Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chapter1. Liberal democracies, national pluralism and federalism -- Chapter2. Shadows of the Enlightenment: refining pluralism in liberal -- Chapter3. Liberal democracy and national minorities -- Chapter4. The transformation of the democratic states ion Western Europe -- Chapter5. liberal multiculturalism and human rights -- Chapter6. On postnational identity -- Chapter7. Reframing sovereignty? Sub-state national societies and contemporary challenges to the nation-state -- Chapter8. Federalism and the protection of rights and freedoms: affinities and antagonism -- Chapter9. The myth of civic patriotism -- Chapter10. From quid pro quo to modus vivendi: can legalizing session strengthen the plurinational federation -- Chapter11. Nationalism and cosmopolitanism in the globasl age -- Chapter12. Democracy, federalism and plurinational states .

The current context of developed societies is characterized by a number of phenomena, the most significant of which are processes of economic globalization, information technologies, increasing multiculturalism and the emergence of cases of national pluralism which require full political accommodation both within democracies and in the international sphere. The book examines the current state of affairs concerning the political recognition and constitutional accommodation of national pluralism in liberal democracies in the global era of the 21st century.