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
Majority Rule and Democracy Aren't Synonymous
Harvard professor Steven Levitsky recently appeared on The Daily Show, discussing with Jon Stewart his and Daniel Ziblatt's book, Tyranny of the Minority, released last year. They are Ivy League academics proposing radical ideas to overhaul a democracy they perceive as governed by an outdated eighteenth-century document and at risk of crumbling unless s…
The False Promise of Federalization
In 1996, the United States reformed its welfare system with the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. This legislation replaced the longstanding Aid to Families with Dependent Children program with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, shifting significant responsibility for welfare from the federal governmen…
When the People Vote to Be Ruled
In my last post, I wrote about democracy in Mexico and how voters delivered to Morena an overwhelming victory that gives the far-left party a wide enough margin in the federal legislature to bypass opposition and pass major constitutional changes that curb checks on central power. This got me thinking about a major dilemma among centralized democracies:…
The Power Is The Threat
As the presidential race tightens, Democrats are making one last case against Donald Trump. Recently, he’s been likened to a fascist, which, in the American mind, usually implies to one specific figure. One could easily argue that Trump’s political style is authoritarian, but what no lawmaker or journalist seems willing to discuss is what lies upstream …
Tear Down the Presidents
Author’s Note: This is a post I had been wanting to write for some time and Independence Day seemed as good a date as any to drop it. This also comes days after the Supreme Court delivered mixed opinions on presidential power; the Loper decision that curtailed the autonomy of executive agencies and the Trump case that affords to the president broader im…
When Pluralism Decides the Right to Choose
Since the federal Supreme Court’s decision returning abortion regulation to the democratic process each side of the political aisle is facing its own challenges in grappling with a high-profile, hot button issue now left to democracy.
I’ve really enjoyed your newsletter. Thanks for your work! I’ve undertaken a significant change in party affiliation and priorities in policy over the last few years, but something that has stuck with me is a priority on local control.