- 期刊
Reconceptualizing Theories of Secession: Lessons from Scotland and Catalonia
摘要
Over the past few decades, Europe has witnessed the rise of secessionist movements driven by national minorities and other separatist groups. This phenomenon is currently capturing the world's attention and is perceived as a significant challenge to states, governments, and global politics. In the context of liberal political theory, none of the theories of secession has appeared to find a healthy balance of considerations between the anti-secessionists and the pro-secessionists, and the less permissive view and the more permissive view. They are also incompetent to formulate the specific conditions under which secession might be justified or legitimate practically. Moreover, as demonstrated in the cases of Catalonia and Scotland, all of the theories neglect the economic implications of secession, which have crucially fueled and driven contemporary secessionist movements. This paper seeks to develop a conceptual framework for secession as reflected by the cases of secessionist movements in Catalonia and Scotland. It proposes that Plebiscitary approaches require modification to safeguard a flawless state and suggests reconsidering the electoral procedure. The first-tier referendum is to be conducted within seceding territories and then the second-tier referendum is to be held statewide. Consequently, after a negotiation process over economic and other important concerns between the seceding groups and the national government has been concluded.