51st state

51st state, in American political discourse, is a phrase that refers to areas either seriously or derisively considered candidates for addition to the 50 states already part of the Union. Before 1959, when Alaska and Hawaii joined the U.S., the term "the 49th state" was used.

"51st state"–in a negative sense–refers to independent nations which are, or are perceived to be, under excessive U.S. influence or control. In Australia, Canada and Europe (perhaps most significantly in the UK), people who believe their local and/or national culture has become too Americanized sometimes use the term "51st state" in critical reference to their respective countries. The pejorative term 51st stater usually refers to non-U.S. residents who emulate mannerisms and culture of an American, or a non-American politician who is a supporter of the United States, especially its foreign policy, to a degree viewed as excessive.

Legal requirements

Under Article IV, Section Three of the United States Constitution, which outlines the relationship among the states, the Congress has the power to admit new states to the union. The states are required to give "full faith and credit" to the acts of each other's legislatures and courts, which is generally held to include the recognition of legal contracts, marriages, and criminal judgments. The states are guaranteed military and civil defense by the federal government, which is also obligated by Article IV, Section Four, to "guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government." New states are admitted into the Union by the precedents and procedures established by the Northwest Ordinance. Following the precedent established by the Enabling Act of 1802, an Enabling Act must be passed by Congress as a prerequisite to admission. The act authorizes the people of a territory to frame a constitution, and lays down the requirements that must be met prior to consideration for statehood.

Possible candidates from the United States

District of Columbia

Main article: D.C. statehood movement

The District of Columbia is often mentioned as a likely candidate for statehood. In his The Federalist No. 43, James Madison considered the implications of the definition of the "seat of government" found in the U.S. Constitution. Although he noted potential conflicts of interest, and the need for a "municipal legislature for local purposes," Madison did not address the district's role in national voting. At the time, some believed that giving the district full voting rights would be like giving Congress its own separate vote, increasing its power at the expense of the citizens. However, the city's population has grown to almost 600,000 people (larger than Wyoming's and comparable to those of several other states), and the calls for suffrage have increased.

Of the potential candidates, citizens of the District of Columbia tend to be most supportive of statehood, yet this would require amendment of the United States Constitution. D.C. residents who support this movement sometimes use the Revolutionary War protest motto "Taxation without representation," denoting their lack of Congressional representation; the phrase is now printed on newly issued D.C. license plates (although a driver may choose to have the D.C. website address instead). President Bill Clinton's presidential limousine had the "Taxation without representation" license plate late in his term, while President George W. Bush had the vehicle's plates changed shortly after beginning his term in office.

This position was carried by the D.C. Statehood Party, a minor party; it has since merged with the local Green Party affiliate to form the D.C. Statehood Green Party. The nearest this movement ever came to success was in 1978, when Congress passed the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment. Two years later in 1980, local citizens passed an initiative calling for a constitutional convention for a new state. In 1982, voters ratified the constitution of the state, which was to be called New Columbia. The drive for statehood stalled in 1985, however, when the D.C. Voting Rights Amendment failed because not enough states ratified the amendment within the seven-year span specified.

Statehood will likely remain a highly contentious political issue due to the political demographics of the city. D.C. has long voted overwhelmingly Democratic, and the addition of another state would likely guarantee two Democratic Senators in a closely divided U.S. Senate.

Another proposed option would be to have Maryland, from which the current land was ceded, retake the District of Columbia, as Virginia has already done for its part. This would give D.C. residents the benefit of statehood while precluding the creation of a 51st state.

Northern Virginia

For years, residents and businesses of Northern Virginia have complained that their region, which has about a third of the state's population, sends about half its tax revenues to the State and gets back only 25 cents on the dollar. Some residents argue that Northern Virginia is part of the state in name only, saying that the region is so different from the rest of Virginia, it’s as though the New Jersey suburbs were grafted onto South Carolina. This situation has led some to propose that northern split into the separate state of Northern Virginia.

More recently, John McCain adviser Nancy Pfotenhauer created a minor controversy making a distinction between northern Virginia and “real Virginia,” which she said is the “part of the state that is more Southern in nature,”

Puerto Rico

See also: commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Politics of Puerto Rico, and Political status of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rican statehood referenda have been consistently, though narrowly, unsuccessful. In each referendum, statehood supporters are matched almost equally by supporters of maintaining the status quo (the balance of the votes being cast by supporters of full independence), although support for statehood has risen in each successive popular referendum. If Puerto Rico were a U.S. state, it would rank 27th in population, and have six seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Puerto Rico has been under U.S. sovereignty for over a century and Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917; but the island’s ultimate status still has not been determined and its 3.9 million residents still do not have voting representation in their national government. Puerto Rico currently has limited representation in the U.S. Congress in the form of a Resident Commissioner, a nonvoting delegate, and the current Congress had returned the Commissioner's power to vote in the Committee of the Whole, but not on matters where the vote would represent a decisive participation. Puerto Rico has elections on the US Presidential Primary or Caucus of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party to select delegates to the respective parties national conventions although presidential electors are not granted on the United States Electoral College.

Contrary to common misconception, residents of Puerto Rico pay some U.S. federal taxes: import/export taxes, federal commodity taxes, social security taxes, etc. Most residents do not pay federal income tax but pay federal payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare). But federal employees, or those who do business with the federal government, Puerto Rico-based corporations that intend to send funds to the U.S. and others also pay federal income taxes. Puerto Ricans may enlist in the U.S. military. Puerto Ricans have fully participated in all U.S. wars since 1898, and became United States citizens in 1917. All persons born in Puerto Rico after 1941 are consider natural-born citizens of the United States, one of the constitutional requirements to be President of the United States.

President George H.W. Bush issued a memorandum on November 30, 1992, to heads of executive departments and agencies establishing the current administrative relationship between the Federal Government and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This memorandum directs all Federal departments, agencies, and officials to treat Puerto Rico administratively as if it were a State insofar as doing so would not disrupt Federal programs or operations. On December 23, 2000, President Bill Clinton signed executive Order 13183, which established the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status and the rules for its membership. Section 4 of executive Order 13183 (as amended by executive Order 13319) directs the Task Force to "report on its actions to the President ... on progress made in the determination of Puerto Rico's ultimate status." President George W. Bush signed an additional amendment to Executive Order 13183 on December 3, 2003, which established the current co-chairs and instructed the Task Force to issue reports as needed, but no less than once every two years.

The statehood position is carried by the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico. Both United States major political parties, Democratic Party and Republican Party, in their respective 2008 party platforms, have expressed their support of the rights of the United States Citizens in Puerto Rico to determine the destiny of the Commonwealth to achieve a future permanent non-territorial political status with government by consent and full enfranchisement.

The Republican Party political status position in the 2008 platform - We support the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign state after they freely so determine. We recognize that Congress has the final authority to define the constitutionally valid options for Puerto Rico to achieve a permanent non-territorial status with government by consent and full enfranchisement. As long as Puerto Rico is not a state, however, the will of its people regarding their political status should be ascertained by means of a general right of referendum or specific referenda sponsored by the U.S. government.

The Democratic Party political status position in the 2008 platform - We believe that the people of Puerto Rico have the right to the political status of their choice, obtained through a fair, neutral, and democratic process of self-determination. The White House and Congress will work with all groups in Puerto Rico to enable the question of Puerto Rico’s status to be resolved during the next four years.

Its population in the 2000 census was 3,927,776. (Kentucky ranked 26th, with 4,206,074, and Oregon ranked 27th, with 3,700,758.)

See also: List of U.S. states by population

.

Location	Population	Area (sq. mi.)	Comments
Puerto Rico	3,994,259	3,514	July 2007 estimate
United States Virgin Islands	112,000	133.73	July 2005 estimate
Total	4,106,259	3,647.73	Puerto Rico & U.S. Virgin Islands

Other/former U.S. territories

File:PACIFICA2.JPG

A hypothetical merging of several former and current Pacific US territories into a single state.

Other less likely contenders are Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, both of which are unincorporated organized territories of the United States, although the latter could merge with Puerto Rico due to their proximity (although they have very different histories and cultures). Also the Northern Mariana Islands, which is a commonwealth like Puerto Rico, and American Samoa, an unorganized, unincorporated territory could attempt to gain statehood. Some proposals call for the Virgin Islands to be admitted with Puerto Rico as one state (often known as the proposed "Commonwealth of Prusvi," for Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands), and for the amalgamation of U.S. territories or former territories in the Pacific Ocean, in the manner of the "Greater Hawaii" concept of the 1960s. Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands would be admitted as one state, along with Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands (though these latter three entities are now separate sovereign nations). Such a state would have a population of 441,171 (slightly lower than Wyoming's population) and an area of 911.82 square miles (slightly smaller than Rhode Island). American Samoa could possibly be part of such a state, increasing the population to 506,040 and the area to 988.65 square miles, or it may become a county of Hawaii a territory. Radio Australia, in late May 2008, issued signs of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands becoming one again and become the 51st state.

Location	Population	Area (sq. mi.)	Comments
Palau	19,907	177	July 2005 estimate
Northern Mariana Islands	80,801	184.17	July 2005 estimate
Marshall Islands	61,963	69.8	July 2005 estimate
Guam	175,877	209.85	July 2008 estimate
Federated States of Micronesia	108,500	271	July 2006 estimate
Subtotal	441,171	911.82	Former Trust Territories + Guam
American Samoa	64,869	76.83	July 2006 estimate
Total	506,040	988.65	Former Trust Territories + American Pacific

From current U.S. states

Main article: List of U.S. state secession proposals

• Absaroka was an area in the United States, comprising parts of the states of Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming, that contemplated secession and statehood in 1939. One leader of the secessionist movement, A. R. Swickard, appointed himself "governor" and started hearing grievances in the "capital" of Sheridan, Wyoming. License plates were distributed, as well as pictures of "Miss Absaroka 1939." The movement was generally unsuccessful and fairly short-lived. The chief record of its existence comes from the Federal Writers' Project, which included a story about the plan as an example of Western eccentricity.

• The State of Sequoyah was a proposed state. It would have consisted of what is now eastern Oklahoma.

• The California State Senate voted on June 4, 1965, to divide California into two states, with the Tehachapi Mountains as the boundary. Sponsored by State Senator Richard J. Dolwig (D-San Mateo), the resolution proposed to separate the 7 southern counties, with a majority of the state's population, from the 51 other counties, and passed 27-12. To be effective, the amendment would have needed approval by the State Assembly, by California voters, and by the United States Congress. As expected by Dolwig, the proposal did not get out of committee in the Assembly. A previous proposal to this effect was advanced in 1860, but was tabled due to the American Civil War and never revived.

• There has recently been a move by two cities in South Florida, Margate and North Lauderdale, to split the area roughly consisting of the South Florida metropolitan area off from the state of Florida and form a new state, South Florida; this hypothetical state would consist of Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. The complaint made by the proposers of the division is that urban South Florida has different needs than the rest of the state, suffers from an unfair tax burden, and has several programs that have been consistently under-funded by Tallahassee legislators.

• There have occasionally been talks about the Florida Panhandle forming its own state, due to its differences with the peninsula section and join with counties and Parishes in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana to form the state of West Florida.

• In 1784, residents of what is now eastern Tennessee voted to organize the region as a new state to be named "Franklin" and petitioned Congress for admission to the Union. Congress never acted on the petition, and when North Carolina—which had once claimed the Tennessee country (the territory now comprising Tennessee) and had then ceded it to central government of the U.S.—acted to reclaim the region, the government of "Franklin" soon collapsed. In 1790, North Carolina again ceded the Tennessee country, including the former Franklin, to the central government; the entire Tennessee country was later (1796) admitted to the union as the State of Tennessee.

• A proposal in Illinois would separate Chicago from the rest of the state since over half of the population of Illinois resides in the metropolitan area. A variation of this was called Chiwaukee, which would be the strip of land from Milwaukee down to Gary, Indiana.

• Historically, it was possible that the counties of southern Oregon and northern California might have seceded from their respective states to form a new "State of Jefferson." When last proposed in 1941, Jefferson would have become the 49th state, making Alaska and Hawaii the 50th and 51st when they became states in 1959.
• Also there have been brief calls for a 51st state named the State of Lincoln in 1996, 1999, and 2005. The state would be made of Eastern Washington and the Idaho Panhandle.

• The proposal for New York City secession would separate Downstate New York, containing New York City, from the poorer, more rural and politically conservative upstate New York. It has seen supporters from both upstate (Randy Kuhl) and downstate (Peter Vallone, Jr.) but has never built enough momentum to pass. Long Island has also considered separating itself from the rest of the state, for similar reasons.

• A movement to have Eastern Oregon secede and become the 51st state was underway in 2008. The proposed state line would stretch from east of the Cascade Mountains to the Idaho border.

• Similar junctions have attempted to take place in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which some wish to secede (sometimes along with adjoining counties of northern Wisconsin) to make a state called "Superior."

• On January 15, 2008, Utah State Representative Neal Hendrickson introduced a joint resolution consenting to the creation of a new state. The proposed resolution - intended to be sent to the U.S. Congress - would support secession of all lands south of the Utah County border to create the new state. The Utah House of Representatives tabled the resolution on March 5, 2008.

• In January 2008, columnist, Bill Shipp wrote an editorial urging the creation of two Georgian states. This proposal in the article was largely attributed to a severe drought and concerns of the water rights enfringement of citizens in southern Georgia by politicians and officials from the Metro Atlanta area and North Georgia. Shipp went on to advocate a creation of North and South Georgia as two separate states to prevent Northern Georgia from encroaching on those water rights.

Use internationally

Because of their cultural similarities and close alliances with the United States, it is said in jest that some countries are the 51st state. In other countries, movements with various degrees of support and seriousness have proposed U.S. statehood.

Albania

Albania is often cited as the 51st state due to its perceived strongly pro-USA positions mainly because of the Kosovo policy of the latter. In reference to President George W. Bush's 2007 European tour, Edi Rama, Tirana's mayor and leader of the opposition Socialists, said: "Albania is for sure the most pro-American country in Europe, maybe even in the world ... Nowhere else can you find such respect and hospitality for the President of the United States. Even in Michigan, he wouldn't be as welcome." At the time of ex-Secretary of State James Baker's visit in 1991, there was even a move to hold a referendum declaring the country as America's 51st state.

Australia and New Zealand

Over the last half century, Australian culture was increasingly dominated by the United States of America. The US holds major joint military and government interests with Australia in part of the ANZUS Mutual Defense Treaty of 1951. Australia is an English-speaking country, is regarded as a close ally and shares a similar British background.

In Australia and New Zealand, the term '51st State' is used primarily as a rhetorical attack on a perceived excess of American cultural or political influence.

Canada

In Canada, "the 51st state" (or sometimes "the Maple Leaf state") is an emotional trigger phrase generally used in such a way as to imply that if a certain political course is taken, Canada's destiny will be to become "the 51st state."

Becoming "the 51st state" is usually raised either as a potential consequence of adopting policies that propose greater integration or cooperation with the United States (such as Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement in 1988, or the current debate over the creation of a common defense perimeter), or as a potential consequence of not adopting proposals intended to resolve the issue of Quebec sovereignty (such as the Charlottetown Accord in 1992, or the Clarity Act in 1999.)

The phrase is usually used in local political debates, in polemic writing or in private conversations. It is rarely used by politicians themselves in a public context, although at certain times in Canadian history political parties have used other similarly loaded imagery. For example, in the 1988 federal election, the anti-Free Trade Liberals ran an ad in which Tory strategists, upon the adoption of the agreement, slowly erased the Canada-U.S. border from a desktop map of North America. Within days, however, the Tories responded with an ad which featured the border being drawn back on, as an announcer intoned "Here's where we draw the line." It should also be noted that the 1988 Free Trade Agreement was adopted, followed by the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement of 1993, and the Charlottetown Accord failed, although to date none of these events have resulted in Canadian annexation by the United States as was alleged during the respective debates.

Percent of population in each region who supported U.S. annexation in a 2001 survey, represented in blue on the pie charts.

A few fringe groups in Canada have actively campaigned in favor of joining the United States. These annexationist movements have not attracted much mainstream attention, although perhaps as many as one in five Canadians may support the idea.

In the United States, use of the term "the 51st state" when applied to Canada can serve as either a positive or negative reference, depending on the context. In some circumstances, the term is used from a U.S. perspective to highlight the similarities and close relationship between Canada and the United States. However, the term is most often taken as an insult. Interestingly, the Articles of Confederation pre-approved Canada's entry into the United States of America.

Alberta

See also: Alberta separatism and Jesusland map

Alberta is referred to as "Canada's Texas"; the two share similarities in terms of conservative social values and an economy defined by petroleum extraction and processing. A number of Albertans have expressed dissatisfaction at Canada's policies towards the province, particularly with regards to national energy policy and equalization payments. Some Albertans accuse Canada of stealing money from the province's vast oil reserves to distribute to the rest of the country; however the distribution of windfall provincial earnings as equalization payments to most provinces is standard practise, and all provinces have been the recipient of this funding at some point in time, including Alberta. An August 2005 poll commissioned by the Western Standard pegged support for the idea that "Western Canadians should begin to explore their options outside of Canada" at 42% in Alberta and 35.6% across the four Western provinces.

Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island

During the Quebec referendum, 1995, there was media speculation that one potential consequence of Quebec's secession from Canada might be that the three Maritime Provinces of Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, would be economically disadvantaged by their geographic isolation from the remaining Canadian provinces, and would therefore secede from Canada and be admitted to the United States as three new states. However, each of the provincial parliaments deny there was such an accord to adjoin the U.S. territory.

Quebec

In the late 1980s, Parti 51 ran for elections proposing secession of Quebec from Canada and annexation to the US.

Cuba

One of the most loyal nations to the U.S. in the 19th and early 20th centuries and home to 500,000 American land owners before the outbreak of the Spanish American war, Cuba was projected to become US territory by purchasing it from the Spanish empire. In 1859, Senator John Slidell introduced a bill to place thirty million dollars into the hands of the President, to be applied towards the purchase of Cuba from Spain.

The pro-independence movement in Cuba was funded and supported by the U.S., as guerilla leaders pleaded for annexation for statehood in the 1880s and early 1890s, but Cuban revolutionary leader Jose Marti objected and called for Cuban nationhood. When the U.S. defeated Spain in 1898, the island was allowed to declare independence instead of becoming officially part of the U.S. Despite this the Platt Amendment offered the United States certain rights, and it was several years before troops were withdrawn.

From 1903 to 1958, the U.S. opted to back every government, most notably the General Fulgencio Batista regime who was ousted in 1959 by Fidel Castro. Castro erected an anti-American socialist government which has been in power ever since, and millions of Cuban refugees fled the island as a result.

Denmark

In 1909, a group of Danish-American settlers erected a small town near Aalborg, Jutland and by 1913, a few local leaders announced not only they had "returned" to their ancestral land, but wanted to "Americanize" this small European kingdom which had a positive diplomatic relationship with the United States by favoring the country to become annexed. This never reached official levels and was washed away when World War I broke out in 1914. Denmark had been officially neutral since the Second Schleswig War in 1864, and remained so during World War I in order not to provoke the neighboring German Empire. Danish officials have never considered anything but a possible union with Sweden, Norway and other Nordic countries.

Dominican Republic

In 1869, Dominican president Buenaventura Báez tried to persuade the United States to annex his debt-ridden, war-torn nation. U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant supported this plan, but the United States Senate refused on June 30, 1870, by one vote. One reason for President Grant's support was providing a home where U.S. freedmen could live free of harassment by Southern whites.

Guyana

There is an organization dedicated to the integration of Guyana with the United States, GuyanaUSA. Their claim is based on the idea that Guyana has strong connections with the United States in terms of people (100,000 people have joint Guyanese-American citizenship and 350,000 Guyanese live in U.S., half as many as remain in Guyana). It is the only South American country with English as its official language. Guyana, however, appears to have committed itself to South American integration, becoming a founding member of the Union of South American Nations in 2008.

Iraq

Several publications suggest that the Iraq War is a neocolonial war to make Iraq the 51st state, usually a tongue-in-cheek statement.

Israel

Several websites assert or joke that Israel is the 51st state due to the annual funding and defense support it receives from the United States. Commentator Richard Reeves has also used this trope.

An example for such proposal can be found in 2003 when Martine Rothblatt published a book called "Two Stars for Peace" that argued for the addition of Israel and Palestine as the 51st and 52nd states in the Union.

Japan

Despite the United Nations guarantee of the protection and preservation of Japanese sovereignty, some American congressmen insisted they should annex a war-defeated Japan. The U.S. armed forces rejected such a plan during the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on the USS Missouri.

However, in the Treaty of San Francisco in April, 1951, the U.S. officially annexed the outlying islands of the Ryukyus, including the island of Okinawa–home to over 1,000,000 Okinawans related to the Japanese–and the Bonin Islands, the Volcano Islands and Iwo Jima.

All those acquired US possessions were slowly returned to Japanese rule. Okinawa was returned on May 15, 1972, but the U.S. continues to station troops in the island's bases, an emotional subject for many Okinawans who despised foreign occupation left over from the World War II era.

Mexico

The idea of incorporating Mexico into several states of the US has existed ever since the Mexican–American War. Today this term is used to underline or reflect the strong economic and political connections between Mexico and the US. At least one website exists to promote this goal. In 1913 during border skirmishes between the United States and Mexico, it was proposed by some that the US annex Chihuahua.

The Northeast region, comprised by the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Nuevo Leon (where claims about federal taxes and water usage are similar to the proposed US states complaints) is frequently alleged to be more alike in general mentality to Texas than to the rest of the country.

Philippines

The Philippines at one time had a grassroots movement for statehood. Supporters of this movement were mainly Filipinos that had fought as members of the American armed forces in various wars under a special agreement between the two countries (see Filipino Veterans Fairness Act.) Various suggestions for Philippine statehood have included its entry as a whole or the partial entry of the westernized north, leaving the predominantly Muslim Mindanao to form its own country (see Moro National Liberation Front) or join Indonesia. The movement never had any significant political impact, and was primarily a minor social movement. The movement is virtually dead, as most of its supporters are aging or have died.

Some sectors of Filipino society advocate annexation of the Philippines into the U.S., but this time as up to three states: Luzón, the Visayas, and Mindanao. This lacks support because of the distance from the U.S. mainland.

Sicily

The Party of Reconstruction in Sicily, which claimed 40,000 members in 1944, campaigned for Sicily to be admitted as a U.S. state. This party was one of several Sicilian separatist movements active after the downfall of Italian fascism. The island is populated by Sicilians, a traditionally regional and ethnic group which felt neglected or underrepresented by the Italian government, especially after the annexation of 1861 when Sicily was part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies based in Naples which combined with the First Republic of Italy in 1868, but Sicilians do not share every single cultural trait with those in other regions and provinces of the Italian peninsula. However, Sicilian-Americans are a large and fairly powerful community, and hold a good degree of social respect in the United States.

Taiwan

When the Treaty of San Francisco and Treaty of Taipei were agreed, the World War II Allies were given the internationally agreed responsibility of administration of the former Formosa. The ongoing debates and disagreements in regard to the legal and political status of Taiwan remains, with some commentators believing it to be an independent or quasi-independent state that seeks more international recognition from members of the United Nations, functioning under the Formosa government. Neither the San Francisco Peace Treaty nor the Treaty of Taipei specified who should exercise sovereignty over Taiwan after the Allied Forces had relinquished control. The People's Republic of China was not a signatory to either treaty.

A poll in 2003 reveals that, when given the options of either becoming a province of China or a state within the U.S., 55% of Taiwanese respondents prefered statehood while 36% chose joining with China.

United Kingdom

The UK has sometimes been called the 51st state due to the inclination of that country to work closely with the US under such leaders as Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair.

Use in other organizational contexts

Frequently, organizations (NGOs, etc.) based primarily in the United States have smaller branches elsewhere. These branches may often be called the group's "51st state."

• The Democratic National Committee recognizes each state for electoral purposes; however it also gives Democrats Abroad delegate votes to represent the c. seven million U.S. Americans abroad. In the context of the DNC, Democrats Abroad is often considered the "51st state."

51st state in popular culture

• The 51st State is a 2001 British film starring Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Carlyle, set in Liverpool, England. The film makes fun of US-UK relations. The film was released under the title Formula 51 in the United States and Canada due to sensitivity to the term "51st state" there.

• 51st State is a novel by Peter Preston published in 1998, in which the United Kingdom leaves the European Union and becomes the 51st state of the USA. ISBN 0-670-88326-3

• When promoting his book A Man Without a Country, author Kurt Vonnegut told The Daily Show's Jon Stewart that he originally wished to call the book The 51st State, jokingly stating that the 51st state was the state of denial.

• In the 1979 film Americathon, which is set in a fictional 1998, the United Kingdom has become the 51st state, and the logos of a Safeway grocery store hangs on the Palace of Westminster.

• The satirical almanac The Areas of My Expertise, by John Hodgman, describes a mobile 51st state "Hohoq (also known as Ar.)"

• At the very beginning of the movie intro to the video game Fallout, a newsreel-style film displays a news brief about US Soldiers in newly annexed Canada (for military support against the Chinese invasion in return for oil supply, because US has seized control of the last remaining oil reservoir, as explained in the game's sequel Fallout 2). As the film progesses a shot of a US soldier in power armor with an American flag waving behind him can be seen. The flag displays one large white star (likely alluding to the 50 pre-war states) in the center of a ten-star circle.

• The 1986 album The Ghost of Cain by the English rock band New Model Army features a track called 51st State, which refers to the UK under Margaret Thatcher.

• The song "Heartland" on the 1986 album Infected, by the English band The The, ends with the refrain "This is the 51st state of the U.S.A."

• In The Light of Other Days, a novel by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter, the United Kingdom joins the United States, with the Prime Minister serving as governor and the Royal Family exiled to Australia. ISBN 0-00-224704-6

• In the film Meet the Robinsons, Lewis travels to the future, and while there, tries to hide his identity, saying he is from Canada. One of his future cousins replies, "You must mean North Montana. Hasn't been called Canada in years."

• In the Star Trek: The Next Generation second season episode "The Royale," a 52 Star flag is shown on a piece of debris. The episode did not make clear where the 51st and 52nd states were, only that they joined in the 21st century. In the episode, Commander Riker says that the flag dates the debris between the years of 2033 and 2079.

• In The Simpsons, Saudi-Israelia (presumably a combination of Saudi Arabia and Israel) is mentioned as the 51st state in the episode "Future-Drama."

• The 2008 Canadian television film The Trojan Horse follows the aftermath of a referendum in which Canada votes to join the United States. Instead of Canada being one state, there are six, British Columbia (British Columbia & Yukon), Alberta (Alberta & Northwest Territories), Manitoba (Manitoba & Saskatchewan), Ontario (Ontario & Nunavut), Quebec and Terra Nova (the Atlantic Provinces)

• In the alternate history of the comic series Watchmen, Vietnam is mentioned as the 51st state after the presence of the godlike superhero Doctor Manhattan during the war changes the outcome. In the trailer for the film adaptation, the flag on Eddie Blake's coffin has 51 stars.

See also

• Manifest Destiny
• Proposals for new Australian States
• Proposals for new Canadian provinces and territories