Democracy and the Nation State: Aliens, Denizens, and Citizens in a World of International Migration

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Avebury, 1990 - 226 Seiten
This book addresses a contemporary problem that is at the crossroads between two basic political principles. The first one is the idea of representative government based on elections by general suffrage. The second is the sovereignty of the nation-state which says that the world is divided into sovereign states and that only those who are citizens can claim to take part in the political life of a particular nation-state. Mr Hammar, Director of the Centre for Research in International Migration and Ethnic Relations at Stockholm University, argues that increased immigration during the second half of the 20th century has challenged the nation-state and the democratic system as the distinction between formal and substantial citizenship has become blurred. The book, based on a series of articles and reports on this subject written during the last ten years, is divided into four parts. The first part deals with international migration and nationalism. Attention is focused on how immigrants enter a new country and the importance of citizenship as obligatory membership in a state. Included is a short history of citizenship, its emergence during the 19th century, and the relationship between industrialization on the one hand and nationalism and the idea of the nation-state on the other. The second part discusses citizenship, naturalization, and the advantages of dual citizenship. The third part of the book focuses on the increasing activity of foreign citizens in politics and the extent to which they have actually taken part in political elections in countries where they have been allowed to do so. This third part is concluded with an evaluation of those electoral reforms mainly in Scandinavia and the Netherlands which have given voting rights to foreign citizens with three to five years of legal residence. In the final part, the author tries to resolve the lack of congruence between formal citizenship and informal membership resulting from long periods of residence. He discusses two alternative ways to overcome this lack of congruence: through increased naturalization or through an extension of political rights to those who have had their domicile in the country for a long time.

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Inhalt

Democracy versus the Nation State
1
Three Entrance Gates into the New Country
9
Membership of State and Nation
26
Urheberrecht

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Häufige Begriffe und Wortgruppen

Autoren-Profil (1990)

TOMAS HAMMAR Director of the Centre for Research in International Migration and Ethnic Relations Stockholm University

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