Social choice and southern secession in the United States”, Homo Oeconomicus (this issue

Abstract We have long known that collective decisions are determined not only by the underlying constellation of individual preferences, but also by the process – or rules and procedures – used to reach a decision. Outcomes may vary even while underlying indi-vidual preferences remain unchanged. This paper examines the influence of the various rules and procedures used to reach decisions on the matter of secession in the American South. I show that southern secession occurred, in part, because the decision processes were biased in favor of secession. By denying their respective electorates the opportunity to vote directly on the status quo of Union, by assiduously avoiding a collective “southern” solution, and by encouraging separate state secession in the states of the lower South, the most ardent secessionists prevailed where otherwise they may have failed. JEL Classification D71, D7