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Rural Law and Justice

The Threat of Secession: The Case Study of Thirteen Oregon Counties that Want to Merge with Idaho Nancy Shurtz*, Nancy Shurtz, ,

Over the past decade America has become more divided politically, with rural areas mostly voting Republican while urban areas are mostly voting as Democrats. These divisions have resulted in some rural communities wanting to secede from their state.  A case study in point is Oregon, where 13 counties in the eastern part of the state are seeking to join Greater Idaho. This paper explores this movement–the legal, practical, equitable, economic, and political considerations–and compares various proposed approaches to bridge this urban/rural divide.