This paper presents an analysis of secession based on rational choice premises. From these premises, secession is seen to be the outcome of a series of collective decisions made by regional leaders and populations, and by the leaders and populations of host states. This emphasis on collective decisions serves to differentiate secession from another process that leads to the formation of political units — the fragmentation of host states The analysis explains why secession has been such a rare outcome in modern history and suggests that it will continue to be rare in the foreseeable future.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Allison, Graham T.1971. Essence of Decision. Boston: Little-Brown.
2.
Beckett, J.C.1966. The Making of Modern Ireland 1603-1923London: Faber and Faber
Bourdieu, P.1987. Distinction. Cambridge, MAHarvard University Press
5.
Brustein, W.1988. Social Origins of Political Regionalism. Berkeley: University of California Press.
6.
Buchanan, A.1991Secession The Morality of Political Divorce from Fort Sumpter to Lithuania and QuebecBoulder, CO. Westview Press.
7.
Burt, R.S.1980Models of Network StructureAnnual Review of Sociology6, 79-141
8.
Covarrubias, M.1974. Island of Bali. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
9.
Curtis, E.1936. A History of IrelandLondon: Methuen
10.
Davies, C.A.1989Welsh Nationalism in the Twentieth CenturyNew York: Praeger
11.
Derry, T.K.1979. A History of Scandinavia. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
12.
Deutsch, K.W.1961. Nationalism and Social Communication. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
13.
Diez-Medrano, J.1989. Nationalism and Independence in Spain: Basques and Catalans . Unpublished PhD dissertation in Sociology, University of Michigan.
14.
Evans-Pritchard, E.E.1944. The Nuer. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
15.
Fischer, D.H.1989. Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America. New York: Oxford University Press.
16.
Friedman, D. & Hechter, M.1988. The Contribution of Rational Choice Theory to Macrosociological Research. Sociological Theory6, 2, 201-18.
17.
Furtado, C. & Hechter, M.1992. The Emergence of Nationalist Politics in the USSR: A Comparison of Estonia and the Ukraine. In Alexander Motyl (ed.), Thinking Theoretically About Soviet Nationalities , pp. 169-204. New York: Columbia University Press.
18.
Geertz, C.1963. The Integrative Revolution: Primordial Sentiments and Civil Politics in the New States. In C. Geertz (ed.), Old Societies and New States, pp. 105-158. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
19.
Greenwood, D.J.1980. Castillians, Basques and Andaluslans. Paper presented at the Department of Anthropology Colloquium, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, October.
20.
Hachey, T.E.1973. The Problem of Partition. Chicago: Rand-McNally.
21.
Hancock, M.D.1972. Sweden: The Politics of Post-Industrial Change. Hinsdale, IL: Dryden.
22.
Hechter, M.1975. Internal Colonialism: the Celtic Fringe in British National Development, 1536-1966. Berkeley: University of California Press.
23.
Hechter, M.1978. Group Formation and the Cultural Division of Labor. American Journal of Sociology84, 2, 293-318.
24.
Hechter, M.1987a. Principles of Group Solidarity. Berkeley : University of California Press.
25.
Hechter, M.1987b. Nationalism as Group Solidarity. Ethnic and Racial Studies10, 4, 415-426.
26.
Hechter, M.1990. The Attainment of Solidarity in Intentional Communities . Rationality and Society2, 2, 142-155.
27.
Hechter, M. & Kanazawa, S.Forthcoming. Group Solidarity and Social Order in Japan. Journal of Theoretical Politics.
28.
Hechter, M. & Levi, M.1979. The Comparative Analysis of Ethnoregional Movements. Ethnic and Racial Studies2, 3, 260-274.
29.
Heraclides, A.1990. The Self-Determination of Minorities in International Politics. London: Cass.
30.
Horowitz, D.L.1985. Ethnic Groups in Conflict. Berkeley : University of California Press.
31.
Karpat, K.1973. An Inquiry into the Social Foundations of Nationalism in the Ottoman Empire From Social Estates to Classes. From Millets to Nations. Princeton, NJ: Center of International Studies, Princeton, NJ.
32.
Kiser, E. & Hechter, M.1991. The Role of General Theory in Comparative-Historical Sociology . American Journal of Sociology97, 1-30.
33.
Larsen, K.1948. A History of NorwayPrinceton : Princeton University Press.
34.
Levi, M. & Hechter, M.1984. The Rise and Decline of Ethnoregional Parties: Scotland, Wales and Brittany. In H. Vermeulen & J Boissevain (eds. ), Ethnic Challenge: The Politics of Ethnicity in Europe, pp. 14-34. Gottingen : Edition Herodot.
35.
Levi, M. & Hechter, M.1985. A Rational Choice Approach to the Rise and Decline of Ethnoregional Parties. In E. A. TiryakianR. Rogowski (eds.), New Nationalisms of the Developed West, pp. 128-146. Boston and London: Allen & Unwin.
36.
Levi, R.1990. Scottish Nationalism at the Cross-roads. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press.
37.
Lewis, B.1968. The Emergence of Modern Turkey. 2nd ed. London and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
38.
Linz, J.1985. From Primordialism to Nationalism. In E. A. Tiryakian & R. Rogowski (eds.), New Nationalisms of the Developed West , pp. 203-253. Boston and London: Allen & Unwin.
39.
Macardle, D.1965. The Irish Republic. New York: Farar, Straus & Giroux.
McWhiney, G.1988. Cracker Culture: Celtic Ways in the Old South. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
42.
Moore, B.1964. Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. Boston: Beacon Press. Nisbet, R.1966. The Sociological Tradition. New York: Basic Books.
43.
Olson, M.1965. The Logic of Collective Action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
44.
Olzak, S. & Nagel, J. (eds.) 1986. Competitive Ethnic Relations . Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
45.
Omrĉanin, M.1976Norway, Sweden, Croatia: A Comparative Study of State Secession and Formation. Philadelphia: Dorrance & Co.
46.
Pinard, M.Hamilton, R.1986. Motivational Dimensions in the Quebec Independence Movement: A Test of a New Model. Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change9: 225-280.
47.
Reed, J.S.1982. One South: An Ethnic Approach to Regional Culture. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
48.
Reed, J.S.1983. Southerners: The Social Psychology of Sectionalism. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
49.
Rex, J. & Mason, D.1986. Theories of Ethnic and Race Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
50.
Rogowski, R.1985. Conclusion. In E. A. Tiryakian & R. Rogowski (eds.), New Nationalisms of the Developed West, pp. 374-387. Boston and London: Allen & Unwin.
51.
Schelling, T.1978. Micromotives and Macrobehavior. New York: Norton.
52.
Shepsle, K.1991. Models of Multiparty Electoral Competition. Chur, Switzerland, and New York: Harwood Academic Publishers.
53.
Smith, A.D.1989. The Origins of Nations. Ethnic and Racial Studies12, 3, 340-367.
54.
Suhrke, A. & Noble, L. G. (eds.) 1977. Ethnic Conflict in International Relations. New York: Praeger.
55.
Tajfel, H.1981. Human Groups and Social Categories. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
56.
Tilly, C.1978. From Mobilization to Revolution. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
57.
Turner, J.C.1987. Rediscovering the Social Group: A Self-Categorization Theory. Oxford: Basil Blackwell .
58.
Van Dyke, V.1985. Human Rights, Ethnicity, and DiscriminationWestport, CT: Greenwood Press.
59.
Wallerstein, I.1992. America and the World: Today, Yesterday, and Tomorrow . Theory and Society21, 1, 1-28.
60.
Wellman, B. & Berkowitz, S.D.1988. Social Structures: A Network Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
61.
Wood, J.R.1981. Secession: A Comparative Analytical Framework, Canadian Journal of Political Science14, 1, 107-134.
62.
Young, C.1976. The Politics of Cultural Pluralism. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
63.
Zaslavsky, V.1992. Nationalism and Democratic Transition in Postcommunist Societies. Daedalus121, 2, 97-122.
64.
Ziegler, R.1990. The Kula: Social Order, Barter, and Ceremonial Exchange . In M. Hechter, K. D. Opp & R. Wippler (eds.), Social Institutions: Their Emergence, Maintamence, and Effects, pp. 141-168. New York and Berlin: Aldine de Gruyter .
