Decentralization

“Wait, why is centralized government a bad thing?” my friend asked me.

I was a little shocked by the question. Especially since we had been through many of the same leadership courses, so I expected him to know the answer. I can't remember how I responded, but the fact is that centralized power is micro-managing. That is why decentralization and delegation are essential to leadership, especially in government.

The Danger

Think about what your job would be like if you had to get your bosses approval for every decision you made. Your place of business would collapse if it operated like that. The same goes for the whole economy. The more regulation and micro-managing we get from our leaders, the more the economy will slow down, until it collapses on itself.

The Rule

“Every problem should be handled by the smallest level of government possible.” This is the principle that my mentor taught me four years ago. Last night, I got to visit him and talk about politics (our favorite topic). Sure enough this principle came up again, and we spent a good amount of time talking about it.

In today's political arena, it seems that the exact opposite happens. When someone has a problem, too often they want the federal government to fix it. However, there are more immediate institutions that can solve the problem. Even private institutions. This wastes time and resources for the federal government, and cheapens the smaller levels of government.

What are the levels?

The Tenth Amendment states “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

So right here we are looking at three levels of government. First there is the federal government, which is established by the Constitution. Second is the state government. Finally there is the people. There are many other levels not mentioned here, like county and town governments, but the people have the greatest degree of power. Each individual is a sovereign entity, responsible for himself and his possessions.

Some individuals are part of a family unit. While the family isn't an official level of government, it is nonetheless an essential component of civilization. Families and individuals ban together to form towns/communities, which ought to be the strongest form of official government. The farther up the levels of government you go, the weaker and less involved they should be.

Our nation used to operate like this. So much so, that the federal government wasn't even thought about by most people. Instead, today we need to spend a lot of time and energy on federal politics, because all the power is concentrated there.

Solving a Problem

When you have a problem, the first level of government that you ought to turn to is yourself. Can you solve the problem yourself? Self-sufficiency is important for both a free society and for personal growth. If you cannot solve the problem yourself, turn to your family, or some similar small support group. If your family cannot solve the problem, then move to your local government, and from there you can move up the levels of government if necessary. 

Decentralizing helps you to keep as much freedom as possible, and prevents higher levels of government from being over-burdened with too many responsibilities.