Plurinationality, plurinational, or plurinationalism is defined as the coexistence of two or more sealed or preserved national groups within a

polity A polity is an identifiable political entity – a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of institutionalized social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize resources. A polity can be any other group of ...

(an organized community or body of peoples). In plurinationalism, the idea of

nationality Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of t ...

is plural, meaning there are many nationals within an organized community or body of peoples. Derived from this concept, a plurinational state is the existence of multiple political communities and constitutional asymmetry. The usage of plurinationality assists in avoiding the division of societies within a state or country. Furthermore, a plurinational democracy recognizes the multiple

demoi In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and ea ...

(common people or populace)demos
thefreedictionary.com within a polity.Keating, Michael
Plurinational Democracy in a Post-Sovereign Order
, Queen's Papers on Europeanisation No 1/2002 Reportedly the term has its origin in the Indigenous political movement in

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

where it was first heard of in the early 1980s. As of 2022 Bolivia and

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

are constitutionally defined as plurinational states.

Plurinationalism in Chile

In Chile constitutional plurinationalism has been a topic of debate. Plurinationalism was not a concept in the constitutional reforms proposed by

Michelle Bachelet Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (; born 29 September 1951) is a Chilean politician who served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022. She previously served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 201 ...

's second government (2014–2018), yet the proposed reforms included recognition of Chile's indigenous peoples. The

2022 proposed Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile The proposed Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile was a Constitutional draft written by the Constitutional Convention of Chile between 4 July 2021 and 4 July 2022. An early draft was made available on 14 May 2022. The final proposal w ...

defined Chile as "plurinational", however this proposal was rejected by a large margin in September 2022. Prior to the dismissal of the proposed constitution the issue of pluranationalism was noted by polls and ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

'' as particularly divisive in Chile. The creation of a "plurinational region" in southern Chile has been proposed by some scholars and activists as a solution to the

Mapuche conflict The Mapuche conflict ( es, conflicto mapuche) involves indigenous Mapuche communities located in Araucanía and nearby regions of Chile and Argentina. It is often referred to as a conflict between the Mapuche and the Chilean government or state ...

. Plurinationalism has been criticized by

José Rodríguez Elizondo José Alejandro Vladimir Rodríguez Elizondo (born 10 June 1936) is a Chilean lawyer and diplomat who was awarded with the National Prize of Humanities and Social Sciences in 2021. He finished his Bachelor of Arts in laws in 1960 at the Univer ...

as being used to advance Bolivian claims against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

for sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean.

Plurinationalism in Chile

See also

References

Further reading