Every village in Liechtenstein has a constitutional right to seceed from the kingdom. This option has never been exercised. Alone the threat to walk away keeps power in check.

Replies (14)

EDJ's avatar
EDJ 11 months ago
Well put. It's underestimated how powerful the ability by itself is.
EDJ's avatar
EDJ 11 months ago
Do you have any interesting reading material on this topic? I've heard @Saifedean Ammous mention a book by prince Adam. Books, articles, anything.
Cody's avatar
Cody 11 months ago
The US had that until the Civil War I believe. Hopefully Liechtenstein can retain that right
Cody's avatar
Cody 11 months ago
Apparently it was somewhat up to interpretation. The South didn't want a war and wanted to succeed from the Union.....which seemed like they had the right to do.......until they decided to do it 🤣.
States have seceded from one another while retaining the bill of rights. See Vermont. The Constitution of the Confederacy stripped the 4th and 10 amendments out so the central govt could enforce the fugitive slave act uniformly across state borders, ie CSA states had less autonomy than US states. It's still not clear if states can secede so to increase its citizens' rights. No one has tried that. Should states be able secede so to increase the power of the state and infringe on citizens' federally protected rights? Clearly not, or we might as well ditch the bill of rights altogether.