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Why do we live in a nation? Why don’t we secede?
Hobbes's Leviathan was the earliest comprehensive analysis of the social contract. The contract is a minimalist solution to the clash of human interests, perpetual war. It is a method for man to live somewhat in peace.
Magna Carta, one of the earliest constitutions, was achieved at the point of a sword. Indeed, all British history points to huge underlying conflict as the source of constitutional reform. Because of these wars and consequent contractual solutions, the British don't revolt or murder their monarch today.
When such consent disappears, the British constitution will reflect the change through a new social contract.
In sum, the nation state, and more particularly, its specific form of government (constitutional rules) is a VOLUNTARY act. We consent, hence it exists. We may not have signed it, but it works because we agree with it. Should we not agree, it will fall.
Buchanan's and Tullock's Calculus of Consent is almost as important as the Leviathan in the field of political studies. It brings rigour to the underlying analysis of constitutions. (I've not yet had time to read it, but should do so, given my advocacy of the contractarian approach to government. You'll find my thoughts on the social contract as a Nash equilibrium in chapter 4 of DOF (still a draft).)
Here's the book (I'm linking to Online Library of Liberty: you can download your preferred version), and below is a talk by Buchanan and Tullock (Buchanan is a Nobelist) on the book.
Read more at Sanjeev Sabhlok’s Occasional Blog-Economics
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