Do you like the system of the US federal government delegating power to states or do you wish most of the power was held by the federal government?

18 comments

1. I think it works well. State governments are normally pretty good at keeping track of issues that affect people at a more local resolution, and I think you’d lose a lot of that if we had a more unitary government

2. I like it. I think diversity is our greatest asset, and this helps facilitate that.

3. A weak fed and strong states made sense back before we had railways, cars, and the internet. In USA today you can buy weed in Michigan and drive to Illinois (where it is also legal, just more expensive). If you get pulled over in indiana, where it is illegal, then you may face jail time. Thankfully, Biden just put forth changes that prevent this from escalating into a federal drug trafficking offense (crossing state lines with illegal item). Last week, this scenario would result in losing your right to vote. The world is now smaller and so is the need for a weak federal gov.

4. I think our system is ideally set up regarding states rights, & I definitely do not wish the federal government had more power…

5. I don’t believe the federal government should hold very much power. Federal laws should be basic and broad that states customize to fit the specific needs of their people.

6. You are correct. Centralized power in Ireland works because Ireland is about the size of a US state. Turning over most of your government’s power to the EU would be comparable to the situation in the US.

   One size fits all solutions suck. A lot of the partisan bickering in the US can be blamed on increased federal-level power being used to enforce solutions to a local problem on a wider level that impacts people who don’t need or want it.

   As a mostly apolitical hypothetical, look at California’s near-constant drought conditions. Water use restrictions make sense there. But passing them at the *federal* level, forcing people on the east coast to follow them, doesn’t do anyone any good (water isn’t going to be shipped from the east coast to CA in any meaningful amount)

7. I like our system when the federal government is controlled by the party I don’t like. I hate it when my state government is controlled by the party I don’t like and the federal government is controlled by the party I do like.

8. I think the federal government should generally hold more power.

   However, my opinion might change if I lived in a different state.

9. I think the federal government regularly oversteps its boundaries and we are worse for it.

10. It works well. It’s very similar to how most big countries are governed, even ones as small as the UK or Spain. Ireland’s similar in size and population to South Carolina, which is ranked 40th by size and 23rd by population. The whole country is about 330 million people in an area much larger than the EU.

11. If anything I would usually prefer more freedom be given to the states. Its getting hard to say that though as I don’t trust most state governments either.

12. Quick correction: The federal government didn’t give power to the states. The states are the sovereign powers. The states banded together to form the federal government, and ceded some of their state powers to the feds.

    We like to think there’s a balance somewhere between state and federal authorities that gives us the best of both models. In practice, we’re always fighting over what that balance should be.

    Personally, while I believe in finding the right balance, I do notice the concept of “states’ rights” is almost always used for bad causes. It’s usually about a state’s right to oppress a local minority that the nation as a whole has decided to stop oppressing. (See: slavery, reconstruction, voting rights, desegregation, marriage equality, etc.) The one exception I can think of is marijuana legalization.

13. I much prefer the US method of government. I have sat in rooms and talked with my state representatives. I once went to a committee meeting in support of a certain measure.

    Local and state level government affect our lives the most and many changes at the federal level begin at the local and state levels. Here, at home, a person’s voice and vote is most powerful and it’s much easier to start a grassroots initiative. Your neighbors are the people you need to rally and that’s a lot easier than rallying people who are on the other side of the country. The issues that most directly deal you and yours are considered. On a federal level they are likely to get lost because of the sheer size of our country.

    It also helps me feel less pessimistic about government. Sure it’s still a challenge on the local level but my rep can know my face and learn my name. Anyway, yeah, it actually works pretty well considering and I value the voice it gives me.

14. The federal government should mostly just be in the business of national safety/security and protecting the civil rights of it’s citizens. That’s clearly overtly simplistic but I believe we could tighten it up if we focused on eliminating so much overlap and excess with the states.

15. The way the world is now I almost wonder why states even exist. The only difference I see in state laws these days is to restrict citizens’ rights.

    “State rights” to me is a dog whistle for oppression. Just look at slavery and reproductive rights alone.

    Growing up the biggest difference I could see in state laws was that some states allowed you to ride a motorcycle without a helmet or allowed fireworks and others didn’t. These days you can add marijuana to the list, but since it’s decriminalized in so many localities even that is not much of a differentiator. We would pay far fewer dollars in taxes collectively if we didn’t have so many layers of government and so many redundancies.

16. In theory I like the idea.

    In practice, the US has a much larger and much more diverse population than most (if not all) EU nations. And I don’t mean you’re all lily-white Christians, I’ve been to Europe and I know you guys do have diverse cultures…it’s just that there is a lot more variety here.

    Because of the large l, diverse population, a centralized government just wouldn’t work here.

17. The problem with your assertion here is that you believe power is delegated to the states by the federal government. I know it can seem like that, and in effect that is kind of what happens, but the true belief is that powers that are not reserved for the federal government, explicitly by the constitution, are reserved for the states to exercise. That distinction is very important. Saying the federal government delegates its authority to the states presupposes that the federal government 1. has some sort power to delegate and 2. has the actual power to the delegation. As explained, the idea behind our founding principles is that the federal government is actually limited in its exercise of power by the constitution and any power the constitution does not recognize *shall* be exercised by the states.

    With that clarified, I personally HATE how much power our federal government has and I HATE how much power the executive branch of our federal government has. Our country should be a loose association of states that are capable of exercising their own powers to institute their policy. Instead, the federal government steps in , cites the commerce clause, and creates nationwide policy that some states may or may not like. I want more autonomy in our state power.

18. More power should be held by the states and localities within the states.