My second column for the day, over at RCP, is on a concept called "cultural federalism." The basic idea is that on tough cultural questions, where the difference of opinion is largely regional (which is most cultural questions in this country), it’s better to let states hash out various compromises within their relatively homogenous polities. The alternative is an all-or-nothing battle, such as over the Marriage Protection Amendment, at the national level.
A snippet:
[Michael] Greve, who mans a lonely outpost in the culture wars as head of
AEI’s Federalism Project, wrote a paper after the 2000 election calling
on Republicans to remember their federalist faith when it comes to
issues like abortion and marriage and drugs and guns - a faith forged
during a time when liberals controlled the levers of national power -
despite the temptations of holding the presidency, Congress and a
working majority on the Supreme Court.
Greve called the concept "cultural federalism." Professor Alan
Wolfe, director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public
Life at Boston College, has called it "moral federalism." Republicans
in Congress and the White House, however, just call it "Shirley" - as
in, "Shirley, you can’t be serious."
…
"When people are divided over these things and the world is a mess,
the notion that you can sort of pacify interest-group conflict by
saying, ‘Here’s our substantive solution, and it’s now in the
Constitution,’ is just highly idiotic and counterproductive," Greve
says.
We’ve tried it before in America, he points out. The Eighteenth
Amendment set a policy on sin for the entire nation; the Twenty-First
Amendment was needed to reverse Prohibition, but it didn’t legalize
alcohol everywhere, it simply sent the matter back to the states.
Likewise, Roe vs. Wade has served as a de facto amendment to
the Constitution, creating a right to abortion without the consultation
of the public, leading to a 30-plus-year standoff with two sides armed
to the teeth, waiting - literally - for judgment day.
…
By avoiding all-out cultural conflagrations at the national
level - by letting smaller, more homogenous states make certain
decisions for their own citizens - we can all save ourselves a good
amount of hair-pulling and eye-gouging. It can only be healthy for our
democracy.
As no less of a repository of American political
folk wisdom than “The Simpsons” showed us, sometimes you have to find a way for
everyone to win:
Kang (a space alien running for president with
Bob Dole’s borrowed body): Abortions for all.
(Crowd boos)
Kang: Very well, no abortions for anyone.
(Crowd boos)
Kang: Hmm… Abortions for some, miniature American flags for others!
(Crowd cheers and waves miniature flags)
Call it cultural federalism. Call it moral
federalism. Call it Kang federalism.
Just don’t call it Shirley.
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