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> If the U.S. had a method to redraw state boundaries every 20-30 years, these regions would be just about the right size to be states, and this would greatly s
by bluejekyll 10y ago
> If the U.S. had a method to redraw state boundaries every 20-30 years, these regions would be just about the right size to be states, and this would greatly simplify the planning and coordination of everything from transit to education delivery.
This is a really interesting idea. While it is extremely logical, it would never happen. People are surprisingly attached to their identities associated with their state and countries.
See the amazing news surrounding the land swap in Belgium and the Netherlands recently... it made news because so few people think of borders as arbitrary lines on maps.
- mc32 10y agoIn the UK there was a redrawing of county lines back in the mid 70s. States do have the mechanism to self-divide. So far this hasn't happened but there have been proposals "State of Jefferson" in Norcal South Oregon. When people think Cal has too few senators for it's pop., one solution is to divide.
- uiri 10y ago> When people think Cal has too few senators for it's pop., one solution is to divide. Isn't the whole point of the US Senate to prevent the more populous states from passing stuff against the interests of the less populous states? There is no such thing as too few senators for a state's population.
- bluejekyll 10y agoIf CA were to divide, this would imply that two more Senators would be added to Congress, and coming from this region, it would imply more representation of the west coast ideas in congress.
- mc32 10y agoYes, exactly. I'm not saying I either want or don't want more west coast ideas in congress, I'm saying if people say we have too few senators for the pop. a solution is divide. Also, I'm not certain a "Jefferson" would be the same politically as So. Cal and Bay area.
- nostrademons 10y agoJefferson would likely be more conservative than either CA or OR. If you've ever visited the North Coast of California, it's very rural in character, and in culture is much closer to Montana or Wyoming than the Bay Area.
- dcosson 10y agoBy that logic there's also no such thing as too many senators for a given number of square miles if you cram enough states into it, so California could split into 100 states and that would be just as fair.
- kerbalspacepro 10y agoThe point of the Senate is to protect slavery.
- umanwizard 10y agoCounties are different in character from States. Any State government can decide completely of its own accord (i.e., without the consent of the counties) to change county boundaries however it wants, because States are sovereign entities, whereas counties are not.
- sverige 10y agoThat is not true in every state. Colorado requires a vote of the residents of an area to form counties, most recently exercised when Broomfield County was carved out of three other counties.
- Zach_the_Lizard 10y agoThat is how the state government chooses to handle this situation, but the Feds are not involved, which was the original point. Colorado could wake up tomorrow and change its laws or initiate the change process and Uncle Sam wouldn't care.
- CurtMonash 10y agoI don't think that's accurate, with one special exception: When the Republic of Texas was admitted as a state, it was given the right to subdivide into up to 5 total states, should it choose to. Otherwise, it's up to Congress to decide whether or not to accept new states to the Union.