Abstract

National diversity, that is, the diversity of having more than one nation within a state or having a large population whose nationality is predominant in another state, poses conflicting identities and allegiances, which can lead to instability of the state. In order to achieve a legitimately stable nationally diverse state, it is necessary to determine what might lead disparate national groups to reasonably accept sharing the same state. Using a liberal framework, I argue that the encompassing nature of national culture means that minority national groups have a legitimate claim to some form of self-determination, which requires special institutional accommodations of national differences in culture and language. Borrowing from Rawls' conception of political liberalism, I argue that stability requires recognizing this claim to self-determination when reaching an overlapping consensus on political institutions and constitutional essentials amongst members of diverse national groups. In addition, I argue that a normative stability is enhanced by a sense of belonging together---a non-national common identity that forms diverse national groups into a political community, which helps generate a spirit of reasonableness and reinforces a commitment to stability. Legitimate stability, in my view, requires a normative consensus on political institutions that accommodate national difference, as well as a non-national common identity.