What Is a Nation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4983113 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Robert B Reich (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1991 |
| Volume | 106 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 193-209 |
| Publication date | 1991-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Political Science Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0032-3195 • E-ISSN: 1538-165X |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2152226 |
| OpenAlex | W2316990856 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
History is replete with examples of people wishing to secede from alliances with certain other people. In the nineteenth century, the American southern states tried to secede from the Union. Centuries before, Martin Luther led a secession from the Holy See. In 1991, Lithuanians, Latvians, and many others are attempting much the same from the Soviet empire. Staten Island would like to secede from New York City. Secession is also common to high-tech engineers, investment bankers, and lawyers, who often defect from their business associates to form their own firms. Many working women these days are able to secede from unhappy or unrewarding marriages. While the reasons for such withdrawals vary, where an economic motive exists it is usually because the defectors conclude that they will do better on their own. The union is unnecessarily costly or constraining, and the defectors no longer wish to subsidize partners who fail to pull their own weight. Secession need not be explicit. It does not require a declaration of war nor even a formal revocation of contract. It can happen quietly, almost imperceptibly, as in a marriage whose partners slowly drift apart. One day the players awaken to a new reality. They discover they are no longer part of the same team. Something of this sort has been occurring in the United States. America's highest income earners (whom I have labeled symbolic analysts in light of the problem-solving functions they perform in the emerging global economy, usually by manipulating numerical or verbal symbols) have been seceding from the rest of the nation. The secession has taken many forms, but it is grounded in the same emerging economic reality. This group of Americans no longer depends, as it
Political economy · Political science · Sociology · Post-Soviet Geopolitical Dynamics
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,18 |
| Citation span | 1992 - 2021 (30) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |