The strength of secessionism in liberal-democracies varies in time and space. Inspired by historical institutionalism, Nationalism, Secessionism, and Autonomy argues that such variation is explained by the extent to which autonomy evolves in time. If autonomy adjusts to the changing identity, interests, and circumstances of an internal national community, nationalism is much less likely to be strongly secessionist than if autonomy is a final, unchangeable settlement. Developing a controlled comparison of, on the one hand, Catalonia and Scotland, where autonomy has been mostly static during key periods of time, and, on the other hand, Flanders and South Tyrol, where it has been dynamic, and also considering the Basque Country, Québec, and Puerto Rico as additional cases, this book puts forward an elegant theory of secessionism in liberal-democracies: dynamic autonomy staves off secessionism while static autonomy stimulates it.

André Lecours est professeur titulaire à l’École d’études politiques de l’Université d’Ottawa. Il détient un doctorat en science politique de l’Université Carleton (2001). Il s’intéresse principalement au nationalisme, au fédéralisme et à la politique européenne et canadienne. Il est le coauteur (avec Daniel Béland) de Nationalism and Social Policy: The Politics of Territorial Solidarity, publié par l’Oxford University Press en 2008. Il est également l’auteur de Basque Nationalism and the Spanish State, publié par l’University of Nevada Press en 2007, et le directeur de New Institutionalism: Theory and Analysis, publié par l’University of Toronto Press en 2005.

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