Politicians invoke nationhood to address the whole electorate, whatever their policy views.

Evidence

First of all, the very use of national categories is not related to any particular policy (which means that those who stress dour countryT are not necessarily nationalists in the narrow sense of seeking independence and opposing foreigners) but rather is related to the audience one is seeking to influence. That is why, in a world of universal franchises, parliamentary politicians (whatever their persuasion) stress nationhood. Precisely because they are appealing to the entire electorate they need a category that includes all electors and dnationT fits the bill in a way that more or less exclusive categories (e.g., class, humanity) do not. — Stephen Reicher, S. Alexander Haslam, and Nick Hopkins, Social identity and the dynamics of…, 81

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Politicians deliberately shape who votes by steering policy to select their own electorate. — Daryl Levinson and Benjamin I. Sachs, Political Entrenchment and Public Law, 281; A dominant group sustains rule by presenting its own interests as universal national ones — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 762

Broader Connections

• A dominant group sustains rule by presenting its own interests as universal national ones #qualifies (0.78) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 762
• Politicians deliberately shape who votes by steering policy to select their own electorate. #complicates (0.76) — Daryl Levinson and Benjamin I. Sachs, Political Entrenchment and Public Law, 281