Which figure called for democracy and self-determination?

• A. Kant
• B. Mazzini
• C. Wilson
• D. Marx

Answer: (C)

Democracy and self-determination as a political principle is about nations deciding their own government and borders through the freely expressed will of their people. Woodrow Wilson stood out here because, in his Fourteen Points, he explicitly argued that peoples should determine their own political future and governance. He connected this to a broader liberal order, proposing a League of Nations to uphold these principles and prevent future wars. That explicit linking of self-determination to the international order is why this figure is the best fit for calling for democracy and self-determination.

Kant talked about republican government and universal rights, which influence liberal thought, but he did not push the postwar self-determination program in the way Wilson did. Mazzini championed democracy and national unity within a specific nationalist project, not the modern, global framework of self-determination Wilson argues for. Marx focused on class theory and economic structures rather than a distinct policy of national self-determination and democratic governance.