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An Economic Model of Political Fission and Fusion

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Abstract

This chapter builds our understanding of the problem of scale (from Chaps. 4, 5, and 6) and the principle of subsidiarity (from Chaps. 7 and 8) through the use of a mathematical model that explains the processes of political fission and fusion. The model shows why cities coagulate into larger jurisdictional footprints and why they choose to secede. The starting point is to reexamine the principle of sovereignty and its application in constitutional economics, especially through the writings of James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock.

Let us accept the fact that states have lifecycles similar to those of human beings who created them. Hardly any Member State of the United Nations has existed within its present borders for longer than five generations. The attempt to freeze human evolution has in the past been a futile undertaking and has probably brought about more violence than if such a process had been controlled peacefully. Restrictions on self-determination threaten not only democracy itself but the state which seeks its legitimation in democracy.

Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein (‘The Four Pillars of Pridnestrovie’s Statehood’ (speech delivered to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, 25 January 2001))

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Constitutional economics is the economic analysis of constitutions also referred to as Constitutional Political Economy (CPE). See Chap. 3 for a detailed analysis of CPE and its scale invariance.

  2. 2.

    James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy (University of Michigan Press, 1962).

  3. 3.

    Keith L Dougherty, The Calculus of Consent and Constitutional Design (Springer, 2011).

  4. 4.

    Joseph A Camilleri, ‘Rethinking Sovereignty in a Shrinking Fragmented World’ in R B J Walker and Saul H Mendlovitz (eds), Contending Sovereignties: Redefining Political Community (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1990) 13.

  5. 5.

    See Charles A Beard, The Economic Basis of Politics (George Allen & Unwin, 1935) 16; Jeremy A Rabkin, Law Without Nations? Why Constitutional Government Requires Sovereign States (Princeton University Press, 2005) 32, 57; citing J Bodin, Les Six Livres de la République (1576) (Blackwell Oxford no date) IV, 6 (K 517B, F 177); James A Dorn, ‘Public Choice and the Constitution: A Madisonian Perspective’ in James D Gwartney and Richard E Wagner (eds), Public Choice and Constitutional Economics (JAI Press, 1988) 57, 58.

  6. 6.

    According to Article 1 of the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States: ‘The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.’

  7. 7.

    Jürgen G Backhaus, ‘Subsidiarity’ in Jürgen G Backhaus, (ed), The Elgar Companion to Law and Economics (Edward Elgar, 1999) 136, 137–138.

  8. 8.

    Immanuel Wallerstein, ‘States? Sovereignty? The Dilemma of Capitalists in an Age of Transition’ in David A Smith, Dorothy J Solinger, and Steven C Topik (eds), States and Sovereignty in the Global Economy (Routledge, 1999) 20, 23–25.

  9. 9.

    Michel Foucault, ‘Governmentality’ in Graham Burchell, Colin Gordon, and Peter Miller (eds), The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality (Harverster Wheatsheaf, 1991) 97–98.

  10. 10.

    Eric Helleiner, The Making of National Money: Territorial Currencies in Historical Perspective (Cornell University Press, 2003) 115.

  11. 11.

    Ibid., 193.

  12. 12.

    Ibid., 241.

  13. 13.

    See, for example, Mark Hallerberg, ‘Fiscal Federalism Reforms in the European Union and the Greek Crisis’ (2011) 12(1) European Union Politics 127.

  14. 14.

    Wallerstein, Immanuel Wallerstein, ‘States? Sovereignty? The Dilemma of Capitalists in an Age of Transition’ in David A Smith, Dorothy J Solinger, and Steven C Topik (eds), States and Sovereignty in the Global Economy (Routledge, 1999) 20, 33.

  15. 15.

    The concepts of societas and universitas are central to the arguments developed in this chapter. For the key work on these concepts, see Michael Oakeshott, On Human Conduct (Clarendon Press, 1975).

  16. 16.

    R B J Walker, ‘Sovereignty, Identity, Community: Reflections on the Horizons of Contemporary Political Practice’ in R B J Walker and Saul H Mendlovitz (eds), Contending Sovereignties: Redefining Political Community (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1990) 159.

  17. 17.

    S Veitch, E A Christodoulidis, and L Farmer, Jurisprudence: Themes and Concepts (Routledge-Cavendish, 2007) 10–11.

  18. 18.

    F H Hinsley, Sovereignty (C A Watts & Co Ltd, 1966) ch 3. See also Raia Prokhovnik, Sovereignty: History and Theory (Imprint Academic, 2008).

  19. 19.

    ‘Sovereign’ in The Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford University Press, 1989).

  20. 20.

    F H Hinsley, Sovereignty (C A Watts & Co Ltd, 1966).

  21. 21.

    Charles Edward Merriam, ‘History of the Theory of Sovereignty Since Rousseau’ in The Faculty of Political Science of Columbia University (ed), Studies in History Economics and Public Law (Columbia University Press, 1900) 355, 552.

  22. 22.

    F H Hinsley, Sovereignty (C A Watts & Co Ltd, 1966) 25, 131.

  23. 23.

    James A Buchanan, ‘Public Choice After Socialism (1993) 77 Public Choice 67, 69. This particular extension is difficult to accommodate with some of Buchanan’s other constructs, especially his rejection of the state as an organism. See Chap. 3 for further discussion.

  24. 24.

    James M Buchanan, The Economics and the Ethics of Constitutional Order (The University of Michigan Press, 1991) 31.

  25. 25.

    James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy (University of Michigan Press, 1962) 19.

  26. 26.

    See, for example, George Silberbauer, ‘Ethics in Small-Scale Societies’ in Peter Singer (ed), A Companion to Ethics (Blackwell, 1994) 14, 17.

  27. 27.

    Michel Foucault, Power (New Press, 2000) 324. For Foucault’s views on sovereignty, see Brian C J Singer and Lorna Weir, ‘Politics and Sovereign Power: Considerations on Foucault’ (2006) 9 European Journal of Social Theory 443.

  28. 28.

    See Martin Loughlin, The Idea of Public Law (Oxford University Press, 2003) 81–86.

  29. 29.

    James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy (University of Michigan Press, 1962) 313.

  30. 30.

    Raia Prokhovnik, ‘Spinoza’s Conception of Sovereignty’ (2001) 27 History of European Ideas 289.

  31. 31.

    Raia Prokhovnik, Sovereignties: Contemporary Theory and Practice (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007) 229.

  32. 32.

    Adam T Smith, ‘Archaeologies of Sovereignty’ (2011) 40 Annual Review of Anthropology 426.

  33. 33.

    Jeremy A Rabkin, Law Without Nations? Why Constitutional Government Requires Sovereign States (Princeton University Press, 2005).

  34. 34.

    Jeremy Rifkin, Third Industrial Revolution (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) Chap. 6.

  35. 35.

    James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy (University of Michigan Press, 1962) 19.

  36. 36.

    See Michael Oakeshott, On Human Conduct (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1975) 200. There are other topologies which could be used to enrich the analysis of different forms of the state. For example, Hayek’s distinction between teleocratic and nomocratic ordering and Habermas’ account of system integration and social integration. See Martin Loughlin, Foundations of Public Law (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2010) 204, and Martin Loughlin, The Idea of Public Law (Oxford University Press, 2003) 13–19. Oakeshott’s topology, however, furnishes a historical account that better explains the issues surrounding sovereignty.

  37. 37.

    N Georgescu-Roegen, The Entropy Law and the Economic Process (Harvard University Press, 1971) 14, 46.

  38. 38.

    J R Archer, ‘Oakeshott on Politics’ (1979) 41(1) The Journal of Politics 150, 162.

  39. 39.

    L O’Sullivan, ‘Michael Oakeshott on European political history’ (2000) 21(1) History of Political Thought 132, 141.

  40. 40.

    Michael Oakeshott, On Human Conduct (Clarendon Press, 1975).

  41. 41.

    Ibid., 202.

  42. 42.

    Chantal Mouffe, ‘Democratic Citizenship and the Political Community’ in The Miami Theory Collective (ed), Community at Loose Ends (University of Minnesota Press, 1991) 70, 76, and 78.

  43. 43.

    Michael Oakeshott, On Human Conduct (Clarendon Press, 1975) 200.

  44. 44.

    Ibid., 203.

  45. 45.

    Ibid., 267.

  46. 46.

    Ibid., 205.

  47. 47.

    Ibid., 281.

  48. 48.

    L O’Sullivan, ‘Michael Oakeshott on European political history’ (2000) 21(1) History of Political Thought 132, 144; J R Archer, ‘Oakeshott on Politics’ (1979) 41(1) The Journal of Politics 150, 162. See Michael Oakeshott, On Human Conduct (Clarendon Press, 1975) 157–158.

  49. 49.

    James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy (University of Michigan Press, 1962) 19.

  50. 50.

    Oakeshott, On Human Conduct (Clarendon Press, 1975) 251.

  51. 51.

    Charles Edward Merriam, ‘History of the Theory of Sovereignty since Rousseau’ in The Faculty of Political Science of Columbia University (ed), Studies in History Economics and Public Law (Columbia University Press, 1900) 355, 391.

  52. 52.

    Ibid., 393.

  53. 53.

    Ibid., 395.

  54. 54.

    Ibid., 393.

  55. 55.

    James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy (University of Michigan Press, 1962) 12. See generally Chap. 2.

  56. 56.

    Charles Edward Merriam, ‘History of the Theory of Sovereignty Since Rousseau’ in The Faculty of Political Science of Columbia University (ed), Studies in History Economics and Public Law (Columbia University Press, 1900) 355, 109.

  57. 57.

    K. Wicksell, ‘A New Principle of Just Taxation’ in Richard Musgrave and Alan Peacock (eds), Classics in the Theory of Public Finance (Macmillan and Company, 1994) 72, 77.

  58. 58.

    Lars Udehn, Methodological Individualism: Background, History and Meaning (Routledge, 2001) 100. See Max Weber, ‘Essay on Some Categories of Interpretive Sociology’ (1981) 22 The Sociological Quarterly 145, 159.

  59. 59.

    Michael Oakeshott, On Human Conduct (Clarendon Press, 1975) 251–252.

  60. 60.

    Jeremy A Rabkin, Law Without Nations? Why Constitutional Government Requires Sovereign States (Princeton University Press, 2005) 41.

  61. 61.

    F H Hinsley, Sovereignty (C A Watts & Co Ltd, 1966) 32.

  62. 62.

    Ibid., 131.

  63. 63.

    Scot Macdonald and Gunnar Nielsson, ‘Linkages Between the Concepts of “Subsidiarity” and Sovereignty: The New Debate Over Allocation of Authority in the European Union’ in Fourth European Union Studies Association (EUSA) Biennial Conference (1995).

  64. 64.

    Rabkin, Jeremy A, Law Without Nations? Why Constitutional Government Requires Sovereign States (Princeton University Press, 2005).

  65. 65.

    Ibid., 43.

  66. 66.

    Chantal Millon-Delsol, L’État Subsidiaire: Ingérence et Non-Ingérence de l’État, le Principe de Subsidiarité aux Fondements de L’Histoire Européenne (Presses Universitaires de France, 1992) 15–27.

  67. 67.

    Scot Macdonald and Gunnar Nielsson, ‘Linkages Between the Concepts of “Subsidiarity” and Sovereignty: The New Debate Over Allocation of Authority in the European Union’ (paper presented to the Fourth European Union Studies Association (EUSA) Biennial Conference, 1995).

  68. 68.

    Paolo G Carozza, ‘Subsidiarity as a Structural Principle of International Human Rights Law’ 2003 97(38) The American Journal of International Law 38, 42.

  69. 69.

    Scot Macdonald and Gunnar Nielsson, ‘Linkages Between the Concepts of “Subsidiarity” and Sovereignty: The New Debate Over Allocation of Authority in the European Union’ (paper presented to the Fourth European Union Studies Association (EUSA) Biennial Conference (1995).

  70. 70.

    John Hopkins, Devolution in Context: Regional, Federal and Devolved Government in the European Union (Cavendish Publishing, 2002) 26.

  71. 71.

    See Donald W Livingston, ‘Secession and the Modern State’ (1996) Stalking the Wild Taboo www.lrainc.com/swtaboo/taboos/dwliv01.html.

  72. 72.

    Paolo G Carozza, ‘Subsidiarity as a Structural Principle of International Human Rights Law’ 2003 97(38) The American Journal of International Law 38, 58.

  73. 73.

    Ibid., 44.

  74. 74.

    John Hopkins, Devolution in Context: Regional, Federal and Devolved Government in the European Union (Cavendish Publishing, 2002) 29.

  75. 75.

    Millon-Delsol, Chantal, L’État Subsidiaire: Ingérence et Non-Ingérence de l’État, le Principe de Subsidiarité aux Fondements de L’histoire Européenne (Presses Universitaires de France, 1992) 8.

  76. 76.

    For an introduction to secession, see Alexander Pavkovic and Peter Radan (eds), Secession (Ashgate, 2011).

  77. 77.

    Ludwig von Mises, The Free and Prosperous Commonwealth (Van Nostrand, 1962) 109.

  78. 78.

    Peter Kurrild-Klitgaard, ‘Opting-Out: The Constitutional Economics of Exit’ (2002) 61(1) Journal of Economics and Sociology 123, 123.

  79. 79.

    Ibid., 140.

  80. 80.

    James A Buchanan, Europe’s Constitutional Future (Institute of Economic Affairs, 1990) 5.

  81. 81.

    See, for example, Kenichi Ohmae, The End of the Nation State: The Rise of the Regional Economics (HarperCollins, 1995). See also Jean-Marie Guéhenno, The End of The Nation-State (University of Minnesota Press, 1995), Chernilo A Daniel, Social Theory of The Nation-State (Routledge, 2007), and David A Smith, Dorothy J Solinger, and Steven C Topik (eds), States and Sovereignty in the Global Economy (Routledge, 1999).

  82. 82.

    Ohmae, The End of the Nation State, 16.

  83. 83.

    Ibid., 56.

  84. 84.

    Ibid., 60.

  85. 85.

    Herman Van Rompuy, A Curtain Went Up (Robert-Bosch-Stiftung Pergamon Museum, PCE 256/10, 9 November 2010).

  86. 86.

    J Agnew and S Corbridge, Mastering Space: Hegemony, Territory, and International Political Economy (Routledge, 1995) 89. Cited in Andrew Herod, Scale (Routledge, 2011) 200.

  87. 87.

    Martin Loughlin, ‘Ten Tenets of Sovereignty’ in Neil Walker (ed), Relocating Sovereignty (Ashgate, 2006) 34, 108–109.

  88. 88.

    J Allen and A Cochrane, ‘Beyond the Territorial Fix: Regional Assemblages, Politics and Power’ (2007) 41(9) Regional Studies 1161.

  89. 89.

    Herod, Scale (Routledge, 2011) 201–202.

  90. 90.

    K Morgan, ‘The Polycentric State: New Spaces of Empowerment and Engagement?’ (2007) 41(9) Regional Studies 1237, 1238.

  91. 91.

    Eric Helleiner, ‘Sovereignty, Territoriality and the Globalization of Finance’ in David A Smith, Dorothy J Solinger, and Steven C Topik (eds), States and Sovereignty in the Global Economy (Routledge, 1999) 138, 151–152.

  92. 92.

    Ibid., 152.

  93. 93.

    Giovanni Arrighi, ‘Globalization, State Sovereignty, and the “Endless” Accumulation of Capital’ in David A Smith, Dorothy J Solinger, and Steven C Topik (eds), States and Sovereignty in the Global Economy (Routledge, 1999) 53.

  94. 94.

    Ibid., 55.

  95. 95.

    See generally Peter Clark, European cities and towns 400-2000 (Oxford University Press, 2009).

  96. 96.

    Ibid., 103.

  97. 97.

    Peter Clark, European cities and towns 400-2000 (Oxford University Press, 2009) 91.

  98. 98.

    Ibid., 101. Peter Clark, European cities and towns 400-2000 (Oxford University Press, 2009) 101.

  99. 99.

    Joseph A Camilleri, ‘Rethinking Sovereignty in a Shrinking Fragmented World’ in R B J Walker and Saul H Mendlovitz (eds), Contending Sovereignties: Redefining Political Community (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1990) 13, 14.

  100. 100.

    Peter Clark, European cities and towns 400-2000 (Oxford University Press, 2009).

  101. 101.

    Ibid., 202.

  102. 102.

    Ibid., 208.

  103. 103.

    Some theorists suggest that the effect of the Peace of Westphalia is largely mythical. See Raia Prokhovnik, Sovereignties: Contemporary Theory and Practice (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007) 60. The use of treaties is still useful for a demarcation of a new era of universitas.

  104. 104.

    Immanuel Wallerstein, ‘States? Sovereignty? The Dilemma of Capitalists in an Age of Transition’ in David A Smith, Dorothy J Solinger, and Steven C Topik (eds), States and Sovereignty in the Global Economy (Routledge, 1999) 20.

  105. 105.

    See Hans-Werner Sinn, The New Systems Competition (Blackwell, 2002).

  106. 106.

    Peter Kurrild-Klitgaard, ‘Opting-Out: The Constitutional Economics of Exit’ (2002) 61(1) Journal of Economics and Sociology 123, 146.

  107. 107.

    Friedrich A Hayek, Law Legislation and Liberty: A New Statement of the Liberal Principles of Justice and Political Economy (The University of Chicago Press, 1983) vol II. See also Tom W Bell, ‘Polycentric Law’ (1991) 7(1) Institute of Humane Studies Review.

  108. 108.

    R E Barnett, The Structure of Liberty: Justice and the Rule of Law (Clarendon Press, 1998) Chap. 14.

  109. 109.

    Jürgen G. Backhaus, ‘Subsidiarity’ in Jürgen G. Backhaus (ed), The Elgar Companion to Law and Economics (Edward Elgar, 1999) 136, 137.

  110. 110.

    Bruno S Frey and Reiner Eichenberger, The New Democratic Federalism for Europe: Functional, Overlapping and Competing Jurisdictions (Edward Elgar, 1999) 143.

  111. 111.

    Ludwig Van den Hauwe, ‘Constitutional Economics’ in Jürgen G. Backhaus (ed), The Elgar Companion to Law and Economics (Edward Elgar, 1999) 100, 112.

  112. 112.

    Charles M Tiebout, ‘A Pure Theory of Local Expenditure’ (1956) 64(5) Journal of Political Economy 416.

  113. 113.

    Richard E Wagner, ‘Self-Governance, Polycentrism, and Federalism: Recurring Themes in Vincent Ostrom’s Scholarly Oeuvre’ (2005) 57(2) Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 173.

  114. 114.

    Vincent Ostrom, Charles M Tiebout, and Robert Warren, ‘The Organization of Government in Metropolitan Areas: A Theoretical Inquiry’ (1961) 55 American Political Science Review 831.

  115. 115.

    Raia Prokhovnik, ‘Spinoza’s Conception of Sovereignty’ (2001) 27 History of European Ideas 289, 300–301. Refers to Benedict de Spinoza, A Theologico-Political Treatise and a Political Treatise (Dover Publications, 1951) 347–348, 356–357, 370, 383, and 384. Note that according to Spinoza’s definition of democracy, modern representative democracy would be regarded as a modality of aristocracy, ‘because our legislative bodies are, like his definition of aristocracy, “composed of certain chosen persons”’: Raia Prokhovnik, ‘From Democracy to Aristocracy: Spinoza, Reason and Politics’ (1997) 23(2–4) History of European Ideas 105, 107. See also George M Gross, ‘Spinoza and the Federal Polity’ (1996) 26(1) Publius 117; Raia Prokhovnik, Spinoza and Republicanism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004); Jonathan Havercroft, ‘The Fickle Multitude: Spinoza and the Problem of Global Democracy’ (2010) 17(1) Constellations 120; Etienne Balibar, Ted Stolze, and Emilia Giancotti, ‘Spinoza, the Anti-Orwell: The Fear of the Masses’ (1989) 2(3) Rethinking Marxism: A Journal of Economics, Culture & Society 104.

  116. 116.

    James M Buchanan, Europe’s Constitutional Future (Institute of Economic Affairs, 1990).

  117. 117.

    Ibid., 18.

  118. 118.

    Raia Prokhovnik, Sovereignties: Contemporary Theory and Practice (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007) 228.

  119. 119.

    In fact, the limits can be traced all the way back to Aristotle. See Aristotle, The Politics (Harvard University Press, 1967); Mulgan, R G, ‘Aristotle’s Sovereign’ (1970) 18(4) Political Studies 518. See also Chap. 7.

  120. 120.

    Ibid., 231.

  121. 121.

    Jan Tinbergen, Shaping the World Economy: Suggestions for an International Economic Policy (20th Century Fund, 1962).

  122. 122.

    See Alvin Toffler, Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth, and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century (Bantam, 1991).

  123. 123.

    Taking the total derivative of wealth and setting it to zero, we get:

    $$ \delta W=\sum \left[\delta {m}_i.{m}_j.{\left({d}_{ij}\right)}^{-2}+\delta {m}_j.{m}_i.{\left({d}_{ij}\right)}^{-2}-2\ {\left({d}_{ij}\right)}^{-3}.\delta \left({d}_{ij}\right)\right]=0 $$
    $$ \delta W=\sum \left\{{\left({d}_{ij}\right)}^{-2}\ \left[\delta \left({m}_i\ {m}_j\right)-\delta \left(\ln \left({\left({d}_{ij}\right)}^2\right)\right)\right]\right\}=0 $$
  124. 124.

    Raia Prokhovnik, ‘Spinoza’s Conception of Sovereignty’ (2001) 27 History of European Ideas 289, 300–301.

  125. 125.

    James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy (University of Michigan Press, 1962) 19.

  126. 126.

    See, for example, Jack P Greene and J R Pole, A Companion to the American Revolution (Wiley-Blackwell, 2003); Aaron Sheehan-Dean (ed), A Companion to the US Civil War (Wiley Blackwell, 2014). See also B Smith, ‘The Cognitive Geometry of War’ in P Koller and K Puhl (eds), Current Issues in Political Philosophy (Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1997).

  127. 127.

    The model in this chapter does not account for the appearance of new cities directly, although it allows for drifting cities to appear.

  128. 128.

    Kingsley Davis, ‘The Origin and Growth of Urbanization in the World’ (1955) 60 American Journal of Sociology 429, 430.

  129. 129.

    This increase is represented in the model by the factor (1 + θ). Population density was managed mostly by larger (geographical) footprints. Over time, however, density continues to climb back to its earlier levels. The technological innovation of the 21st century is allowing for a reduction of density while holding the footprint constant.

  130. 130.

    Davis, (1955) 60 American Journal of Sociology 429.

  131. 131.

    Max Galka, ‘A Visual History of Urbanization, from The World’s First City in 3700 BC to the Present’ (2016) http://metrocosm.com/map-history-cities.html.

  132. 132.

    ‘The 4037 Cities in the World with Over 100,000 People Brilliant Maps’ (2015) https://brilliantmaps.com/4037-100000-person-cities/.

  133. 133.

    Jeremy Rifkin, Third Industrial Revolution (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).

  134. 134.

    Ibid., 115. Rifkin presents the European Union as the first continental union: Ibid., 165.

  135. 135.

    Jeremy Rifkin, The Zero Marginal Cost Society (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014) 138.

  136. 136.

    Klaus Schwab, The Fourth Industrial Revolution (World Economic Forum, 2016).

  137. 137.

    Ibid., 7.

  138. 138.

    Ibid., 158.

  139. 139.

    Ibid., 67.

  140. 140.

    Ibid., 68.

  141. 141.

    Ibid., 68–69.

  142. 142.

    Ibid., 74.

  143. 143.

    Ibid., 76.

  144. 144.

    The reader is referred to the works by Jane Jacobs for a detailed discussion of this dynamic. See, for example, Jane Jacobs, The Nature of Economies (The Modern Library, 2000).

  145. 145.

    Robert Jackson, ‘Sovereignty in World Politics: A Glance at the Conceptual and Historical Landscape’ in Neil Walker (ed), Relocating Sovereignty (Ashgate, 2006) 3.

  146. 146.

    Ibid.

  147. 147.

    Bruno S Frey and Reiner Eichenberger, The New Democratic Federalism for Europe: Functional, Overlapping and Competing Jurisdictions (Edward Elgar, 1999).

  148. 148.

    Robert Jackson, ‘Sovereignty in World Politics: A Glance at the Conceptual and Historical Landscape’ in Neil Walker (ed), Relocating Sovereignty (Ashgate, 2006) 3.

  149. 149.

    Ibid., 6.

  150. 150.

    Instances of this tension can be seen in such independence movements as in Catalonia and Scotland.

  151. 151.

    See Leopold Kohr, The Overdeveloped Nations: The Diseconomies of Scale (Schocken Books, 1978) Chap. 2.

  152. 152.

    By jurisdiction, I mean all three types: legislative, executive, and judicial.

  153. 153.

    See, for example, Friedrich Hayek, Law Legislation and Liberty (The University of Chicago Press, 1983) vol 1, 48.

  154. 154.

    Although some commentators argue that the issue is in fact that hard-borders do not work. See, for example, John Hopkins, Devolution in Context: Regional, Federal and Devolved Government in the European Union (Cavendish Publishing, 2002) 68.

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    Benjamen Gussen

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Gussen, B. (2019). An Economic Model of Political Fission and Fusion. In: Axial Shift. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6950-6_9

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