This section will overview general literature on this topic. Democratic states struggle to find balance between maintaining national identity and protecting minority rights.
National identity is an identity of equality between members of the nation.
In order to maintain national identity, their must be a continuous homogenization process and exclusion of those others who do not belong. These others, members of groups which do not fit into the national identity, are minorities. Minority identities pose a threat to nationalist identities, and in many democratic states, minorities often lose. This literature review looks at the connections between national and minority identities, looking for win-win options, where identities can be maintained, discrimination limited, and peaceful coexistence achieved. Ethnic identifications can shape a state, but states more often than is recognized can and do shape ethnic identities and inter-ethnic relations.