Democratizing the Hegemonic State. Political Transformation in the Age of Identity

It has often been contested that in order to secure a stable democracy, a majoritarian plural polity or federal-like country should have a Staatsvolk. This is regarded as a national or ethnic people who are demographically and electorally dominant, although it need not add up to an absolute majority of the population. Such an ethnic group should play the role of facilitating the country’s political stability frequently by means of hierarchical and “command-and-control” programs of state formation. This claim is meant to be consistent with theories of liberal nationalism, national federalism, and national cultural homogeneity. Peleg, instead, advocates the transformation of “ethnic constitutional orders” into more open, inclusive and stable politics, where democratic accountability and territorial accommodation are paramount concerns. His empirical approach is based upon the close attention paid to fourteen cases analyzed in the book, among which detailed studies of four paradigmatic cases stand out: post-Franco Spain, multicultural federal Canada, devolutionary United Kingdom, and Swiss cantonalization.Peer reviewe