One Nation, United Yet Different: Valuing Localism

For the last 25 years I have either been a local official—a district attorney, mayor, and deputy mayor—or worked at Harvard Kennedy School with local officials. These officials tend to be pragmatists, looking for ways to build consensus and solve real day-to-day problems. Yet increasingly they find themselves thrust into battles with officials in other levels of government as polarization manifests itself into efforts from politicians to impose their views on as many others as possible.

Currently at the state level, Republican legislatures impose their will on more democratic cities by precluding initiatives like a higher minimum wage or gun control. Historically, the federal government has also attempted to impose controversial liberal policies like an individual mandate under the Affordable Care Act and a variety of requirements in federal funding programs prescribing wages that far exceed local norms and financial capacity.