Contemporary democratic separatist movements: The politics of new state creation by referendum

Brennan, Bernard James

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/113000 Copy

Description

Title

Contemporary democratic separatist movements: The politics of new state creation by referendum

Author(s)

Brennan, Bernard James

Issue Date

2021-07-11

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Leff, Carol S

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Leff, Carol S

Committee Member(s)

• Gaines, Brian
• Pahre, Robert
• Wong, Cara

Department of Study

Political Science

Discipline

Political Science

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• secession
• democracy
• direct democracy
• Catalonia
• Scotland
• nationalism
• referendum

Abstract

This is a comprehensive analysis of the conditions under which new states have been, and may be, created through exclusively democratic means. Existing literature explains the majority of such cases: those that occurred through the processes of decolonization, or through the break up of post-communist federations. However, we lack a general theory that can account for other such cases, most typified by independence movements in places such as Catalonia, Scotland, and Quebec. This dissertation supplies that theory, as well as empirical analyses of hypotheses derived therefrom, and offers explanations for the actions of states, regions, and voters undergoing such a process. The first chapter introduces the concept of democratic separatism, describes its process, compares it to other mechanisms for new state creation, and investigates the history of the phenomenon. It finds that, outside of decolonization and post-communist federal disintegration, the achievement of internationally-recognized sovereignty through democratic separatism is a rare phenomenon. The second chapter proposes a set of attributes that, when simultaneously present, constitute a sufficient condition for the emergence of successful democratic separatist movements. The third chapter considers the strategic interaction that occurs between a nation-state, and a democratic separatist movement therein. At question is the holding and endorsing of a popular referendum on the question of secession. I propose a framework for how we may interpret the motivations and interests behind certain actions that may be taken by the state or the movement. The concluding fourth chapter focuses on individual voters as the unit of analysis and presents evidence that regional identity remains a strong correlate for supporting a separatist movement, and that alternatives proposed in extant literature (namely, economic inequality and supranational integration) are not.

Graduation Semester

2021-08

Type of Resource

Thesis

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Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2021 Bernard Brennan

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