Secession as Subsidiarity: Distributing Governance in International and Regional Contexts

Globalization is often seen as a challenge to the state. But whatever the effects of the global on states’ internal processes and interactions, the formal bordering of states – their territorial delimitation – remains extraordinarily rigid. Global shifts in authority play out within this unchanging frame. This rigidity also marks discourses on subsidiarity. In the EU context, subsidiarity focuses on distribution of power between union institutions, states, and regions, but while the union as a whole can expand (or contract) and new regions may be formed, debates about the appropriate level for a given governmental function play out within a frame in which the states are assumed to be fixed in all but the rarest circumstances. And, as we have recently seen, proposals to divide states are often made with charges that independence movements violate core European values. This rigidity is problematic, because questions about subsidiarity are not answerable in the abstract: The proper level may not be identifiable without considering the particular qualities of the unit. Devolution from state to local, or transfer upwards from the state, always involves choices about socially and historically constructed demography. There is a legal language for thinking about how, when and why to form new states: self-determination. Self-determination can provide a powerful normative justification for subsidiarity claims – generating problematic but compelling arguments for why a particular community ought to have certain functions. It introduces a horizontal dimension to subsidiarity, motivating choices among different claimants at a given level. Conceptually, there is good reason to think of secession as entirely consistent with subsidiarity, and therefore also with European values. This paper draws out the unexplored conceptual linkages between self-determination, secession and subsidiarity, not only in the European context, but as a rule with global applicability. Talking about self-determination can more richly inform debate about how exactly we are to locate governance functions in complex, multi-layered environments – and can provide good reasons for why we should.