There is a saying in business that things should be delegated to the lowest level possible – the logic is simple: when delegated down, the people solving the problem are those who are the closest to situation“ on the ground,” those who have to live with the end result, and thus, those who are most vested in ensuring that there is a viable solution for their specific community.
This is not isolated to business. Can you imagine a society where the rules of your own house were determined by your neighbor, or even worse a person in another country with a substantially different situation or set of beliefs? Neither could our founding fathers. The American Revolution was largely the result of frustration with a central government and set of laws that didn’t represent their beliefs and were out of touch with their needs. The result: Federalism, a union of partially self-governing states under a central federal government. The political system, still in place today, provides for governing at the local and state level while preserving the protection that comes from uniting under a national government.
While it is still debated at the highest levels where Federal authority begins and ends, there are clear themes in the Constitution that suggest the founding fathers intended for minimal control/legislature at the national level. Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution explicitly identifies the types of responsibilities to reside at the national level: foreign affairs, interstate commerce, monetary policy, defense, and common goods (things where economies of scale are essential). The theme is clear– the Federal Government’s power was intended to be reserved for things where scale was critical for success, not everything they “could do.” Most issues were to be reserved for States(as called out in the 10th amendment).
For some reason, our national politicians no longer try to push issues down to State and local levels. A belief has somehow emerged that“ important issues” must be solved at the top. Under this backdrop, it shouldn’t be surprising to see the massive polarization of the country - we are trying to align on a single perspective for very emotional, contextual issues. The future is in our hands: we can get back to the formative structure of our country and push issues to state and local levels or we can witness a fissure and revolution similar to what was seen in 1776. Politicians and policy must start by answering the question “Why does an issue have to be solved at the federal level?”
Want to learn more? Checkout this great piece on Federalism from PBS.
