Jefferson’s “small republics”
are not an anachronism of an era long gone.
It was not supposed to be this way. The United States was not conceived as a gigantic, cumbersome, highly centralized state. The Founding Fathers envisioned an American polis weighted much more towards local and regional governments than to a central national state. To this end, Thomas Jefferson forcefully promoted his concept of a “ward republic.”
To Jefferson, most government functions should take place in the ward (or precinct). In 1816, he wrote: “The article nearest my heart is the division of counties into wards.” Jefferson thought Virginia’s counties were too large for direct voter participation and argued for small units of local government or ward republics. Today, we have strayed far away from this Jeffersonian vision of small republics in favor of a large federal government, and distant rulers in Washington D.C. And my impertinent question is: Should we revisit the notion of ward republics?
For the United States, a strong case can be made that a powerful central government is necessary for national defense. This argument may also hold true for a handful of other functions where a large national scale is compelling. However, Jefferson’s “small republics” are not an anachronism of an era long gone. Even in 1800, Jefferson recognized that “Our country is too large to have all its affairs directed by a single government.”
When a distant Federal government undertakes authority in an ever-expanding scope of affairs, it usurps the political effectiveness of individuals and communities. The authority amassed in one place must come from another place, and that place is us. The Jeffersonian tradition encourages local and regional authority rather than national authority. And yet, for the United States it may be too late to undertake meaningful reforms to reverse the flow of power from the Federal government back to state and local authorities.
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