ABSTRACT
The very existence of a nation state suggests that it will exclude outsiders –otherwise there would appear little justification for its survival. The concentration of the state education system on its own geography, history and literature ensures that the values are passed down to the next generation. Nation states have a dominant ideology, which they perpetuate in a variety of ways. The education system, for instance, predominantly teaches children about the history and geography of the state in which they live. Virtually all European states are bound by international treaties protecting the civil rights of minorities. Such measures represent paper guarantees, which do not solve the underlying problems preventing the entry of members of minorities into positions of economic and political power. As well as the international treaties which nation states sign, many also have similar theoretical constitutional guarantees aimed at protecting the rights of minorities.
