Embrace Those Patchworks: A 2024 Review in Political Decentralization

A annual recap questioning the presumed wisdom of federal power and political nationalization

Earlier this year I set out to establish this newsletter to do what really no newsletter or political writer today seems interested in doing: questioning the presumed wisdom of federal power and the national lens through which American politics is observed. In smaller words, a blog about political decentralization. For me, it’s always been counterintuitive for media tastemakers, academics, policy workers, experts and federal legislators to reflexively advocate for federal power while at the very same time observing the autocratic impulses that have emerged in the U.S. and around the world. And yet, it makes sense. Central power begets more centralized power. A preoccupation with who is wielding power and how it is used obscure the dwarfing problem of the power itself and where it is. It’s precisely the problem I’ve sought to direct attention to and, as regrettably self-aggrandizing as it may sound, few seem committed to unconditionally scrutinizing.

So I named this blog That Patchwork, a term often incorporated in popular reportage lamenting the lack of uniformity in a vast and diverse federation. That patchwork are the states of the American federation but also all of the bodies and places within them, in the public and private sectors, that make the American life hum — and that make American government more representative, accessible, and stable than a centralized power structure ever could. Patchworks — be it of states, laws, regulations, cultures, identities — are not panaceas or monoliths but are the means by which the United States has successfully sought to mediate its vast pluralism.

Over the last year I’ve written about how the way the political commentariat centers the president needlessly raises stakes and harms the democratic process. I’ve written about what democracy is, what happens when people vote to be ruled, and why American democracy is different but not necessarily better. I’ve written about how depolarization and overtures of unity could harm democracy and the false promise of insisting on a federal role in policymaking. I’ve written about major local issues including abortion and housing policy. I’ve written about electoral trends and created an index using state-level data to accurately reflect a state’s partisan composition (as opposed to reductively superimposing presidential data onto states which is what every other analyst does). I’ve asked whether economics and policy matter as much as political commentators and pollsters want it to.

Finally, I want to thank all of you, the thousands of subscribers who’ve grown the humble blog of this working-class, far outside-the-Beltway writer. It’s gratifying to see new subscribers join and who resonate with the premise of this newsletter. Whether my work provokes thought, praise, dissent, or helps you sharpen your own view, I’m grateful to have you on my subscriber list and encourage you to tell others about That Patchwork.

What can be scrutinized, rethought and ultimately decentralized is limitless in a political-media environment that wants to nationalize and centralized everything. In 2025, as stories underscoring the risk of federalized power are sure to proliferate (fair-weather as they maybe) I’ll look forward to revisiting old themes and exploring new ones.

I’ll leave you with some of the highlights of 2024 below.

Thanks again for your support,

Robert

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