Fragile Nations
The Promise and Perils of Multinational Democracies
How autonomy’s demand for constant collective effort within unequal constitutional frameworks makes non-sovereign nations precarious.
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Non-sovereign nations are fragile: not because they lack identity but because their futures depend on sustained collective efforts to preserve institutions, cultures, and political autonomy while they remain unequal partners within constitutional frameworks.
In a brilliant sociopolitical analysis of five non-sovereign nations – Catalonia, Northern Ireland, Wallonia, South Tyrol, and Quebec – Félix Mathieu offers new empirical evidence that a state’s constitutional character shapes the management of national diversity and advances novel ideas for creating authentic multinational democracies. Beginning with each state’s formative rupture and unfolding through the twists of political modernity, Fragile Nations shows how political, social, and economic forces interact with constitutional structures. It examines how unitary or federal states enable or constrain minority nations in building institutions and shaping their destinies. Mathieu brings empirical depth to theoretical debates and takes a compelling look at the democratic principles of pluralism and equity, which can sustain fairer, more inclusive multinational states.
Fragile Nation engages in questions about nationalism, federalism, minority nations, and the challenges of governance, enriching wider conversations about identity, sovereignty, and coexistence in diverse societies.
“Fragile Nations is an ambitious and important work that blends several theoretical literatures – nationalism, liberalism, constitutionalism – and deep empirical knowledge of the histories and institutional workings of the cases. This is no easy feat, and Mathieu achieves it with flying colours.” Geneviève Zubrzycki, University of Michigan
“Elegant and rigorous, Fragile Nations reimagines the conditions for successful constitutional coexistence, arguing that political stability flows from recognition and empowerment – a powerful corrective to orthodoxies of centralization. A book for our times with broad reach and applicability.” Richard Albert, University of Texas at Austin