ABSTRACT
In certain liberal-democratic federations (or regionally decentralized polities) there is a coexistence between various national groups. Among the national characteristics of these groups living together in a given polity, we can mention the fact that their members recognize themselves as such because they share some cultural patterns. They also share some sense of historical distinctiveness in relation to other groups. They are situated in a more or less clear territory, and display a will to maintain their distinctiveness in the political sphere. When there are different national groups living together within the same federation (or regional state), we call it a multinational federation (or a multinational regional state). This, for example, is the case in Belgium, Canada, India or Spain. These are multinational federations or regional decentralized polities with institutional and regulatory challenges distinct from those faced by uninational federations such as the Germany, Austria or Australia.1
