Suchergebnisse

The psychological development of most human beings leads to the emergence of feelings of "belongingness" vis-à-vis certain social groupings. I shall denote such feelings by the term "loyalties." With the emergence of the state, and increasingly on into the contemporary era, an attempt has been made by these maximal-sized, territorial-based political units, to develop a state-focused civic sense within their respective societies. According to Geertz (1963: 156), the civic sense involves "a definite concept of the public as a separate and distinct body and an attendant notion of a genuine public interest, which though not necessarily superior to, is independent of and at times even in conflict with both private and other sorts of collective interest." However, within the confines of already existing states may be smaller territorial units who view themselves as political communities with their own publics.