Now, Texas Governor Perry may have hit on a bold crusade when he suggested that Texas may withdraw from the United States, as reported by the AP on April 16th. Imagine, a state seceding from the Union!
Talk of secession isn’t new. Secession from local government has been going on over the years, in all states, on a subdivision by subdivision basis with the acceptance of homeowners associations. In fact, there are many towns that co-exist within the boundaries of one homeowners association, giving rise to a “shadow government”, with the real power in the hands of the HOA board.
See the secession of the HOA from the county as Robert Nelson wrote in his 2005 book, Private Neighborhoods and the Transformation of Local Government .
In the future, more complete forms of private secession may become possible. For example, if neighborhood associations become more numerous, the political pressures for substantial rebates from property taxes – for relief from the current system of ‘double taxation’ – are bound to grow.
And, the Goldwater Institute’s Policy Report of 100 ideas for 2009 looks to replacing local government with restrictive covenants:
41. Give cities and counties the power to replace centralized and bureaucratic zoning and land use regulation with decentralized and privately-enforced restrictive covenants.
(See also The future of HOAs: Secession from or absorbtion into municipalities?).
Here’s how to secede, without another Civil War, using the openly accepted and state supported legal scheme of homeowners associations:
HOA Constitutional Government 