Montana is prettier, emptier and, if you catch it at the wrong time, colder than most places in the United States. But it is still part of the United States – even if the state Supreme Court wants to pretend that it isn’t.
Montana is one of a handful of states that have a highly developed sense of being unique by virtue of geography, history and local culture.
Montana wrote itself a brand-new constitution, filled with cutting-edge innovations such as guaranteeing the public’s right to attend government meetings and see government documents. Montana has a deep-seated interest in maintaining clean, responsive and open government.
This is largely a reaction to the state’s political history of corruption and exploitation at the hands of out-of-state corporate interests, which has gradually enlarged to a sometimes self-defeating mythology.


