ABSTRACT
There is a strong link between democracy and nationalism. For democracy is rule by ‘the People’, and in the modern world ‘the People’ is composed of all the adult citizens of a nation-state. So, while not all nations are democracies, all democracies are nations, and as states become more democratic they tend to become more nationalistic. However, in a globalised economy, state policy-makers being democratically accountable is no guarantee of their economic effectiveness. In fact, in such a context making economic decisions more democratically accountable (by nationalising or re-nationalising them from the regional or global level) can actually damage a nation’s economy. Yet despite this, when the globalised economy misfires, or its workings damage a democratic state or some of its citizens, the most common response is nearly always a nationalistic or economically protectionist one. The reason for this is the emotive power of nationalism. The chapter ends by exploring the roots of this power.
