ABSTRACT
The political function of nationalism, like any ideology, is to justify the rule of those who happen to be ruling and to give meaning to policy. It is an explanation of world history that is designed to explain why the acts of the state should inspire pride rather than disgust. The chief legitimating process in a democracy is real or symbolic participation in decision-making, but this process is scarcely working at all, for there is virtually no participation for the citizen in matters of foreign policy or national security. The citizen as well as his elected representative is usually ignorant of decisions literally involving life and death for the society. The leaders of the modern nation-state, having lost the mystique of rule, are forced to base their claim to allegiance on more mundane grounds. The state has been in the business of assisting its traders and manufacturers with tariff and monetary policy and, where necessary, war and conquest.
