What is the justifiable demos of a referendum on state secession?

Abstract

The prevailing practice for enfranchisement in referendums on state secession only gives the inhabitants of the secessionist unit a vote, while all the inhabitants of a municipality often are enfranchised in referendums on urban secession. This paper examines the justifiably of holding on to the more exclusive practice at the state level from two principles for enfranchisement, the all-affected principle and the all-subjected principle, as well as from a theory of secession, the exit approach. The argument of the paper is that none of these two principles is able to justify this practice, but that it is justifiable on the exit approach. The latter is also the approach we should take according to this argument. The fundamental problem with a statewide vote on the secession of a part of a state is that it mistakenly would give people a say on other people’s exit.