inside discrete boundaries or always coexist together. Each of the new democracies created after World War I includes large numbers of minority populations.
Chapter 1, Article 1 of the Charter of the United Nations states that there should be "respect for the principle of . . . self-determination of peoples". The Charter continues in Article 2 to defend the "territorial integrity or political independence of any state." These two statements cannot always be applied equally. How can the United Nations Charter call for self-determination in one article and also for maintaining and defending the existing borders of a country with multiple ethnic population groups each predominantly living in its own region? Democracy presumes that all ethnic groups can participate in the government if they wish. When the country is divided into political parties along ethnic, religious, or linguistic lines, the possibility of the government alternating or representing all parties will not materialize and the minority party members will become disenfranchised. When political party membership is based on fundamental loyalties, religious, ethnic, or linguistic, then the minorities will be permanently without power.
Before the advent of the printing press and large scale dissemination of printed matter in the vernacular languages, the people were fragmented along religious lines. As Latin became less of an international language of communication between peoples and capitalism became the economic system of commerce, cultural identity and heritage became more important than religion. The key concept of a nation as a group of people living in a defined space, at the same time, became relevant. People imagine that they belong to a community of people who share their cultural history and beliefs; their identity is tied to their nation. The ideal nation-state would contain only one ethnic nationality among its people. In reality this ...