Nation-State

Are you perplexed about the meaning of the term NATION-STATE ? Well, it is indeed a perplexing term, but I am here to help you get rid...

Are you perplexed about the meaning of the term NATION-STATE? Well, it is indeed a perplexing term, but I am here to help you get rid of these perplexes, so everyone out there here you go with a small article defining the term Nation-State….

Nation-States defined as autonomous geopolitical entities inhabited by citizens sharing the same language, history and ethnicity. The nation state "is one where the great majority are conscious of a common identity and share the same culture" (Davis; 1997). The nation-state is a system of political, geographical, and cultural Organization where people with a common identity live inside a country along with firm borders and a single government. The word nation is derived from the Latin verb nasci (to be born) and its noun form, natio (connoting breed or race).

Well the term nation-state was originally intended to describe a political unit (a state) whose borders coincided or roughly coincided with the territorial distribution of a nation, the latter in its pristine sense of a human grouping who share a conviction of being ancestrally related. Thus, forming the important characteristics of nation-states as geographically defined territory, sovereignty, government, boundaries and nationalism.

 The nation as we think of it today is a product of the nineteenth century. In modern times nation is recognised as 'the' political community that ensures the legitimacy of the state over its territory, and transforms the state into the state of all its citizens. The notion of 'nation state' emphasises this new alliance between nation and state. Nationality is supposed to bind the citizen to the state, a bond that will be increasingly tied to the advantages of a social policy in as much as the Welfare State will develop (Smelser, N. J. and Baltes, P. B.; 2001)

In modern times the nation is the largest effective community which is permeated by a common consciousness of a common kind, which is held together by its physical boundaries, its government, and the fact that the people believe they are connected to each other. In modern nation-states, the three elements which are the backbone of nation-state are sovereignty, territorial integrity, and legal equality.

The best example of nation-state is United Kingdom which is also a controversial one due to its “countries within a country” status. Other than UK, Albania, Egypt, Mongolia, etc. are few to mention as examples of nation-states.

The rise of several non-state actors and constraints due to spread of Nuclear weapons, growing inter-dependence among the states compromising on national interests and regional integration, growing role of public opinions and MNCs are responsible for weakening the nation-state system acting as setback factors.

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To know more you can visit these significant topics:
The Development of Literacy and Schooling, Commensality, Indian State, State, Indian Society, Religion, Marriage, kinship System, Social Institution, Types of Marriage, Family, Community, Indology, Social Movement, Bride Wealth (Price)

Reference:

• Smelser, N. J. and Baltes, P. B. (eds.) 2001. International Encyclopaedia of the Social and Behavioural Sciences. Vol. 15. Elsevier. Oxford Science Ltd.
• Ritzer, George and Ryan, J. Michael (eds) 2011. The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology. Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
• Francis Gilbert,  Introduction to Nation States: http://www.slideshare.net/FrancisGilbert/introduction-to-nation-states (29.12.2016/7:35pm)
• Hakim Afridi, University of Haripur - Nation State System: http://www.slideshare.net/AsadAli108/nation-state-system (29.12.2016/7:37pm)
• Various 

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Related Questions:

What is Nation-State?

Characteristics of Nation-State.

Example of Nation-State.

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