ABSTRACT
The overall purpose of Declarations of Independence (DoIs) is to legitimize secession, both internally and internationally. In this chapter we investigate the rhetoric secessionists use to legitimize secession in their DoIs. Through content analysis we identify four types of legitimization narratives: (a) grievance, where secession is presented as a remedy to abuses the secessionists suffered; (b) commitment, where the secessionists claim they will establish a state that respects liberal democratic values; (c) capacity, where declarations emphasize the secessionists’ ability to create stable state institutions; and (d) restoration, declarations that re-establish previously lost statehood. This chapter shows how the rhetoric DoIs use has changed over time with the dominance of liberal democratic discourse in international affairs. We shed light on how secessionists promote a self-constructed image of themselves and their actions in order to gain international support for their secession.
