Globalization,Ethnic Diversity,and Nationalism: The Challenge for Democracies

Abstract

Globalization involves escalating human mobility--more and more people are able to move from place to place, not just as migrants seeking new homes but as sojourners visiting different countries where they may stay for longer or shorter periods of time. The result for any state is a growing diversity of its resident population and increasing pressure to support and represent the interests of its citizens living abroad. The prevailing models for organizing a democracy were shaped generations ago and may well be inadequate for coping with the new problems generated by modernity and globalization. Perhaps we need to think about new ways to organize democracies to be more effective.