State of Cascadia 2020
The State of Cascadia is the only ongoing survey of supporters of the Cascadia movement.
Each year we ask Cascadians and supporters of the Cascadian movement to share about themselves and their current thoughts, fears, hopes, and wants for Cascadia. Then, we crunch the data in order to better understand who is supporting Cascadia and how we can better address their evolving needs.
Although this data is merely a sample of Cascadian supporters, it’s a great way to get keep on the pulse of relevant Cascadian interests. And, it serves as a reminder of Cascadia’s increasingly diverse pool of support, both within our bioregion and internationally.
top take-aways:
AN INDEPENDENT CASCADIA:
95% would support a referendum for Cascadian independence
87% think independence is as likely or more likely than this time last year
94% think the movement has grown or stayed steady in the last year
WHO SUPPORTS THE MOVEMENT?
51% of supporters were born outside of the bioregion
86% live here right now
HOW DID THEY FIRST HEAR ABOUT CASCADIA?
22% learned of Cascadia through social media or the internet
21% heard about it from friend, family member, or an acquaintance
21% were introduced to Cascadia through the news, an event, documentaries, or through literature like Ecotopia
12% got interested in Cascadia after seeing the Doug flag
8% first heard about Cascadia through academia or within an educational atmosphere
3.5% got interested in Cascadia because of a sticker
Data on hot button issues:
“Are all Cascadians white? Are there any conservative Cascadians? Are all Cascadians secessionists? Do Cascadians care about First Nations issues?”
If you’ve been involved with the Cascadian movement for a while, it’s likely that you’ve had to answer pointed questions or encountered someone who has gotten the wrong idea about Cascadia. We find data to be a powerful way to address these issues.
We acknowledge that there’s a certain amount of privilege that comes with being able to answer the State of Cascadia survey: the time to do it uninterrupted, the able-ism needed to complete it, and being able to answer succinctly about one’s self such as gender, ethnicity, and political views. We also acknowledge that because of our vision for an autonomous and independent Cascadia, our survey-takers are likely to align to those views.
However, even factoring for those elements, we’re happy to provide some data that might help if you’re ever faced with inaccurate perceptions of Cascadia and the Cascadia movement.
Ethnicity of Surveyed Cascadians
21.3% of respondents had non-white or mixed ethnic backgrounds:
8% of State of Cascadia 2020 respondents reported having a mixed ethnic background
3.3% reported being Hispanic/Latinx
3% reported being Indigenous/Native
2.2% had Jewish heritage
1.8% said they were of Eastern European decent (vs. mainstream European, Scandanavian, or Nordic decent)
1.5% of respondents said they were Black
1.5% were ethnically Asian
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Cascadia’s population is majority white, with Washington being 76% and Oregon being 86.8% non-mixed white and with BC having similar statistics. The same goes for our survey respondents: 73% reported being white, caucasian or European (meaning German, French, Irish, or other “mainstream” European ethnicities and excluding Eastern Europeans).
The political labels of Cascadians
While much of the United States looks at Cascadia and quickly labels it Liberal AF, not all Cascadians are so quick to use such an amorphous term. Liberal compared to what?
We allow any answers to be input into this section of the State of Cascadia survey - and boy, do we get a wide variety of answers! We do our best to tally them categorically. But what is always obvious to us is the amazing diversity of ways that Cascadians describe themselves politically, from Pinko Commie to Purple to Independent Pro-gun Socialist Transhumanist to Apolitical Earthling.
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All in all, we divided the answers into 50 different categories based on self-selected word usage and context.
Here’s some data from outside of the more popular “Democratic Socialist,” “Liberal," “Left,” and “Progressive” labels:
12% of State of Cascadia 2020 respondents labelled themselves as Independent
8.4% are Anarchists
9.7% called themselves Centerists or Moderates
We had almost equal amounts of Libertarians and Democrats respond at 5.8% and 5.5% respectively (excludes Democratic Socialists, which are their own category)
3.6% claimed to be Conservatives or Right
3.6% said they were apolitical, non-partisan, non-affiliated, or refused labels (this does not include those who chose not to answer at all)
1.5% specifically called out being pro-gun or pro-2nd amendment, regardless of any other label they chose to use
Less than 1% (0.73%, to be exact) are monarchists
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Having a final count of 50 different categories was a 51% decrease from last year’s data, which was divided into 97 unique categories. We saw slightly less diversity in the answers we received this year, and noted some key differences such as less “anti-facists” and more “anarchists,” and no use of the word “feminist” (which was mentioned enough to become one of our categories in 2019).
IS WHITE SUPREMACY AN ISSUE IN THE MOVEMENT?
Are all Cascadians secessionists?
What about first nations support?
Digging into the data:
In this section, we’ll
Who answered the survey?
This year, we surveyed 287 people.
Of these 287 people, 280 (97.6%) were self-proclaimed supporters of Cascadia. 7 (2.4%) people said they were not supporters of Cascadia.
Our survey respondents represent 156 different zip codes or postal codes.
The age of our respondents varied widely, with 56.2% being under the age of 50 and 43.9% aged 50 or older.
Age 18 or younger: 0.35%
Ages 19-29: 15.70%
Ages 30-39: 23.70%
Ages 40-49: 16.40%
Ages 50-59: 17.10%
Ages 60-69: 9.40%
Age 70 or older: 3.80%
No Answer: 8.40%
The genders of our respondents also varied, with the majority being male:
Male: 69%
Female: 20.1%
Non-Binary, Genderfluid or Agender: 3.5%
Other: 3.5%
No Answer: 2.4%
About half of our respondents were born in Cascadia (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, or BC), while 49% were born elsewhere.
Washington: 30%
Oregon: 11.10%
Idaho: 2.10%
British Columbia: 5.60%
U.S./Canada Outside of Cascadia: 30.30%
6.3% were born in California
Outside of the U.S./Canada: 3.50%
No Answer: 12.90%
86.1% of respondents currently live in Cascadia, with 39% having lived here all their lives. When asked how long they have lived in the bioregion, the respondents answered:
10+ yrs: 30%
5-10 years: 13.9%
For the last few years: 2.8%
Just moved here this year: 0.35%
Cascadian Currently Living Abroad: 3.5%
Cascadian Currently Living in the U.S. outside of Cascadia: 2.1%
No Answer: 6.6%
For information on the racial, ethnic, and political distribution of our survey respondents, please see the section above titled “Data on Hot Button Issues.”
ON THE CASCADIAN MOVEMENT & Independence
When asked if they would vote for Cascadian independence if given the option on a ballot, 94.1% (270 respondents) said that they would vote “Yes!”. Only 6% (17 people) said they would vote “No.”
86.8% of respondents indicated they thought that the Cascadia was about the same or more likely to become a reality than it was a year before (in January 2018):
41.5% thought it just as likely that Cascadia would be a reality as they did last year
45.3% thought Cascadia was more likely to become a reality than the preceeding year
10.5% thought Cascadia was less likely to become a reality
2.8% declined to answer this question
In regards to the Cascadian movement, respondents indicated that:
48% thought the movement had grown
46.3% thought the movement had stayed steady
4.9% thought the movement had lessened or shrank
3.1% did not answer
Whether or not they think the movement has grown, stayed the same, or slowed might be impacted by when they first heard about Cascadia and how they have seen the movement develop over time. Respondents had first heard about Cascadia:
Earlier than 2000 (20 or more years ago): 16.4%
Earlier than 2010 (10-5 years ago): 36.6%
In the last few years: 42.2%
This year: 3.5%
No Answer: 0.35%
And they first heard about Cascadia in the following ways:
From a friend, acquaintance, or conversationally: 17.8%
From a family member: 2.8%
Via the Internet or through social media: 21.6%
At an event: 3.5%
By seeing or asking about the Doug flag: 11.8%
Through media, such as the news, art, music, book, or documentary: 13.2%
Through academic channels or a school lesson: 7.7%
Politics: 4.2%
Said they always knew about Cascadia and did not learn about it from anything: 4.5%
By seeing a sticker: 3.8%
Unsure / Don’t know or remember how they first heard about Cascadia: 3.5%
No Answer: 2.4%
Big take-aways from this data:
Conversations with others matter! 40.1% learned about Cascadia through dialogues with other people.
Whether at an event, outside your house, or as a bumper sticker, the Doug flag is a great way to not only show Cascadian pride but to introduce people to Cascadia.
The Internet, social media, stickers, and other forms of media are powerful tools for growing the Cascadia movement: 38.6% learned abut Cascadia this way!
Apparently, you can just be born a Cascadian already known about Cascadia. Who knew!
We asked survey respondents Why Cascadia, and Why Now? Here are a few responses and a word cloud of key words from the responses:
What do cascadians care about?
It all started when…
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