It’s become Big Left’s latest line – America is “too big to govern”.<\/p>\n
David French notes –\u00a0of course\u00a0<\/em>it is<\/a>:<\/p>\n What if trust in American democracy is eroding because the nation has become too big to be effectively governed through traditional means? With a population of more than 325 million and an enormously complex society, perhaps this country has passed a point where \u2014 no matter whom we elect \u2014 it risks becoming permanently dissatisfied with legislative and governmental performance.<\/p>\n It depends on how one defines \u201ctraditional means.\u201d If we\u2019re speaking about the post-FDR form of American government, with power increasingly centralized in Washington, then [Colby University sociology professor Neil Gross<\/a><\/em>] is on to something: American political dysfunction will only increase so long as our leaders remain committed to that kind of government. But if one goes further back and defines \u201ctraditional means\u201d as government ordered according to the vision of the Founders, then there\u2019s hope for us yet. True federalism (and only true federalism) can match American government to the larger religious, cultural, and political trends that are pulling Americans apart.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And it shouldn’t even be a tough choice:<\/p>\n Simply put, our current national government isn\u2019t fit for the times in which we live. What we stitched together in response to an unusual one-two-three punch of American history (the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War) during a period of extraordinary Democratic political dominance is now straining under its own colossal weight. It\u2019s not responsive to a nation that lacks a mortal threat to its existence, and it\u2019s incompatible with a population that is using the combination of geographic mobility and technological flexibility to wall itself off in increasingly cocooned and polarized communities.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Of course, true federalism would wipe out a lot of lucrative sinecures.\u00a0 And that means it won’t happen until things completely collapse – at best.<\/p>\n