Skip to main content
Gar Alperovitz

Gar Alperovitz

Distinguished Next System Fellow more

Community & Place Democracy & Governance

Why consider long term regional devolution of power?

Though we rarely pause to reflect on the matter, compared to the size of other materially rich nations, the United States is gargantuan. France would fit inside Texas. Germany could be swapped with Montana. California is not much smaller than Spain.1 Indeed, the United States is larger than all of the economically advanced countries taken together, after excluding Canada and Australia—nations with large, sparsely populated internal regions.2

The United States is huge in other ways as well. In terms of population, for instance, the United States is very large and growing. The Census Bureau projects that the U.S. population will increase by nearly 100 million people by 2060, reaching almost 400 million in total around 2050.3 Economically, Social Security Administration projections indicate that the US economy will nearly double by midcentury, and have roughly twice the entire European Union’s current economic output.4

How does one create a democratically responsive and participatory structure in a nation of such huge geographic, demographic, and economic magnitude? A number of concerns present themselves. As just one example, Harvard economist Alberto Alesina and Enrico Spolaore from Tufts University have explored the ways in which large nations systematically fail to meet the diverse needs of large populations. Size alone leads to concentrations of power that often leave distant areas unable to effectively compete in decision-making. Individuals in different geographic regions (close to or far from a capital where public investments are often concentrated, for example) or with different ideologies will opt for different public goods, in different quantities.5

Currently, gridlock at the national level has also motivated citizens to look to lower levels of government for redress of their pressing problems.

The question of how to achieve genuine democracy at scale is not a recent problem. James Madison, for instance, expressed reservations about nations both too small and too large. Long before the United States had become continental in scale he observed that a large and widely dispersed population would be at a structural disadvantage against the tyranny of a central administration that could pit different groups against each other. A number of writers have recognized that since the continent is too large and many states too small for dealing with many critical problems, the intermediate unit of devolved government was inevitably the region. (More than a third of states have populations less than 3 million and more than half of states have populations less than 5 million).6

In the late 1920s, Harvard political scientist William Bennett Munro argued that the appropriate scale for addressing many problems “belong by right to regional governments.”7 In the 1930s, another Harvard political scientist, William Yandell Elliot, argued for “regional commonwealths” as the preferable “real units of government.”8 During the 1960s economist and political scientist Rexford Tugwell proposed a new constitution structured on the basis of “regional republics.”9 In the 1990s, George Kennan proposed a regional devolution of power to a “dozen constituent republics, absorbing not only the powers of the existing states but a considerable part of those of the present federal establishment.”10 Any such proposals, of course, would likely require hard-fought constitutional changes. Nevertheless, the idea has recurred again and again throughout American history for a reason. Systems that involve more than 300 million people and that physically are continental in scale are very hard to conceive as genuine participatory democracies.

How might long term devolution to regionalist patterns operate in the Pluralist Commonwealth?

The United States has a long history of regional thought and practice to draw upon. During the 1930s, 1960s, and 1970s, as noted, considerable theoretical and practical work focused on regionalism. An important example, cut short in significant part by the advent of World War II, is the Tennessee Valley Authority. Established during the Depression, the TVA addressed a somewhat ambiguous mix of regional planning issues related to watershed management, agricultural production, and electricity generation in a seven state area defined in significant part by the Tennessee River.11 While it suffered from political infighting, failed to disrupt existing economic relationships, and let national dictates trump local participation, the TVA also dramatically increased electrification in the region and helped create a significant number of new jobs.12 Perhaps more importantly, it inspired a vision of regional PLANNING and production that could in theory be adopted nationally. Senator George Norris’ 1937 legislation for seven TVAs, “enough…to cover the entire country,” remains an important precedent for future regional restructuring.13 The 1960s and 1970s, meanwhile, saw a rash of experimentation with other regionalist efforts. The Delaware River Basin Commission (1961), Appalachian Regional Commission (1965), Title II Commissions (1965) and the Title V Commissions (1965) all funded, planned, or coordinated regional activities. While most of these bodies (except the Appalachian Regional Commission), were dissolved during budget cuts in the 1980s—and all would have benefited from greater channels of democratic participation and accountability—they provide additional significant precedents for further regional efforts.

In addition, as noted (see PUBLIC) within markets that naturally tend toward oligopoly or monopoly—and given the failings of many regulatory schemes—establishing regional worker/community/publicly-owned enterprises may be one promising possibility for grounding self-determination in democratically accountable and participatory institutions.

What are some on-the-ground developments that suggest possibilities for the future of regionalism?

Recent attempts to address climate change and promote sustainability have led to significant regional perspectives, programs, and proposals. For instance, communities at the forefront of efforts to save their land and livelihoods from the oil and gas industry—what Naomi Klein has called “Blockadia”—are motivated by a profound connection to “place.” This identification with place is also central to what is known as bioregionalist theory—which seeks to devolve power to ecologically defined bioregions.

To take a more concrete example of regionalist practice, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the nation’s first cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions, includes nine northeastern states. In addition to helping reduce greenhouse gasses, the sale of emissions allowances has raised more than $2.4 billion dollars since going into effect in 2009.14 This revenue has primarily funded increased energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. While President Obama’s 2015 Clean Power Plan at this writing is currently undergoing judicial review, some have speculated that the Plan’s mandated reductions in power plant emissions (of approximately 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030)15 may induce other states to follow the RGGI example.16

Additional recent regional proposals have focused on “megaregions” and high speed rail. Given projections that most future population and job growth will take place in 10 or so “megaregions,” or clusters of metropolitan areas, economic and environmental PLANNING is almost certain to focus converging attention on this scale.17 Recent proposals for high speed rail, like the Obama Administration’s 2009 Vision for High Speed Rail in America, have emphasized connecting such megaregions. Billions of dollars have already been spent on implementing that vision—though much of the funding has gone into planning and speeding up existing rail.18

Finally, the West seems likely to look increasingly to new regional coordination and governance approaches. To begin with, there are a number of multi-state issues that will have to be faced regionally in combating climate change, including lowering emissions for the Clean Power Plan (or otherwise), drought and water scarcity concerns that cut across borders, forest fire prevention, river basin management. The regional-scale “mega-state,” California is already pointing in this direction, by establishing its own cap-and-trade carbon market in what is equivalent to the 8th largest economy in the world.19 (It is also in the process of establishing a state-wide regional scale high-speed rail system.)20

See also:

PLANNING

Further reading

Alberto Alesina and Enrico Spolaore, The Size of Nations (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2005).

Gar Alperovitz, What Then Must We Do: Straight Talk About the Next American Revolution (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2013). See: “Afterword.”

Gar Alperovitz, America Beyond Capitalism, 2nd ed. (Takoma Park, MD: Democracy Collaborative Press and Dollars & Sense, 2011). See: “Chapter 5 Democracy: Is a Continent Too Large?”

Gar Alperovitz, “California Split,” The New York Times, February 10, 2007.

George Kennan, Around the Cragged Hill: A Personal and Political Philosophy (New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 1993).

Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 2014).

William Bennett Munro, The Invisible Government (New York, NY: Macmillian, 1928).

William Yandell Elliot, The Need for Constitutional Reform: A Program for National Security (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1935).

Gar Alperovitz

Gar Alperovitz

Distinguished Next System Fellow more

More related work

Stories

Principles of a Pluralist Commonwealth: Introduction

If the design of corporate capitalism is unable to sustain values of equality, genuine democracy, liberty, and ecological sustainability as a matter of inherent systemic architecture, what systemic ‘design’ might ultimately achieve and sustain these values? read more

Stories

trade

Trade

Why are current approaches to trade problematic? How would the Pluralist Commonwealth approach trade? What existing efforts point toward a sustainable and just trade regime? read more

Stories

Tech

Technology

How do modern researchers understand the deeper sources of economic abundance and technological change? How should the fruits of our common technological inheritance be distributed now and in future? How would the Pluralist Commonwealth deploy management of new technologies in new ways? read more

Stories

race

Race

Why must the United States confront its long history of systemic racism? How would the Pluralist Commonwealth begin to promote racial equality? What on-the-ground efforts can be seen working towards our future of collective liberation? read more

Stories

public

Public

Why are new forms of public economic institutions important at certain critical levels of scale in the Pluralist Commonwealth? What are the key challenges for public ownership? Where are communities organizing elements of public ownership in the economy? read more

Stories

Prehistory

Why is the idea of prehistory important for thinking about systemic change? Are we in the prehistory of genuine systemic change, the prehistory of a Pluralist Commonwealth? read more

Stories

Pluralism

Pluralism

Why is pluralism an important value for systemic design? What makes a pluralist commonwealth “pluralist,” and why are more complex forms sometimes important? Where can we see pluralism in action today? read more

Stories

Planning

Planning

What is the role of planning in our present economic system? How would planning function in the Pluralist Commonwealth? Where are new models of decentralized and more participatory planning being explored today? read more

Stories

Ownership

Ownership

Why is ownership a key determinant of system structure? How does the Pluralist Commonwealth democratize ownership? Where is ownership being transformed in the direction of a Pluralist Commonwealth today? read more

Stories

Money

Money

How is money created in the current system? How is money created in the Pluralist Commonwealth? Where can we see key elements of a new approach to monetary policy emerging today? read more

Stories

Markets

What’s wrong with markets, and why do we still need them? How does the Pluralist Commonwealth use markets to sustain communities? Where are examples of markets that remain subject to democratic control operative today? read more

Stories

Liberty

Liberty

What is liberty? Why must liberty be a central part of the design for the pluralist commonwealth? Where is a renewed conception of liberty being developed on the ground today? read more

Stories

Investment

Investment

Why is investment in the current system fundamentally undemocratic and unsustainable? How would a Pluralist Commonwealth democratize investment? Where is investment managed in more democratic directions today? read more

Stories

Gender

Why must we factor gender equity into the institutional design of the next political and economic system? What kinds of structures would a Pluralist Commonwealth use to support true gender equality? Where are important elements of a more gender equitable system being built today? read more

Stories

Evolutionary Reconstruction And Displacement

How do evolutionary reconstruction and displacement of corporate power differ from “countervailing” strategies of containment and regulation? Why are evolutionary reconstruction and displacement key strategic approaches in the building of a Pluralist Commonwealth? read more

Stories

Equality

Why is equality a key part of the Pluralist Commonwealth? How is movement towards equality achieved in the Pluralist Commonwealth? What examples prefigure equality as envisioned in the Pluralist Commonwealth? read more

Stories

Economic Growth

Why is growth a challenging problem? How Would the Pluralist Commonwealth Manage Growth? Where can we see on the ground efforts to tackle the growth question today? read more

Stories

Economic Change

Economic Change

How does economic change really occur locally and nationally? How, specifically, can we build upon the ways cities and states already foster the local economy to create the Pluralist Commonwealth? What are some examples of shifts toward greater democracy? read more

Stories

Ecological Sustainability

Why is pluralism necessary to guarantee ecologically sustainable ends? What are the key strategies for environmental protection in the Pluralist Commonwealth? What are some promising on the ground developments that point toward an ecologically sustainable Pluralist Commonwealth? read more

Stories

Democracy

What is democracy? How does the Pluralist Commonwealth build stronger foundations for democratic life? Where are more participatory systemic directions being prototyped and developed today? read more

Stories

Decentralization

Decentralization

Why is decentralization a key principle of system design? What are the limits of decentralization? What are some contemporary developments in the direction of decentralization? read more

Stories

Culture

Why is culture a key part of the pluralist commonwealth? What are the most important strategies for building such a culture? What are some examples of the development of the cultural transformations toward democratic society at work today? read more

Stories

Cooperatives

What are cooperatives? What role do cooperatives play in a Pluralist Commonwealth? Where else is this systemic direction for cooperatives being prototyped and explored today? read more

Stories

Community

Why is community important to the pluralist commonwealth? What are institutional mechanisms aimed at undergirding rather than undermining community in a Pluralist Commonwealth? What current developments point towards the restoration of community as a central category? read more

Stories

Commonwealth

What does it mean to hold wealth in common? Why is wealth held in common and democratized at various scales, so important for the design of a next system? What are some examples of how “common wealth” builds a “commonwealth” today? read more

Stories

Climate Change

What are the challenges presented by global climate change? How does the Pluralist Commonwealth tackle ecological threats such as climate change? What are some promising on the ground developments that point toward an ecologically sustainable Pluralist Commonwealth? read more

Stories

bureaucracy

Bureaucracy

Why is bureaucracy problematic? What can be done in a pluralist commonwealth to minimize necessary bureaucracy? What contemporary interventions or potential interventions illustrate democratic control of large-scale entities? read more

Stories

America

Why is the Pluralist Commonwealth an American system? What resources for a Pluralist Commonwealth can be found in the American tradition? read more