Buddy asks a question many Texans consider: “Is Texas too large to be a functional independent republic, and how does population and infrastructure scale impact that?” The short answer from Texas Nationalist Movement President Daniel Miller is clear: “I don’t think so. I don’t think it is.”
This isn’t wishful thinking. Miller draws on conversations with experts in decentralization and political scale, including academic work on the politics of scale. The reality is that Texas already functions as a nation in everything but name.
Texas Already Operates at National Scale
Consider the facts. Texas has a population exceeding 30 million people, ranking it among the world’s most populous nations. For perspective, that’s larger than Australia, Malaysia, or Venezuela. As Miller notes, you can “pull out a globe, spin that joker around and put your finger on a piece of land” and find nations far smaller than Texas successfully governing themselves.
The state’s economy ranks as the world’s 8th or 9th largest with a GDP exceeding $2 trillion. This positions Texas ahead of most existing nations globally. With standard NATO defense spending levels of 2-4% of GDP, Texas would have “the 10th or 11th most well-funded military in the world,” Miller explains.
Administrative Structure vs. Federated Systems
Critics often point to Texas’s size, but they misunderstand how governance actually works. Texas’s 254 counties function as administrative subdivisions, not federated entities with sovereign powers. This distinguishes Texas from federal systems like Switzerland or Germany.
Each Texas county serves as a local administrative subdivision of the state, carrying out functions like law enforcement, road maintenance, and elections. They operate under uniform structure defined by the Texas Constitution, which limits their powers and differentiates them from cities that can have varying governmental structures.
This administrative approach actually strengthens governance efficiency. While large countries like India, Brazil, and Nigeria successfully manage massive populations through decentralized governance frameworks, Texas already has this infrastructure in place.
Infrastructure Capacity is the Real Issue
Miller emphasizes that the critical factor for functional independence isn’t mere size but infrastructure capacity relative to population growth. This becomes especially important regarding immigration management and service provision. About 20% of Texas counties within the Houston-Dallas-San Antonio-Austin areas serve a majority of the state’s population with approximately 22 million inhabitants.
Independence would enable Texas to better control its infrastructure and resources to meet demographic demands. Currently, federal interference limits state-level responses to population growth and infrastructure strain. An independent Texas could tailor policies to local conditions while maintaining national unity.
Proven Models Exist Worldwide
Large nations routinely manage scale challenges through robust decentralization. Countries like India and Nigeria demonstrate that population size and infrastructure scale can be effectively managed via constitutional provisions creating autonomous regional governments or administrative units tailored to local needs.
Texas already has this framework. The state’s municipalities consist of either general law cities or home-rule cities that possess greater self-governing powers upon reaching 5,000 residents. This creates a flexible governance system that adapts to local needs.
The Legal Path Forward
Following independence through the TEXIT process, Texas would establish its own constitutional framework codifying governance structure. The new republic would likely maintain a unitary system with administrative subdivisions—counties as administrative units, not federated states—based on successful international precedents.
As Miller concludes, “structurally and functionally, the gap between where we are and being a self-governing independent nation is very, very small.” Texas meets all criteria for nationhood except complete sovereignty, which independence would restore.
Size isn’t Texas’s weakness—it’s our strength. The infrastructure, population, economy, and governance systems already exist. Independence simply removes federal interference that currently limits our potential.
