droits humains: le principal défi pour les politique post-moderne. In: M. Borghi and P. Meyer Bisch, eds. Sociétén civile et indivisibilité de droits de l’homme. Fribourg: Editions Universitaires. Fleiner, T., 2002. Recent Developments in Swiss Federalism. Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 32 (Summer). Kymlicka, W., 1995. Multicultural Citizenship. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Linder, W., 1994. Direct Democracy and Power-Sharing. In: W. Linder. Swiss Democracy. Possible Solutions to Conflict in Multicultural Societies. New York: St Martin’s Press, 84-137. Rosenfeld, M., ed., 1994. Constitutionalism, Identity, Difference and Legitimacy. London: Duke University Press. Taylor, C., 1994. The Politics of Recognition. In: A. Gutman, ed. Multiculturalism. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

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nation building

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nation building , a concerted project to construct or rebuild a nation-state and its underlying institutions and sense of community . The objective of nation building can be to create a cohesive nation-state that never existed or that never properly functioned or to rebuild one that has collapsed or has been destroyed. Generally speaking, nation building is not performed as a purely altruistic endeavor. States engaged in nation building abroad are generally motivated by some strategic objectives of their own, such as advancing their own wealth, security, or international standing. While nation building is mainly carried out by sovereign states, some civil society and international organizations (such as the Ford Foundation and the United Nations ) can also engage in it, sometimes under the less controversial rubric of international development.

Despite its name, the process of nation building is fundamentally two-pronged and involves the creation of a state and a corresponding nation, and their mutual alignment. Thus, nation building is both an institutional and a cultural project. Critiques of the concept of nation building are diverse , ranging from the argument that it is mainly an exercise in imperialism to the idea that nations are never truly purposely created but emerge organically.

At the most basic level, the state-building component of nation building involves creating security conditions so that the state can effectively claim a monopoly of power within its own territory—the very definition of the state , according to the German sociologist Max Weber . However, modern state institutions are not limited to having an effective army and police force ; the state is expected to fulfill other fundamental needs of its population , including providing basic infrastructure , health care, education , and the necessary conditions for a functioning economy.

Besides creating a functioning state apparatus, nation building aims at creating the nation itself, meaning a collective identity that corresponds, if imperfectly, with the boundaries of the sovereign state. As the political scientist Benedict Anderson has argued, cultural institutions, in particular mass media such as newspapers, can play a key role in creating the shared “imagined community” of the nation. Many scholars also highlight the critical role of education in nation building, because of its capacity to instill a sense of common identity and destiny in a whole generation. Various cultural initiatives can foster national identity; some can be implemented quickly, such as creating a new flag or anthem , while others, such as changes in education or the media, require a long-term commitment. In the nation-state paradigm , the nation and the state are closely intertwined and mutually reinforcing: the nation legitimizes the state and transforms it into a meaningful entity, while the state fulfills the essential needs and future of the nation and provides it with collective agency on the domestic and world stage.

The process of nation building can also be destructive of other identities (such as ethnic, regional, or religious identities) that resist, or are not easily subsumed under, the new national identity. Following the French Revolution , for example, the nascent French Republic embarked on a large-scale project to unify the country around a sole common language ( French ) and shared republican institutions and ideals. This French exercise in nation building, in which education played a key role, created the foundation of a rich national identity that endures to this day, but it also destroyed or diminished, often to the point of folkloric irrelevance, many regional cultures and languages, such as Breton and Occitan . Not all nation-building projects are this exclusionary, however, and it is possible to foster a national identity that can accommodate pluralism and difference.

Following the end of World War II , the United States led two of the most important exercises in nation building ever pursued—namely, the democratic reconstruction of postwar Germany and Japan. Both examples set the standard for post-conflict nation building, as they showcased the possibility of creating long-lasting and self-governing polities even after almost complete destruction and years of totalitarian rule. In both cases, nation building required investments and coordinated efforts in ensuring security, reconstructing the countries’ infrastructures and economies, providing humanitarian relief, creating a working civil administration , and creating the cultural and institutional conditions for democratic rule .

After the end of the Cold War , nation-building projects multiplied with the emergence of a plethora of new but weak states. In the 1990s the U.S. government alone, under the Bill Clinton administration, engaged in an average of two nation-building exercises per year. The concept of nation building was popularized in the early 2000s following the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War , in which the United States led an occupation of both countries and sought to transform both into sustainable democracies . While nation-building efforts were initially more successful in Afghanistan, they ultimately failed, as the Taliban recaptured the country in 2021 and reestablished its theocratic regime. More than two decades after the U.S.-led invasion, Iraq is still struggling to establish both a competent state serving its population and a nation that transcends ethnic and sectarian fault lines. While nation building itself has far from disappeared, its popularity faded following these two failed attempts.

​ All About Ambedkar  

Issn 2582-9785, a journal on theory and praxis, ambedkar’s vision for india: a critical take on nation and democracy.

Tirtha Chatterjee

All About Ambedkar: A Journal on Theory and Praxis, Volume 1, Issue 1, September-December 2020

To the downtrodden sections of the Indian society, the iconic statue of Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is much more than a mere idol. It symbolizes a ray of hope as it epitomizes the tireless strive of the oppressed for their long-denied dues. It is noteworthy that the statue holds a book. That book is not his revolutionary Annihilation of Caste , but a copy of the Indian constitution, in the conceptualization of which he had played a crucial role. But his contribution as the architect of a democratic nation is often overshadowed by his image as the emancipator of the Dalits. “On Building of Nation and Its Democracy,” a collection of texts sheds light upon this facet of the stalwart social reformer that otherwise receives relatively less attention. A compilation of various letters, press statements and other writings of the reformist, it is included in the second part of the seventeenth volume of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches edited by Hari Narake, M. L. Kasare , N. G . Kamble, and Ashok Godghate. The first edition of the book was published by the Education Department, Govt. of Maharashtra in 2003. The book was reprinted in 2014 by Dr. Ambedkar Foundation. In the following sections of this essay I will explore the collection “One Building of Nation and Its Democracy” by way of arguing that Ambedkar’s advocacy for the Dalits was a part of the greater vision he had for making India an independent nation and a true democracy.

In Greek “Demos” means “people” and “kratia” means “to rule.” By this etymological analysis, Aristotle defined democracy as the system in which people possess the supreme power. Abraham Lincoln viewed it as Government by the people, for the people, and of the people. But according to Anthony Arblaster, “democracy is a concept before it is a fact because it is a concept it has no single, precise and agreed meaning” (3). So essentially, the structure of democracy should vary considering regional needs. Realizing this, Ambedkar had understood that it was unwise to completely emulate western democracy in India because it was based on the principles of equality and fraternity which were almost unimaginable in the caste-ridden Hindu society. The Indian society during his time was numerically, economically and culturally dominated by one particular class and the introduction of joint electorates would have resulted in a Government ruled by a class, for a class, and of a class. The solution provided by Ambedkar in “Joint vs. Separate Electorates Dr. Ambedkar via Media” is “to separate the two questions that are covered in the Communal Award, namely the question of seats and the question of electorates” (“On Building” 290). The separate electorate for every community would bring about fair representation of even the most neglected lot in the parliament. However, the decision of whether separate electorates should be introduced or not, in a certain province, was vested by Ambedkar upon the minorities of that province. He states, “If the minority wants separate electorates the majority should have nothing to say against it; equally if the minority wants joint electorates, the majority should be bound to accept their decision” (“On Building” 291). This made possible the co-existence of joint electorates at some provinces and separate electorates at others. According to him, “the proposal has the merit of establishing a middle stage between the extreme Congress and Hindu Mahasabha stand on joint electorates throughout and the extreme Muslim demand of separate electorates throughout” (“On Building” 292).

Babasaheb’s affiliation for parliamentary democracy, in which voice of no citizen remains suppressed, is also reflected in “We Shall Wage Relentless War to Introduce Adult Franchise.” Therein he points out the hypocrisy of the Congress which though used to boast of toiling for democracy, did not take the initiative for the introduction of adult franchises in the Bombay municipality. That is, however, not the only instance when the hypocrisy of the Congress and Gandhi is demonstrated by Ambedkar. In “Indians’ Destiny is Bound up with the Victory of Democracy,” Ambedkar explains logically how rejecting the Cripps Mission, which conceded Independence and constituent assembly but only failed to transfer defense, was a blunder done by the Congress in desperation to earn back its lost prestige. (Cripps Mission, formed by the British Government in 1942 and headed by Sir Stafford Cripps, was aimed at convincing the Indians to fully extend their support to the British in World War II. – Ed. Note.) But one of the reasons for which, according to him, asking for Indian control of defense was futile is quite disturbing as it stated, “there is no Indian politician so far as I know, competent to run the technical and military side of the Defence department” (“On Building” 329).

Interestingly, the Cripps Mission was a British assay to secure India's cooperation in World War II. In “Great Britain must be Supported,” Ambedkar opines that India should render support to Great Britain in the war. He not only criticizes the sense of unwillingness and hesitancy in participation that India was showing but also condemns Britain for herself being the reason for the same. According to Ambedkar, by overlooking Hitler’s aggression towards “smaller” countries, Britain had actually demoralized the reason to join the war on their side. Moreover, the negligible to no “locus standi” given to India in the empire’s foreign affairs had made Indians even more disinterested. Per contra, he adds that reciprocating India's assistance, Britain also must have had recognized the duties it owed to the Indians. They must have had aided India in harnessing her unparalleled human resource so that she could have defended not only herself but also the whole empire in necessity. The means of bringing this immense manpower to use was, according to Ambedkar, the introduction of compulsory military training for a certain age group irrespective of class or creed. The other task of the British was to disambiguate the exact status of India within the empire. In “India and the British Commonwealth,” rather than getting carried away by nationalistic fanaticism, Ambedkar stayed pragmatic while considering which one was a better option for India – national status or dominion status. His clear preference was the dominion status because according to him not severing all ties with the British might have had helped India in obtaining arms and ammunitions much needed at that time for building up India’s defence. But he was also aware of the drawbacks embedded in the commonwealth framework which conflicts with India’s constitution.

Though Babasaheb supported British proposals when he felt those were beneficial for India, he did not hesitate to outright scrap the ones he understood to be conflicting with Indian interest. The text “Mobilise against Federation Turning Point in History of Nation” concerns Ambedkar’s opinion regarding the Federal Plan present in the Government of India Act, 1935. It appears from the text that he was substantially unimpressed by the aforementioned plan owing to the “imperfections” and “inherent defects” in it that his party, i.e., Independent Labour Party, had identified. These shortcomings included the uneven distribution of financial burden between provinces and British India, excess representation given to states, indirect election to the federal assembly and special obligations of the Governor General. He argued that even though the said problems could be sorted out, the unsolvable problem will remain the impedance in acquiring full control over the army and finances. Ambedkar’s take on the issue becomes clear from the statement, “The Federal part of the new constitution must be shunned as a deadly poison” (“On Building” 304).

Though Ambedkar opposed the Federal Plan proposed by the British, in some of the subsequent texts he has provided ideas for the creation of new states which would be very relevant in the federal polity of post-Independence India. In “One Official Language for Centre and Provinces,” he writes in favour of the creation of linguistic provinces because as maintained by him, that could bring homogeneity in a state. He argues, “The reason why in a heterogeneous society democracy cannot succeed is because power, instead of being used impartially is used to the detriment of another” (“On Building” 360). Be that as it may, he disapproved of making Bombay a city state despite being a multilingual urban agglomerate because he perceived Maharashtra and Bombay to be integral to one another. But in “Ambedkar’s Recipe for Maharashtra” he proposed the division of the Maharashtra state on linguistic basis. Nonetheless, he did not want the formation of a very large province even if the entire population had linguistic homogeneity. For this reason in “ Strongly Object Creation of Monolithic Monstrous States,” he proffered division of Uttarpradesh and Bihar. These states, he felt, could put at stake, interests of not only the centre but also their own minority communities. Nevertheless, though Ambedkar pressed for the formation of states on the basis of language, he wanted the official language of the centre to be that of the states as well. Hindi according to him was the most suitable for being the official language of India “because of the fact it could expand” (“On Building” 385). This he wrote in “Retain English at any Cost” where he also expressed his view that English should be retained as the medium of instructions in Indian educational institutes as it was the “richest of all languages” (“On Building” 385). Ambedkar recommended a common official language in the centre and the states because he thought it would be detrimental to further fragmentation of the country. But when it came to the ordeal from which these qualms had appeared, i.e., the issue of the partition, Ambedkar’s stand appears to have been neither inclined toward Congress which was strongly opposed to the partition, nor towards Muslim League which was incessantly insisting for the same. In “We can be a Nation Only through Social Amalgamation” he had put his view as follows, “I do not agree with Mr. Gandhi and the Congress when they say that India is a nation. I do not agree either with the foreign relations committee of the Muslim League when they say that Hindus and Muslims could not be welded together into a nation” (“On Building” 318). In “How to End Indian Political Impasse” he tried to mediate between the two sides by giving the agency directly to the people to decide whether division was required or not. The true significance of this proposal laid in the sense that for the first time someone was paying heed to the opinions about the partition of those whose lives were about to be most affected by it. He wrote in “Wisdom and Statesmanship will Dawn to Prevent India from being Divided into Two Parts” that what the Muslims and minorities wanted right from the beginning was their rightful share in the Government and had that safeguard not been denied by Congress, demand for the partition might had never arisen. In “Unless these Points were Cleared No Lead on Partition Issue,” he raised some very serious questions concerning protection of minorities in both the countries about to be formed after the partition. But he seemed not at all content with activities of the Boundary Commission set up to fix the national boundary after the partition. This he expressed in “If Boundary Drawn is not Natural it will Put the Safety and Security of the People of India in Great Jeopardy,” where he gave further pragmatic suggestions for forming the boundary.

Notwithstanding everything said so far, Ambedkar as a nation builder has still more laurels to his name. The text “First Proposal on Central Irrigation and Waterways Advisory Board” bears testimony to Ambedkar’s earnest efforts as a member of the central cabinet during 1942-46, to establish the Central Irrigation and Waterways Advisory Board which would set the road map of India’s post-independence irrigation development. This dedication he had for framing India’s irrigation policy is further manifested in the texts “Control and Utilize the Mahanadi to the Best Advantage” and “Flood-control Use of Atomic Power.” Apart from irrigation he also had a deep understanding of the foreign policy of the nascent republic as evident in “U.S.A. Inclined towards Pakistan” where he freely expresses his concerns about America’s public opinion being more favourable for Pakistan than India. In “No Use about Independent Foreign Policy without Striking Power,” he unequivocally blames Neheru for “dragging India headlong to ruin” (“On Building” 383). The text “One Man’s Traffic in Public Affairs” makes prominent his uncompromising attitude criticizing flaws of the Neheruvian regime. But ironically a few of his own convictions scattered across “On Building of Nation and it’s Democracy”, according to me, are prone to criticism.

Owing to the trauma of the partition, when most of the country’s thinkers were having the opinion that creation of states on the lines of language would cause obliteration of national integrity, Ambedkar pushed for the creation of linguistic states which today bear testimony to India’s unity in diversity. But Ambedkar who led India on her march towards becoming a true multilingual country, himself opposed the march when he wrote that linguistic states should use Hindi as their official language just like the centre. The reason for this gets reflected in his text “Thoughts on Linguistic States”, first published in 1955, where he argued that the way to prevent the country from becoming “the medieval India consisting of a variety of states indulging in rivalry and warfare” was to deter a state from using its mother tongue as official language (145). This necessitates pondering whether Ambedkar unwittingly had sown seeds of the suppression of diversity and glorification of a certain language carried on by some political forces today.

Another view of Amebdkar, I do not agree with, is his idea of introducing compulsory military training for the entire population of the country belonging to a certain age group. India, being home to the world’s largest youth population, training so many people simultaneously throughout the country will incur a staggering expenditure. If that amount is rather spent on upgradation of artillery and technology and advanced training of existing soldiers, better results can be obtained. Apart from that it is fundamentally against the spirit of democracy to make someone undergo military training without his will.

Despite these apparent/ minor contradictions, the texts included in “On Building of Nation and Its Democracy” bear testimony to the fact that Ambedkar had an earnest will to reshape India as a nation for which upliftment of the lower castes was indispensable. He and the Congress had different ideas of nationalism. That is why, when Gandhi scrapped the Cripps Mission and called for an intense movement, Ambedkar protested against his decision. Additionally, Ambedkar was not a staunch adversary of the partition and even though India had got national status, he insisted upon reverting back to dominion status. These facts might give a reader the impression of Ambedkar being peripheral in the “national movement.” Arun Shourie, in his Worshipping False Gods: Ambedkar and the Facts which Have Been Erased has accused Ambedkar of not participating in the freedom struggle as he was unable to rise beyond caste considerations. But what Shourie’s arguments lack is the understanding that so long as a large section of the society remains plunged in deprivation and atrocities, Independence in the truest sense of the term will remain unachieved. During a time when the desire for political independence had gained precedence over the need for social reforms, Ambedkar could firmly demand the annihilation of the caste system because unless all the classes get rid of their shackles, the nation would not be able to fight unitedly against its colonisers.

Ambedkar’s proposition for separate electorates was bashed by the “Janata” as, “To elevate the minority, only because it is a minority, to a pinnacle of power and prestige superior to that held by the majority, is the way to cut at the root of the very fundamental principle of democratic government” (“On Building” 293). What the report failed to realise was that giving agency to the distressed classes was not an attempt to reverse the class hierarchy but adhering to democracy’s pledge which is to give every section of the society share in the Government. Owing to strong opposition from several individuals including Gandhi the provision for separate electorates could not be incorporated into the constitution and for ensuring representation of the lower castes, the concept of reserved constituencies was introduced. The problem with this system is that though all candidates contesting from a certain reserved constituency are “lower caste” by origin, the voters belong to all classes from that region, the bulk being the upper castes. As a result, quite often the candidate more engaged with the Dalit cause gets defeated, impeding proper upholding of the minority issues in the assembly. The greatest instance of this is the defeat of Ambedkar himself at the two elections he fought. It is undeniable that even seven decades after Independence only a minuscule of the minorities of India has been alleviated. Moreover, increasing Cases of molestation of Dalit women and sad incidents like that of Rohit Vemula are proofs that the representation policy adopted so far has failed to address the social injustices the minorities are subjected to. In such a distressful time, one is compelled to rethink, that if the representation system proposed by Ambedkar had been accepted could not the condition of minorities in India have been better today?

The idea of Nation has been conceptualized in various ways. Benedict Anderson, for instance, has theorised Nation as an “imagined community,” a socially constructed group, imagined by the people who perceive themselves as part of it. Gandhi on the other hand had derived from Indian mythology, the concept of “Ram Rajya,” a nation driven by morality. “On Building of Nation and Its Democracy” provides a fascinating insight into Ambedkar’s idea of an ideal nation and his efforts in building the same, and this collection immensely contributes to our understanding of Nation and Nationalism. The collection particularly demonstrates that Ambedkar, who was greatly influenced by Buddhism, a religion that manifests democratic principles in its organisational structure, held necessary the participation of all classes in the Government. I had started this essay by taking up the general tendency of looking at Ambedkar only as a proponent of Dalit liberation. But the analysis of Ambedkar’s collection, I hope, corroborates my argument that being the redeemer of the depressed classes is in no way Ambedkar’s sole identity but only a part of his lifelong strive as a true nation-builder.

Works Consulted

Ambedkar, B. R. “Thoughts on Linguistic States.” Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches , vol. 1, edited by Vasant Moon, Dr. Ambedkar Foundation, 2014, pp. 137-201 .

__________. “On Building of Nation and Its Democracy.” Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches , vol. 17, edited by Hari Narake, M. L. Kasare, N. G. Kamble and Ashok Godghate, Dr. Ambedkar Foundation, 2014, pp. 287-392.

Arblaster, Anthony. Democracy . McGraw-Hill Education, 2002.

Shourie, A. Worshipping False Gods : Ambedkar, and the Facts which Have Been Erased. New Delhi probably: Rupa & Company, 1997.

Tejani, Shabnum. “The Necessary Conditions for Democracy: B. R. Ambedkar on Nationalism, Minorities and Pakistan.” Economic and Political Weekly , vol. 48, no. 50 (2011), pp. 111-119, www.jstor.org/stable/24479052 . Accessed 23 February 2020.

Author Information

Tirtha Chatterjee studies English literature at Presidency University, Kolkata. He is interested in the colonial history of Kolkata with particular reference to the history of his own University. His other areas of interest include Dalit Studies, Partition, Modernism and Postmodernism.

Home — Essay Samples — Government & Politics — Nation Building — Nation-building Process

Nation-building Process

• Categories: Nation Building National Identity Patriotism

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Published: Mar 28, 2019

Words: 2315 | Pages: 5 | 12 min read

Table of contents

The concept of nation-building, implementation strategy, new approach, imact of national development policy, works cited.

• Maintain the basic strategy of NEP is the eradication of poverty and restructuring social and economic imbalances between the races and this contribute to strengthening national unity
• To ensure balance development of main economic sectors (mining, service, agricul true, and farming)
• Building a society that has social value and appreciate the positive feelings of pride and patriotism
• Reduce and eliminate social inequality and to promote the sharing of the national economic in a more fair and equitable benefits
• Reduce the inequalities in economic development between urban and rural areas
• Concentrate on the development of a community of Bumiputera Commercial and Industrial
• Ensure appropriate attention is given to environment of protection and ecology so that in the long term to ensure sustainable development of the country continued
• Making science and technology as an integral part of the planning and socio-economic development

Competition in International Markets

Vision 2020, poverty reduction, restructuring society, achivevement of ndp.

• women participation in the labour force increases to 53.6 per cent
• rural road coverage increases to 51,262 km
• rural electricity coverage increases to 98 per cent
• rural water supply increases to 94 per cent
• 5,737 villages connected through the wireless village programme
• RM175 billion invested in five regional economic corridors, creating 427,100 jobs
• Malaysian life expectancy increases to 74.8 years
• 102,200 affordable houses completed
• unemployment rate decreases to 2.9 per cent
• 1.8 million new job opportunities created
• 90.7 per cent pre-school enrolment
• 36.5 per cent academic staff with PhD qualification in public universities
• 15 per cent household waste recycling rate
• forest cover increases to 61 per cent
• 23,264 hectares of forest gazetted as Permanent Reserve Forest
• 93,100 km of new roads built
• 46 per cent increase in passenger rate at KL International Airport (KLIA)
• KLIA2 opened and third runway operationalised at KLIA
• urban rail commuters increase 32 per cent
• 70 per cent households with broadband penetration
• 14 areas nationwide with access to Digital Terrestrial Television
• 95 per cent of population receives clean and treated water
• services sector contributes RM2,550 billion to GDP
• manufacturing sector contributes RM1,111 billion to GDP
• agriculture sector contributes RM455 billion to GDP
• construction sector contributes RM194 billion to GDP
• small and medium enterprises contribute RM1,606 billion to GDP
• Malaysia ranked 18th out 189 economies in the 2015 World Bank ‘Doing Business’ Report
• Malaysia ranked 33rd on the Global Innovation Index out of 143 countries
• Abdul Rahman, A. (2000). From Malayan Union to Singapore Separation. Singapore: Eastern University Press.
• Faaland, J., Parkinson, J., & Saniman, R. (1991). Growth and Ethnic Inequality: Malaysia’s New Economic Policy. Oxford University Press.
• Hippler, J. (2002). Nation-building: A Key Concept for Peaceful Conflict Transformation? Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation.
• Mohamed Noordin, S. (2005). The Malays: Their Problems and Future. Petaling Jaya: Pelanduk Publications.
• Najib Tun Abdul Razak. (2008). 1Malaysia: People First, Performance Now. Pelanduk Publications.
• Purcell, V. (1965). The Malayan Communist Party and the Indonesian Revolution. London: Oxford University Press.
• Ratnam, K. J. (1965). Nation-Building in Malaysia 1946–1964. London: Oxford University Press.
• Savunen, J. (2003). Nation-Building and Identity Conflicts: Facilitating the Mediation Process in Southern Philippines. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Schwartz, L. (1991). The State of Malaysia: Ethnicity, Equity, and Reform. Routledge.
• Tambiah, S. J. (1985). Culture, Ethnicity and Nationalism: The Tamil Renaissance and the Hill Country Tamils in Sri Lanka. Cambridge University Press.

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Essay on Role of Youths in Nation Building for Students and Children

500 words essay on role of youths in nation building.

It is a well-known fact that the youth of any country is a great asset. They are indeed the future of the country and represent it at every level. The role of youths in nation-building is more important than you might think. In other words, the intelligence and work of the youth will take the country on the pathway of success. As every citizen is equally responsible, the youth is too. They are the building blocks of a country.

Role of Youth

The youth is important because they will be our future. Today they might be our partners, tomorrow they will go on to become leaders. The youths are very energetic and enthusiastic. They have the ability to learn and adapt to the environment . Similarly, they are willing to learn and act on it as well to achieve their goals.

Our youth can bring social reform and improvement in society. We cannot make do without the youth of a country. Furthermore, the nation requires their participation to achieve the goals and help in taking the country towards progress.

Likewise, we see how the development of any country requires active participation from the youth. It does not matter which field we want to progress in, whether it is the technical field or sports field, youth is needed. It is up to us how to help the youth in playing this role properly. We must make all the youth aware of their power and the role they have to play in nation-building.

Ways to Help the Youth

There are many ways in which we can help the youth of our country to achieve their potential. For that, the government must introduce programs that will help in fighting off issues like unemployment, poor education institutes and more to help them prosper without any hindrance.

Similarly, citizens must make sure to encourage our youth to do better in every field. When we constantly discourage our youth and don’t believe in them, they will lose their spark. We all must make sure that they should be given the wind beneath their wings to fly high instead of bringing them down by tying chains to their wings.

Furthermore, equal opportunities must be provided for all irrespective of caste, creed, gender , race, religion and more. There are various issues of nepotism and favoritism that is eating away the actual talent of the country. This must be done away with as soon as possible. We must make sure that every youth has the chance to prove themselves worthy and that must be offered equally to all.

In short, our youth has the power to build a nation so we must give them the opportunity. They are the future and they have the perspective which the older generations lack. Their zeal and enthusiasm must be channelized properly to help a nation prosper and flourish.

FAQ on Essay on Role of Youths in Nation Building

Q.1 What role does youth play in nation-building?

A.1 The youth plays a great role in nation-building. It has the power to help a country develop and move towards progress. It also is responsible for bringing social reform within a country. The youth of a country determine the future of a nation.

Q.2 How can we help youth?

A.2 As well all know youth is facing too many problems nowadays. We need to give them equal opportunities in every field so they can succeed well. They must be given all the facilities and also encouraged to take the challenge to achieve success.

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Learning for democracy: some inspiration from john dewey's idea of democracy.

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Keywords: Democracy, Education, Educational Philosophy, John Dewey, learning for democracy

Received: 08 May 2024; Accepted: 13 Jun 2024.

Copyright: © 2024 Shih. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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• Role of Youth in Nation Building Essay

Long and Short Essay on Role of Youth in Nation Building

The role of Youth in nation-building or development is very important, and this is because the development of any nation lies in the future generation. Democracy, economy, technology and the improvement of medical science all lie in the hands of the Youth. Poverty, unemployment, global warming, and pollution of many types are the problems that the world is facing today. The answer to solving all these problems lies with the next generation.

History is evident that the next generation has been the answer to solve future problems. As time passes by, it is required to adapt to the changes and bring a change in society. The Youth is capable of doing so; we can bring a change in society. So what is the role of the Youth for a better tomorrow? What are the qualities that are required to bring a change in society?. These two questions are very important, and all the students should know the answer to them. To answer these questions, the role of Youth in nation-building essays is written. 

Below a long and short essay on the role of youths in nation-building and frequently asked questions on the essay about the role of the Youth in our society is given. Students can refer to these essays and understand the importance of Youth in the development of the country and make a speech on the role of youth in nation-building.

Long Essay on Role of Youths in Nation-Building

Swami Vivekananda once said, 'My faith is in the younger generation, the modern generation and out of them will come to my workers. This quote describes the impact the Youth can have on society. More than 60% of the Youth helped Germany win the first world war far better or the worst. The mission to make the first person walk on the moon consisted of more than 80% of the Youth who helped in planning the whole mission. Likewise, Indian Youth also played an important role to make our country free from British rule. Youth has the power to change the world. When the Youth is united, we can make the world a better place to live, and when we are divided, we also have the power to destroy the world.

Youth is the most dynamic and important segment of the population in any country. Statistics show that the developing countries which have a huge youth population could be seeing tremendous growth in all the sectors of the countries provided they inc=vest in young people's education, health and protect and guarantee their rights. It is believed that today's young minds and tomorrow's leaders, creators, builders, and innovators.

For Youth to be good leaders, inventors and innovators, it is important that they are supported and are provided good health, training, and education to transform the future. There will be a boost in the economy of the country when the Youth is working and earning rather than being dependent on anyone.

As we all know that half of the world's population is now under the age of 25, and 1.8 billion people are between the age of 11-25. This is considered to be the largest youth generation to ever exist. Many countries such as Sweden, Japan, and Germany have already started gaining from the Youth by providing them opportunities in different sectors. It has been more than 80 years since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. Any country would be devastated by the loss of lives and the destruction that was caused during that time, but Japan did not stop, and over the decades, the government of Japan has started investing in the Youth and the investment they made in the Youth during that time is giving them the profit now. More than 80% of Youth in Japan are responsible for the economic boost of the country. Industries such as Manga and Anime consist of 90% of young minds that are responsible for generating a revenue of 1.3 billion every year to the country. This is the impact that Youth can make on the country's growth. Here the role of Youth in the national development article is discussed.

Indian Youth- Confused or Confident? 

Let us talk about the Youth of India; Today, India is one of the youngest nations in the world, with more than 55% of the population is below the age of 25, and more than 60% of the population is the working age, which is between 15 to 60 years. It is estimated that the average age of the population by the year 2023 would be 29 years old and in India, whereas, in Japan, it would be 47 years, and in the United States of America, it would be 40 years old. The presence of younger people in our country gives us an edge over the demographic dividend over other countries. The demographic dividend is the growth in the economy of the country due to the change in the age structure of the country. The Youth of our country today are increasingly becoming restless and trying their best to make a difference, but it has not been enough. More effort should be made if we all want to end unemployment, poverty, corruption, and violence in the country. Due to the presence of these diseases in our society, there has been a delay in the development of the country.

India is the biggest democracy in the world, and still, it lags in achieving economic and socio-political growth. The two things which our freedom fighters fought for were freedom and the growth of the country, and after all those years, we have failed in achieving both goals. For 72 years, we have failed to fight unemployment, poverty, corruption, illiteracy, and violence in our country. India's ranks in the various development index have barely grown in recent years. For example, India ranks 116 in the Human Capital Index, 144 in the World Happiness Index, 131 in the Human Development Index, and 141 on the Gender Development Index. This shows the state in which our country is. If India wants to improve all these indices, then it is the responsibility of the Youth to come forward and take responsibility to fight against the multiple inequalities and contribute to the development of the country.

Statistics show that India has the upper hand over other countries as 62 % of the population is the Youth. Young minds are known to be innovative and hard-working that will help in the development of the country. Youth can change the country only if proper opportunities in the various fields are given to them. In our society, we have been guided to pursue careers in either engineering or medical science. This could be because of the pressure from the family or the trend in society. This has become a major cause for the downfall of the Youth. A statistical report suggests that about 55% of engineering Youth are unemployed because they don't have the required skills to crack a job. The Youth can change society if they consider pursuing a career in different fields like arts and politics. If proper opportunities are given to the Youth to represent their ideas in fields such as politics, then we can expect a drastic change in the country's growth. Young minds should be motivated to take part in politics and occupy high positions such as education minister, finance minister, bureaucrats, and even the Prime minister.

Youth has the power to bring change. They have the power to demand justice. For example, a mass protest by the Youth against the CAA bill in Delhi or the mass protest by the Youth in Delhi for justice of Nirbhaya cases are some of the examples of the strength of the Youth. TRO makes the Youth the ultimate power of the country, and educational programs should be developed that aims to teach the young people from the school level the importance and the impact they can have on the country. They should be taught about how the country works and how it can be a significant part of the development of the country. Youth should be motivated to consider different career options such as politics, which eventually helps in running the country. 

Our nation has been facing a lot of problems, and Youth has the power to resolve most of them. All the Youth of today need is a chance to prove themselves. Through many protests against corruption, rape against women, we have witnessed that the Youth have the power to unite individuals from various ethnic groups. The world has been facing many problems such as Racism and Islamophobia. Everyone is fighting with each other because of the religion to which they belong or the complexion of their skin color. These fights within the Youth are created by political leaders or the people with power because they know that the only way they could defeat the power of Youth is when we are divided. This is the reason why we need Youth in politics as youth leaders could convince other fellow men and women to live in peace and harmony. The differences and all these issues should not allow the Youth to be divided. Instead of focusing on these differences, youth leaders should lead the way and help the majority focus on the real issues that matter, such as poverty, crime against women, unemployment, and many more. The Youth has the ability to bring a change in the country. 

To conclude, the role of the Youth is very important in the building of a nation. They can be a positive influence in society and can also solve the problem by introducing innovative and impactful ideas that will only help in the betterment of the country. They have the ability to create an identity for themselves, which will help in creating an impact. All the youth needs is the support of their family and friends, and I can assure you that they can make our country great. 

Short Essay on the Role of Youth in National Development

India is the world's largest democracy and the second largest populated country in the world.65% of the population comprises the Youth, and this is enough to show the importance of Youth and how big of an asset they are for the country.

The role of Youth in nation-building is very important. The work they do and the ideas they help to bring to the table will take the country on the path to success. In spite of being the largest democracy in the world, India is still lagging behind in achieving the economic success that will help to make a mark in the world. It has been 72 years since the freedom of our country, and throughout all these years, India has been infected by a few diseases such as corruption, unemployment, poverty, malnutrition, no proper healthcare services, and a crime against men and women. Indians are ranked 144 in the world happiness index, 141 in the gender development index, and 145 in the Global burden Index. India's rank in the various development indexes has not improved over a few years. The only way India can improve the ranks in all these indices is through empowering the Youth of the country. The Youth need to take charge and come forward to fight for a better tomorrow, and that can only be done if proper opportunities are provided to Youth in different fields.

If anyone wants to bring a change in the system, the only option is to study and get into it. The Indian Youth should consider joining politics and running for different roles such as the governor, bureaucrats, Home minister, and even Prime minister. Youth have the advantage of being a young mind and more connected to today's generation. A youth running the country will help in solving the problems that other Youth faces every day.

Youth has the ability to face any issue and solve it. There has been a rise in the cases of Racism and Islamophobia all across the world. Instead of focusing on important topics such as unemployment, poverty, and corruption, the Youth in our country is divided into a few not-so-important topics. This is because the majority of the Youth has been influenced t=by greedy political leaders who think all about themselves. This is why we need the Youth to be part of politics. Imagine a youth leader who unites every fellow Youth to focus and fight for what will matter for the future, and our country would be great.

To conclude, the Youth has the power to build a nation that will only help in its development. To do so, the Youth of our country should be supported by friends and family members. The Youth should be supported to pursue careers in various fields such as cinema, arts, and politics. The support which everyone will give today to the Youth will help in making our country great in the future. The important role of the youth in nation-building has been discussed here, and students can take a cue for writing an essay on my role as a youth in nation-building.

FAQs on Role of Youth in Nation Building Essay

1. Why is it important to build a nation?

A Nation is a group of people with a common language, beliefs, traditions and culture. Countries have been built from the basis of the shared interest, identity and aspirations of their people coming from different backgrounds. When you say you are Pakistani, Indian or American etc., what comes to your mind? Education, education and education. You have a common identity with all the people living in that particular country which is why you feel united in helping each other in times of need. A nation is a place where all the people live together with harmony and peace because they are united under one umbrella, which is the identity of that particular nation. Building a nation is important because a strong nation can only lead to a stronger economy, which in turn will bring about positive changes for the people living in that country and make their lives easier.

2. What are the traits of a good leader in nation building?

A good leader is a person who has vision and clarity about where he or she wants to take the country. He has complete knowledge about what needs to be done to achieve his goal, whether it's peaceful negotiations between countries at war or building roads within the country. He is a good motivator and knows how to bring out the best in people. He is honest and has high moral values. Last but not least, he is a true leader who can lead from the front and guide others to work for the common good. If a nation has a good leader, it can be possible to bring positive changes in every sector and make the country a better place to live in. With the help of a good leader, a nation can be built in a better way. A good leader can change the destiny of a nation.

3. What are the responsibilities of the youth in nation-building?

Youth has the responsibility to do their bit for nation-building, along with the common people like students, workers etc. Youth should make decisions after much thought and consideration because they hold the future of our generation in their hands. They should work together with all sections of society to bring about positive change in the country. They should also be involved in activities that promote national unity and solidarity. Youth should focus on their education and build a bright future for themselves and their country. They should join the army, civil services, police etc., to serve the nation in their respective capacities. The Youth play a very important role in Nation Building. They are the future of our country, and it is very important to groom them to become good leaders. Youth should be encouraged to take up sports and social work to strengthen our society. If a country has a responsible youth, then that Youth will definitely lead the country to a better future.

4. How can the youth be more involved in nation-building?

The Youth should take up jobs that benefit society. They can join the army, police or civil services to serve our nation. The Youth are our future and should be encouraged to take up sports and social work. Our Youth need to be educated because we cannot progress without them. We all must encourage our Youth to take part in nation-building activities so that together we can create a better future for everyone. With the help of our Youth, many problems can be solved. They should stop taking drugs and other harmful substances. Volunteering for community support activities is a very good way to give back to society while helping our Youth grow stronger in their personal life, health and well-being. If our Youth takes part in nation-building activities, then definitely our nation will be built in a better way.

5. What is the role of women in nation-building?

Women play a very important role in nation-building because they keep the family unit intact and pass on values to the young children. They must not neglect their household work and try to give equal importance to their traditional role while also training themselves to be good citizens. Women should strive for a healthy environment in society and join groups that work to bring about positive changes in their community. They can also involve themselves in nation-building activities like blood donation camps, tree plantation drives etc. There are many jobs women can take up, such as becoming police officers, nurses etc., to serve our nation. The role of Youth in Nation Building is very vital. A responsible youth can definitely lead the country to a better future. Youth should be encouraged to take up jobs that benefit society. Women contribute to nation-building in many ways like working with police, forest department etc. Women play a very important role in nation-building. Nowadays, women are given more freedom, and they play a vital role in society. Women involve themselves in nation-building activities like blood donation camps, tree plantation drives etc. women are taking up jobs in many fields like policewomen, nurses etc. So, women definitely play a very important role in nation-building, and they should be given more opportunities to serve our nation.

Essay on The Role of Youth in Nation Building

Students are often asked to write an essay on The Role of Youth in Nation Building in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on The Role of Youth in Nation Building

The power of youth.

Youth are the building blocks of a nation. They represent the future and hold the power to shape the nation’s destiny. Their energy, innovation, and courage are vital for the growth of a country.

Nation Building and Youth

Challenges and opportunities.

Youths face many challenges but also have numerous opportunities. With proper guidance and resources, they can overcome obstacles and contribute significantly to nation building. Their enthusiasm, creativity, and tech-savviness can be harnessed for the betterment of the nation.

250 Words Essay on The Role of Youth in Nation Building

Introduction.

Youth, the powerhouse of any nation, is the driving force behind its development and progress. They are the torchbearers of change, innovation, and advancement, playing a pivotal role in nation-building.

The Potential of Youth

The youth possess an enormous reservoir of energy, passion, and creativity. Their ideas and innovations, when harnessed effectively, can lead to significant advancements in various sectors such as technology, economy, and social development. They are the architects of the future, capable of molding the nation’s destiny.

Education and Empowerment

Education is a critical tool in empowering the youth and preparing them for their role in nation-building. It equips them with the necessary knowledge and skills to contribute to the nation’s growth and development. Furthermore, it fosters critical thinking and promotes a sense of responsibility towards society.

Youth Participation in Politics

The involvement of youth in politics is crucial for a healthy democracy. They bring fresh perspectives and progressive ideologies, challenging the status quo and advocating for change. Their participation ensures that the interests of the younger generation are represented in policy-making decisions.

In conclusion, the role of youth in nation-building is indispensable. They are the change agents, the innovators, and the leaders of tomorrow. By harnessing their potential, fostering their education, and encouraging their participation in politics, we can ensure a prosperous future for our nation. The youth are not just the future of the nation; they are its present, shaping its trajectory towards progress and development.

500 Words Essay on The Role of Youth in Nation Building

The role of youth in nation-building is paramount. They represent the future, embodying the potential and prospects of a nation. Their energy, innovation, and resilience can drive social change and economic progress. As they transition into adulthood, they carry the responsibility of steering the nation towards prosperity and peace.

Youth are not just the leaders of tomorrow, but also the partners of today. They possess a dynamic spirit – a combination of cognitive flexibility, inherent curiosity, and a propensity for risk-taking. These attributes make them particularly adept at adapting to change and driving progress. They are not just beneficiaries of development, but also agents of change, capable of initiating social reform and technological innovation.

Education: A Key Tool for Empowerment

Political participation.

Youth involvement in politics is another key aspect of nation-building. By engaging in political processes, young people can voice their concerns, influence policies, and hold leaders accountable. Their participation helps ensure that governance is representative and responsive to the needs of all segments of society.

Entrepreneurship and Economic Development

Entrepreneurship among the youth can significantly contribute to economic development. By creating new businesses, young entrepreneurs generate employment, stimulate innovation, and facilitate economic diversification. They can also drive sustainable development by adopting environmentally-friendly business practices.

Social Activism

Youth are often at the forefront of social activism, advocating for human rights, gender equality, and environmental sustainability. Their activism can foster social change, challenge entrenched power structures, and contribute to the creation of a more just and equitable society.

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Role of Republic Day in Nation Building Essay

Republic day: catalyst for unbroken nation-building in india.

Written by [YOUR NAME]

Imagine a day of utmost significance, a day that encapsulates the very essence of our cultural identity, a day so vastly impactful that it shapes a nation's path toward progress and prosperity. This day is none other than the Republic Day of India, celebrated with zest and patriotism every 26th of January since the year 1950. This day, beyond just being a mere holiday, plays a crucial role in nation-building, serving as a symbol of unity, history, identity, and collective forward movement.

Republic Day plays a crucial role in India's nation-building efforts by commemorating the adoption of the constitution, the foundation of the world's largest democracy. It reinforces citizens' awareness of their rights and responsibilities, fostering an inclusive society that values equality, liberty, and fraternity. The shared history created by this common law fuels the collective aspiration for a progressive and inclusive India. Additionally, Republic Day serves as a platform to celebrate the diverse cultural tapestry of India through grand parades and pageants, promoting mutual respect and tolerance among different traditions, ethnicities, languages, and practices. These annual celebrations rekindle patriotic fervor, contributing to the nation's strength and harmony.

Centering around the metaphor of Republic Day as the heart of India's nation-building endeavor, we come to understand its integral role in motivating the citizens, fostering unity, and reinforcing the pillars of democracy in our land. In conclusion, the significance of Republic Day transcends beyond the set of festivities and parades; it is the pulsating rhythm that persists, driving the spirit of India's nation-building efforts. With each passing year, as the 26th of January rolls in with all its glory and patriotic echoes, it renews the spirit of India and nurtures her journey towards becoming a more powerful, equitable, and prosperous country. A single day's celebration, thus, has the power to invigorate an entire nation, a phenomenon truly inspiring to behold.

India Republic Day Templates @ Template.net

• New research exposes the role of women in America’s slave trade

In the bondage of others they saw their freedom

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T hey didn’t know how bad it was. That was how James Redpath, a northern journalist who toured the South in the 1850s, explained white southern women’s support for slavery to his readers. He reckoned that women were shielded from the “most obnoxious features” of the trade—rarely witnessing the auctions and the lashes doled out as punishments on plantations—and were oblivious to the “gigantic commerce” that it had become. Over time historians came to agree that slavery was the business of men.

Research published last month shatters that narrative. Economists at Ohio State University analysed data from the New Orleans slave market, the biggest of them all, to quantify women’s involvement. They found that women were buyers or sellers in 30% of all transactions and 38% of those that involved female slaves. By matching names to census records they show that it was not just single or widowed women who dealt in slaves because they lacked husbands; married ones did, too.

These are the first hard numbers building on a growing body of qualitative work by Stephanie Jones-Rogers, a historian at the University of California, Berkeley, showing just how instrumental women were to the slave economy. In the travel logs of foreigners she uncovered descriptions of southern belles bidding at the slave markets dressed in their finest silks and “glittering in precious jewels”. And in interviews conducted by the federal government in the 1930s she found that former slaves frequently reported belonging to the “mistis” and told stories of being beaten by her with stinging nettles or coming home to find their child missing and the mistress counting a “heap of bills”.

For the ladies of the antebellum South, slavery was more than business—it was their ticket to economic freedom. Coverture laws compelled women to relinquish property and money to men when they married, but exceptions were made for slaves. As with furniture and clothing, a bride could hold on to the humans she owned and take them with her to her new husband’s estate. Fathers hoping to secure their daughters’ futures gave them slaves at baptisms, birthdays and engagements.

As grown-ups, women used slaves to establish financial independence. In cities like Charleston and New Orleans they put them to work selling cakes or dresses and pocketed the profits in secret. Some ran slave brothels. The mistresses then used the cash to reinvest in the slave market. But unlike their husbands, who often bought fit men to work the fields, women bought more women, who were cheaper but paid dividends later on when they reproduced.

On the eve of the civil war Southern women came to understand that the Union army threatened to strip them not just of their material wealth but of their independence. As men went off to battle and Congress passed the Confiscation Acts of the early 1860s, which authorised the government to seize slaves, women panicked. Before the war, half of the South’s wealth was in slaves. The fall of the Confederacy left many Southerners destitute. Freed slaves later recounted giving their former mistresses grits and potatoes to subsist on after emancipation.

It would be decades before the women of the South gained the right to control their earnings, own property, take custody of their children and vote. Ms Jones-Rogers contends that their fight for segregation into the 20th century was fuelled by the sense of power they had known and lost. In the subjugation of others they had tasted freedom. ■

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This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “The second sex”

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