A timely and provocative challenge to the foundations of our global order: why should national borders be unchangeable? The inviolability of national borders is an unquestioned pillar of the post-World War II international order. Fixed borders are supposed to encourage stability, promote pluralism, and discourage nationalism and intolerance. But do they? What if fixed borders create more problems than they solve, and what if permitting people to change borders would create more stability and produce more just societies? Legal scholar Timothy Waters examines this possibility, showing how we arrived at a system of rigidly bordered states and how the real danger to peace is not the desire of people to form new states but the capacity of existing states to resist that desire, even with violence. He proposes a practical, democratically legitimate alternative: a right of secession. With crises ongoing in the United Kingdom, Spain, Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, India, and many other regions, this reassessment of the foundations of our global order is more relevant than ever.

A timely and provocative challenge to the foundations of our global order: why should national borders be unchangeable? The inviolability of national borders is an unquestioned pillar of the post–World War II international order. Fixed borders are believed to encourage stability, promote pluralism, and discourage nationalism and intolerance. But do they? What if fixed borders create more problems than they solve, and what if permitting borders to change would create more stability and produce more just societies? Legal scholar Timothy Waters examines this possibility, showing how we arrived at a system of rigidly bordered states and how the real danger to peace is not the desire of people to form new states but the capacity of existing states to resist that desire, even with violence. He proposes a practical, democratically legitimate alternative: a right of secession. With crises ongoing in the United Kingdom, Spain, Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, and many other regions, this reassessment of the foundations of our international order is more relevant than ever.

Secession and the Sovereignty Game offers a comprehensive strategic theory for how secessionist movements attempt to win independence. Combining original data analysis, fieldwork, interviews with secessionist leaders, and case studies on Catalonia, the Murrawarri Republic, West Papua, Bougainville, New Caledonia, and Northern Cyprus, Ryan D. Griffiths shows how the rules and informal practices of sovereign recognition create a strategic playing field between existing states and aspiring nations that he terms "the sovereignty game." To win sovereign statehood, all secessionist movements have to maneuver on the same strategic playing field while varying their tactics according to local conditions. To obtain recognition, secessionist movements use tactics of electoral capture, nonviolent civil resistance, and violence. To persuade the home state and the international community, they appeal to normative arguments regarding earned sovereignty, decolonization, the right to choose, inherent sovereignty, and human rights. The pursuit of independence can be enormously disruptive and is quite often violent. By advancing a theory that explains how sovereign recognition has succeeded in the past and is working in the present, and by anticipating the practices of future secessionist movements, Secession and the Sovereignty Game also prescribes solutions that could make the sovereignty game less conflictual.

This collection presents an analysis of the concept of secession and its constitutional accommodation alongside an assessment of the effects of secession in constitutional and international law. The work proposes a new approach and insights into the existing literature that fill a gap from multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspectives. The book approaches the topics of secession, constitutionalism, and their relationship from both theoretical and empirical perspectives, including the analysis of particular secessionist examples, such as Catalonia, the Basque Country, Tigray, the Palestinian minority in Israel, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Mapuche Nation, from a comparative constitutional perspective. Elucidating these issues from different methodological and conceptual perspectives produces novelties in the scientific and constitutional debate. The interplay between constitutions, constitutional law, and secession is indeed explored from philosophical, socio-legal, but also from strict constitutional law outlooks. Written by constitutional and public international law experts, the book will be of interest to students, academics, and researchers working in the areas of constitutional law, legal theory, theory of the state, philosophy of law, and political science.

Direct democracy makes you richer. Research shows that the average citizen earns nearly a $1000 for every referendum held, and that a strong correlation exists between the frequency of referendums and a GDP per capita. Referendums can also improve the quality of democracy. So why don’t we see more? Drawing on a three decades of research, Qvortrup presents a definitive statement on the benefits and history referendums, including examples of how this instrument of democracy has been both utilised and abused. The book outlines the history of referendums, explains when politicians have submitted issues to the voters, why these votes have been won or lost - and ultimately why it matters. Uniquely, the book also examines the role of social media in referendum campaigns and make suggestions for improving the process of direct democracy Written in a lucid style by one of the world’s leading experts on referendums, Democracy on demand is a timely reminder of the importance of democracy in our politics, offering new insights into how direct democracy can both improve our lives and at the same time strengthen our societies.

Bands, bonds, and affections -- Secession all the way down : libertarians opt out -- "A slave republic" : secession and southern slavery -- White devils and Black separatists -- "Dykes first" : lesbian separatism in America -- Exodus as secession : achieving God's terrestrial kingdom.

This book explores the changing nature of secessionist attempts in connection with rapidly evolving geopolitical and technological landscapes. By presenting theoretical chapters as well as case studies on various secessionist movements around the globe, the contributing authors study a range of topics, including: the role of the media in secessionist conflicts; secessionist referenda and the viability of secessionist attempts in terms of their internal dimension; and external support and interference. The book will appeal to political scientists and international relations scholars who are interested in the processes, politics and geopolitical implications of secessionist movements.