Improving US Governance

"A robust federalism, Mr. Freedman says, would give us more liberty, more democracy and a more competent government. In short, let New York and Texas pursue their very different business models as they like. Citizens would have more choices, and over time government competence would increase—because we would find out which policies work and because state governments, unlike the national one, must fear that residents will respond to idiotic policies by voting with their feet.

Mr. Freedman illustrates these advantages with telling and often hilarious examples. In 2013, he reports, the federal government spent $118 million to promote “recreational boating safety.” So vital is this program “that it comes under the purview of the Department of Homeland Security—and so rationally administered that landlocked Nebraska gets more money for recreational boating safety than Hawaii.”

The above is from a review of A Less Perfect Union by Adam Freedman. The rest of this interesting review and exploration of alternative forms of government is here:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/leave-it-to-the-states-1437608744