More power for states could break federal deadlock

One of the lessons of the Ukraine affair is how difficult it is to put together a country composed of divergent groups.

For long periods, Russia dominated a country composed of both Ukrainians and Russians, and the current crisis is the result of the breakdown in Russian control in the face of Ukrainian opposition.

The result is likely to be a loose federal country with each group able to make its own decisions.  The eastern part of the country will lean toward Russia, and the rest will gravitate toward Europe.

All across Eastern Europe, countries have split into smaller states.  The Soviet Union composed of 15 “republics” yielded 15 separate countries.  For example, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, once independent, recovered their freedom.

Czechoslovakia saw “the velvet revolution” result in a peaceful split between its two parts.  Yugoslavia totally splintered.

Even in Western Europe, Belgium, divided along language lines between French-speakers and Dutch-speakers, created a federation in which each side gained more independence.

In Great Britain, both Scotland and Wales have increased their autonomy and this fall, Scotland will vote on becoming a separate country, which would break a union with England dating from 1707.

Smaller countries not only allow people with similar backgrounds or interests to have their own government, but their reduced size makes it less likely they can drag others into a major war.

Of course, this is not a worldwide development.  China, the largest country, shows no sign of breaking up.  India, in second place, has large states with real power.

What about the United States?

This country has a balance between the states and the federal government, though Washington has gradually gained authority while states have less discretion than they did 200 years ago.

To some degree, that trend has been necessary to promote the growth of a strong national economy and to assure individual rights throughout the country.  But when Washington is divided by deep political differences, as we see now, the entire country suffers.

States have retained real powers.  They control education and compete with one another to attract industry and investment often through the use their tax laws and environmental requirements.

It’s tempting to think the political stalemate could be lessened if states were even more able to act.  That does not mean constitutional rights could be cut in some states or that interstate trade barriers could be built, but states seeking to innovate would not be limited by the need to find a national consensus.

Let’s take the example of health care.  The Affordable Care Act – Obamacare – turned out to be a complicated and controversial program, because Congress could not find a bipartisan compromise between a system run entirely by insurance companies and one run entirely by the government.

The result is a hybrid far less efficient and cost saving than had been the goal.  Could the states have done something different?

What if some states wanted to try the single payer system, while others wanted to stick with the traditional insurance model?  The federal government could have required that whatever the state system, it would cover virtually everybody.

A national system is not necessary to have successful program.  The Canadian single payer system was launched in a single province, Saskatchewan, which had fewer people than Maine.  When it worked there, it was extended to other provinces. 

States have been called “laboratories of democracy.”  The Supreme Court justice who came up with that phrase in 1932, explained, “a state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country."

Maybe allowing states to play this kind of role, especially on controversial issues where federal action seems impossible, could be away around the prolonged deadlock in Washington.

States in a region could work together if they chose to do so.  The Constitution allows for interstate “compacts,” essentially treaties among the states.  Perhaps Congress could promote such accords, which it must approve.

Some states might choose to impose tougher environmental standards than the national minimum.  Or they could develop a regional energy policy in light of the failure of the federal government to come up with one.

Instead of a rush for federal tax cuts, there might be greater support for government funding if some of it were coming back to the states where the voters might exercise more control.

Maybe that kind of interstate competition would be healthy.  And maybe thinking regionally might get the engine of government working again.