According to Ryan Griffiths, associate professor of political science, separatist aspirations are "alive and kicking" elsewhere in the world. That includes Catalonia and Scotland in Europe, and also French territory New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea’s Bougainville.

"One of the things I’ve been most struck by is how the reaction to Trump has so deeply affected state-level contests, even at the district level," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute.

"Where are the laity and others who might provide both new and uncomplicit voices and insights into the process?" asks Margaret Susan Thompson, associate professor of history and political science.