Politeia (Jan 2015)
Ethnic and political dimension of the nationalistic ideology
Abstract
Nationalism represents one of the most important social and political phenomena on the international political scene. The power and influence of the nationalist ideology to a great extent stems from the fact that it is ethnic and political at the same time, which gives it advantage in relation to some other ideologies which only have a political dimension. As an ethnic and cultural phenomenon, nationalism enables merging of the members of a certain community within a particular, nationally and culturally defined space, by which it fulfills some of the most basic human needs - a need for security and a need for belonging. On the other hand, as a political phenomenon, due to its emotional charge, nationalist ideology has a great mobilizing potential, which gains special importance in the situations and periods of crisis. Political elites, with the help of nationalism, can, in the easiest and fastest way, gather the majority of members of a particular nation around one political, social and national goal, which is of great importance for the stability, prosperity and, after all, very survival of national states.
