Federalism and its effects in crisis management.

It seems as if federalism has reared its ugly head during the recent SARS-Cov-2 pandemic.

Federalism’s core ideas allow our country to thrive as a melting pot of ideas, where each state’s self-governance allows them to tackle societal issues with their own unique angle. Don’t like sports gambling? You can vote for representatives in your district who also don’t. Want to legalize marijuana? Same ideas apply.

The system is a great check on the power of larger states, and prevents their views on national policy from entirely dominating those of smaller states.

But for a national crisis such as the current pandemic, it creates a double-edged sword with potentially fatal consequences.

The idea of states choosing their own response plan sounds great in practice. If a state does not have any cases yet it doesn’t have to go to quite as extreme of a lockdown as one that’s facing down an outbreak, and other special circumstances each state faces can be handled accordingly.

Here’s the catch: not every state took this pandemic as seriously as the next. 7 states did not issue a stay-at-home order, later in the pandemic others lifted theirs much earlier than others, and many had different policies (which can actively be tracked here).

In a country where residents from one state encounter their neighbors from another on a frequent basis, this lack of cohesiveness undermines a large percentage of our country’s efforts to fight off this virus. This chart by NPR shows this effect to some degree, as every time I check for more information, there’s a constant pattern that amongst clusters of states that neighbor each other, being a healthy section of green, or a concerning array of yellows and oranges.

Our world doesn’t allow for each state to operate as its own (for lack of a better term) state. If you live or work in an area within 15-20 minutes of a state border, next time you shop (safely!), or go to work, count the out-of-state license plates. Of the 11 people who I closed with today at Dick’s Sporting Goods (New Hampshire), I counted 2 Maine plates, and 1 Massachusetts plate, and during shopping hours the percentage of out-of-staters is even higher.

People flock to nearby states to avoid income taxes, go to specialty shops, or maybe their location on a map is closer to a grocery store in another state than one in their own.

Each state has its own unique identity as well. Some states are known for being far conscious of other scientific issues such as climate change, and others are known for being more traditional in their values on the subject. This study by The Washington Post found that more conservative areas were less likely to obey corona-related regulations, and well known conservative states like Texas had less regulations regarding virus which led to spikes before other states who might’ve proceeded with more caution.

Countries with state/provincial systems can handle a pandemic situation too. Our neighbors to the north are far ahead of us in terms of cases, and had a much more uniform response across their country. Their response was based upon the advice of scientists, saw very little variation across the country, was they were much more reluctant to reopen than America was. 

Canada is still being cautious right now, with the Canadian Gov’t denying the Toronto Blue Jays the privilege to play in their home stadium without fans because of fears that it could spread the virus unnecessarily. The much more lackadaisical response here in America has encouraged athletes to return to play at all levels, despite the risks. Sports aren’t the measuring stick for success in society (otherwise Michael Phelps’ 28 medals would make him considered just as big of a player at the United Nations as India), but they are one of the most popular pastimes across the world, and their presence usually means some sense of normalcy.

America is too fluid for federalism in the midst of a crisis, because of how we’ve adapted to use federalism since the industrial era. State lines are important during the election cycle and in court, but not as much if you’re shopping for groceries or getting a nice lunch. But when managing a national emergency, perhaps policy that creates uniform solutions would help our country stay more stable.

At its best, federalism helps to protect some of the freedoms which allow for America to act as the melting pot of ideas and people that it strives to be, but at its worst, it creates a smorgasbord of solutions which struggle to come together and fix the problems they were supposed to.