America’s Governments
Our nation’s oft-ignored constitutional order was designed to protect communities’ sovereignty and empower the American People.
This “news”letter avoids referring to the federal government simply as “the government.” Doing so reinforces a widely-held assumption that the humid swamp-town on the Potomac River is home to the most important — if not the only — expression of American political will. Too many assume that state and local governments are merely administrative arms of Washington, or, at best, second-rate fallbacks, only to be appealed to if one can’t finagle the federal leviathan into adopting this or that policy.
Attempts to nationalize all political questions betray a disregard for the Constitution’s intended relationship between the federal government and the states, not to mention an ignorance of the benefits of local rule. A brief refresher is in order…
Our constitutional order is designed to provide the benefits of a large, unified nation while simultaneously allowing local communities the right of self-rule. Essentially, it created mechanisms by which a diverse citizenry can effectively resolve both foreign threats and domestic squabbles. To this end, the Federal Government is vested with certain powers that are best entrusted to a single, central authority — e.g. determining foreign policy and regulating interstate commerce — but is explicitly forbidden from exercising all others. Broadly speaking, national officials oversee matters of national interest, but most of the day-to-day governing of communities is left to the citizens thereof.
The Federalist is clear on these points. John Jay and Alexander Hamilton expound in many essays on the necessity of a united nation and national government, and James Madison is strikingly direct regarding the Constitution’s respect for local authority. In The Federalist, No. 39, Madison writes that state governments are, “…no more subject, within their respective spheres, to the general authority, than the general authority is subject to them, within its own sphere.” Indeed, in the same essay, Madison recognizes the novelty of the Constitution’s “mixed” structure, stating that it intentionally intermingles traits typical of national governments with those typical of confederacies.
Since each state government rules only a slice of the population, state lawmakers can tailor policies to closely fit the needs and desires of their constituents — and when policy mistakes are inevitably made, fewer people suffer. Furthermore, the multiplicity of state governments provides numerous case studies on good and bad governance from which all can learn. And finally, decentralized rule affords to disaffected citizens an accessible right of exit to some other community more consonant with their worldview.
Early American governance, however, was often decentralized past statehouses to the local level. Indeed, the American’s ability to properly govern himself has historically been developed through involvement in local politics, as noted by Alexis de Tocqueville on his tour of American democracy in the 1830s. Wrote the Frenchman: “Town meetings are to liberty what primary schools are to science.” Localism offers easy entry into the democratic process, and the average citizen can personally effect local change — as an elected official, a campaign volunteer, or an advocate — to a degree impossible at the state, let alone national, level. Also, when they consider issues that directly affect their daily lives, individuals will likely reason from common sense and experience rather than partisanship — a good to be desired in our free, moral society.
When federal judges, legislators, and bureaucrats usurp powers that rightfully belong to state and local governments, they commit a double-robbery against both citizens and local communities; not only is local rule more efficient than national rule, but involvement in local affairs transforms individuals into republican citizens.
Conservatives and libertarians must spend more time explaining not only what the Constitution says, but why it says it. The Constitution’s text reflects deep moral principles as well as a revolutionary political philosophy. Both deserve robust defense.