Relations between red and blue America continue deteriorating. A national divorce refers to the peaceful dissolution of a country by consent. Contemplating a national divorce as we celebrate America’s 250th birthday might seem sacrilegious, but few leaders seem to care about rebuilding the bonds of trust among Americans.
Precedents exist, most notably the 1992 dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Presumably America would separate along the red and blue state divide. Because we have blue states on both coasts with “flyover” states in between, divorce may produce more than two nations.
I see two arguments for national divorce. The first is negative, to avoid a potential civil war. The second is positive, to let conservatives and liberals more closely attain their vision of freedom and justice.
America’s descent into political conflict continues. “Sanctuary” jurisdictions support illegal immigration, refusing to assist federal authorities enforcing the law. This amounts to nullification, or states overturning federal laws. While possibly desirable, nullification is not part of our constitution.
Both sides resort to nullification. Red states tried nullifying Biden administration rules on transgender men in women’s sports.
We also have lawfare. One lawfare component is litigation by state attorneys general (AGs) against Washington. Alabama’s Steve Marshall joined numerous suits against the Biden administration while blue state AGs now busily sue the Trump administration.
Nationwide injunctions against the Trump administration by liberal federal judges are a new element. The first half of 2025 saw an unprecedented 64 injunctions. Many appear part of a deliberate effort to “flood the zone” with more improper decisions than the Supreme Court can overturn.
Lawfare also includes the prosecutions of Donald Trump and state efforts to remove him from the 2024 ballot. Authoritarians often ban opponents; Nicolas Maduro banned opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado from Venezuela’s 2024 election.
The Obama administration undermined Trump 45 through the Russian collusion story. Key was the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment based entirely on flimsy evidence like the Steele Dossier. We now know that President Obama ordered its creation and CIA Director John Brennan directed inclusion of unreliable evidence.
The struggle to control a government can involve protests, strikes, violence, and terror. Democracy limits contestation by letting citizens vote in a free election and everyone letting the winner govern. Elections help the people control the government, and because contestation primarily involves speaking to voters, may yield wise political decisions.
Liberal democracy guarantees future elections with the losers of today’s election fully free to participate. The losing side hopefully accepts the result.
Lawfare escalates conflict. To be clear, our system mandates recounts in close elections and allows court challenges of the legality of government acts. I support such provisions. But the coordinated use of every procedure to hamstring the winners violates the spirit of constitutional democracy.
A free nation is a group of people committed to defending each other’s freedom with no intention of subjugating each other. The American Revolution illustrates this. The Revolution was not about replacing King George III with King George Washington but fulfilling the Declaration of Independence.
Trust is key. Citizens must trust that their fellow citizens have no intention to subjugate them while in power to accept election results.
Many Americans today have lost this trust. Conservatives arguing to end the Senate filibuster to change policy before Democrats can do so lack trust. So do liberals who view Trump as Hitler and MAGA as Nazis. Few leaders on either side show interest in saving this marriage, which may now be impossible.
A second civil war would be tragic, and the tragic flaw would be failing to recognize the emergence of multiple visions of freedom and justice since 1776. The Revolution established government for the people, but Americans today have incompatible ideas about what government should do. And each side views the other as crushing freedom.
Divorce ends failed marriages. Separation is better than conflict in the face of irreconcilable differences and no willingness to compromise. Red and blue America desire different visions of freedom and neither is willing to give in.
Daniel Sutter is Affiliated Senior Scholar at the Mercatus Center and Professor of Economics at the Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy at Troy University.
