Political Ideologies and Ethnic Identification in Europe

What is the relationship between political ideologies and ethnicity? It is a question that presents some problems. First, it requires a sharing of some definitions and vocabulary. Ethnic identity can be observed as a construction or as a category: in the first case, it is the product of an action, and in the second, it is an instrument of classification. The very definition of ethnic groups changes in different countries and indicates quite different social groups; in many cases, this classification is not even present. Nevertheless, it is evident that ethnicity has taken on a strong political and social relevance in contemporary world and therefore the link between ethnic identities and political ideologies is a central issue to understand currentpolitical systems.