WI: Some new states

Proposed US states include Superior, Seqouah, Jefferson, Delmarva (assuming the Entire Peninsula joined), South Florida, West Kansas, and West New York.
What if all these states were actually created? What would happen?
Discuss.
 
I question the inclusion of Delmarva in this list. All it would be is an enlargement of Delaware at the expense of MD and VA
 
Would Superior and West Kansas have large enough populations to be states?

And upstate New Yorkers everywhere celebrate now that they don't have to explain to people they're not from NYC.
 
Would Superior and West Kansas have large enough populations to be states?

Not bloody likely. Michigan's upper peninsula has a smaller population than Wyoming. And the West Kansas separatist movement was briefly popular in nine counties out of 105, which were rural places consisting of towns with populations of about 4000 each.
 
If we had certain states like:
California
Florida
Texas
Illinois
New York
Pennsylvania
- divided up then we could see a fairing electoral college with no state having more then 20 electoral vote.

If we divide California just into the 3 states of Jefferson, South California and California, each state would have at least 17 votes each still.
 
Support to reform the senate would definitely increase. Giving more power to even fewer people is not a path to democracy. But does electoral reform become popular enough to pass? The safe answer is always, 'unlikely.'

So we just get an even more skewed power base in the senate and the vote from the other day denying man-made climate change passes with less of a razor thin margin.:rolleyes:
 

shiftygiant

Gone Fishin'
Okay, so after 1912, America has a 48 star flag. Let's start with Jefferson, the Pacific one. The movement for Jefferson was stronger than most hypothetical states, and had the Second World War not effectively crippled the movement (as did the death of an important member), we could see a 49th star. Of course, competition for ht glorious 49 came from the Rockies with Absaroka, although this is are less likely to achieve anything other than a minor stint in a newspaper about proposed states.
 
Here's an Ur-POD

In the Constitutional Convention, presidential elections get tied in to the small state vs. big state controversy. In the resulting compromise, the big states agree that their electoral college representation will be capped at some multiple of the smaller states representation. If that works out right, there could be a cap equivalent to an OTL 20 votes per state, something like that. Under those conditions, the big states would have a lot of political incentive to split up.
 
Here's an Ur-POD

In the Constitutional Convention, presidential elections get tied in to the small state vs. big state controversy. In the resulting compromise, the big states agree that their electoral college representation will be capped at some multiple of the smaller states representation. If that works out right, there could be a cap equivalent to an OTL 20 votes per state, something like that. Under those conditions, the big states would have a lot of political incentive to split up.

Hmm...interesting.
I didn't think of such a thing. I didn't specify that California would get split excepting Jefferson, but I might modify things so that they may be done so anyways. Texas is the a can of worms though. How do we split Texas up?
Also, an unrelated question: What perimeters might West Kansas and South Florida take on?
 
To be honest, I didn't think I needed one.

theoretical-us-states.png

Here is a rough estimation of a us map with new states.
 

Marc

Donor
A couple of quick notes and thoughts:

Dividing new states and/or reconfiguring them is constitutionally clear:

"New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress."

Article 4, section 3, clause 1.

The last part seems to mandate an approval of the both Houses of Congress.

Then there is the ambiguous exception of Texas is the exception. Under its term of admission, there is a clause that says that Texas may divide itself into up to 5 states. However, if it ever happened due to climate change in Hell, likely the Supreme Court would rule it invalid.

Currently, the biggest political danger we have in regards to our Federal structure is the rise of "rotten borough" states - not small states, but mini-states in terms of population. There are currently 6 states that are so small they have only one Congressional district (yet two Senators): Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming. While republicanism is a fine political system, vastly unequal representation leads invariably to corruption.
 

jahenders

Banned
I don't see that as a major political danger at all. Far more problematic from my perspective, is huge states (CA, TX, NY, etc) having outsized power -- a problem that concerned many of the founding fathers (hence the 2 house system with different representational rules).

As a long-time Alaska resident, I didn't consider it a problem that my congressmen were elected via less votes -- it was more of a problem that presidential elections were completely decided before we even finished voting.

A couple of quick notes and thoughts:
Currently, the biggest political danger we have in regards to our Federal structure is the rise of "rotten borough" states - not small states, but mini-states in terms of population. There are currently 6 states that are so small they have only one Congressional district (yet two Senators): Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming. While republicanism is a fine political system, vastly unequal representation leads invariably to corruption.
 

shiftygiant

Gone Fishin'
The Puerto Rico referendum for Statehood in 2012 is passed with a 'Yes' (The referendum lost 54% to 46%. If we can do something to push the latter up, we can go somewhere). Puerto Rico enters the union and a 51st star is sewn to the flag. As said before, Jefferson is likely, and D.C. it's own state would be interesting. The New York/Long Island area leaving New York State is also possible, maybe Mailer and Breslin don't give up after '69 and keep going, the movement gaining more traction in the 70's as New Yorker's seek autonomy from Buffalo. The Trust Islands, if spurred by some kind of disaster, could see Statehood as a better alternative to the Protectorate's and form a Pacific State (Pacifica). Alternatively, we could just split Washington into Three.
 
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