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About this quote

What does it mean?
People can gather, but only formal structures and systems can unify them into a nation.
In plain terms
Individuals make communities, but institutions build nations.
What can you take from it?
Institutions unite people into nations.

Where it applies

  • founding a country
  • building civic trust
  • reforming government

Putting it to work

  • strengthen civic rules
  • build public institutions
  • foster shared identity

Questions to consider

  • What institutions hold your society together?
  • Can a nation exist without formal institutions?

Another view

Informal social bonds can sometimes sustain nations better than formal rules.

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