A National Divorce
Many American citizens feel that the policies enacted by their country fail to represent their interests or values. Additionally, increasing political divides, whether they be professional, digital, or personal might lead them to believe that they have little in common with the people with whom they are meant to share a national identity. In response to these ideological and cultural fractures in the American body politic, some citizens have begun to seriously consider secession. By seceding from the United States or from their individual states, groups who feel alienated from their current government could reclaim a sense of political representation and community.
One of the immediate problems with political secession is that of legitimacy. If the United States allowed a group of citizens to form their own country, what is there to stop others from following suit and whittling away the nation? One might also worry that secession could lead to political violence. Many historical examples of a “national divorce” have devolved into partisan terrorism and civil war. Other objections to secession do not rely on claims about its potential effects. If being a good citizen of a democracy requires tolerating disagreement, secession could be seen as an anti-democratic proposal.
However, the relationship between liberal-democratic values and secession may be more complicated than opponents let on. Perhaps the case for a right to secede could be made by appealing to other political rights to self-determination or the freedom of association. Many successful liberal revolutions have been motivated by the belief that ethnic or national groups have a right to determine their own form of government, and contemporary justifications of secession could take the same form.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Do people have a right to live with those with similar values to their own?
Is it morally defensible to secede if a government appears to not represent its citizens?
Is it morally permissible to want to remove yourself from living with people who disagree with you?
References
[1] Gabriel Andrade, "The Ethics of Secession," The Prindle Post. October 28, 2017.
[2] U.S. State Department, Office of the Historian, “The Breakup of Yugoslavia, 1990–1992”
[3] See, for instance, Encyclopedia Brittanica, “Revolutions of 1848”
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