To What Extent Is Nationalism a Single Doctrine? (45marks)

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A nation is a collection of people bound together by shared values and common characteristics. Nationalism is sometimes categorised as a political doctrine, as opposed to a political ideology. It is often perceived as a single doctrine, due to its ability to attach itself to almost any wider political ideology, such as liberalism, conservatism, fascism and socialism. In contrast to the core ideologies, nationalism does not consist of complex interrelated ideas,and values, it is simply the belief that the nation is the natural unit of government. However, in other respects nationalism can be characterised by its significant divisions, this makes nationalism appear to be a collection of distinct and in some respects, sharply conflicting sub-strands. Firstly, nationalism can generally be viewed as a single doctrine due to each strands core belief in the cultural group/nation state as the supreme principle of political organisation in society. A general support of political nationalism throughout each strand of nationalism also suggests that it comprises of a single doctrine. For example, each strand (eg. Liberal, conservative) regard the nation as a natural political community, usually expressed through the idea of self determination, specifically in relation to liberal nationalism. Although, each form of nationalism shares the common belief of the nation as the supreme political organisations, each strand of nationalism has differing beliefs about the core goals of nationalism and how these aims are to be implemented i.e.. militarianism. This illustrates how nationalism is made up of contrasting beliefs, not one single doctrine. Firstly, liberal nationalism is orientated around the goal of self-determination and sovereign independence for all nations. For liberal nationalists, each nation is viewed as an equal moral entity, therefore no one nation has
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