Grassroots Tyranny: The Limits of Federalism by Clint Bolick

Author:Clint Bolick [Bolick, Clint]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: National, Civil Rights, Political Science, American Government, State
ISBN: 9781882577019
Google: z5RIK67t42IC
Goodreads: 3038855
Publisher: Cato Institute
Published: 1991-01-25T00:00:00+00:00

The list could go on and on.

The enormous power of local government is a force most people do not comprehend until it impacts them personally. Despite its vast scope and oppressive potential, local authority often escapes critical attention from the individuals it was created to serve, as well as from those branches of government entrusted with checking abuses of government power, principally the judiciary (a phenomenon whose origins are explored in the preceding chapters).

But although they often escape scrutiny, instances of grassroots tyranny are plentiful, and have multiplied as the power and scope of local government have expanded. Where local governments at one time performed only the most basic public services, today they do everything from operating cable television stations and sewage treatment facilities to imposing rent control and taking positions on foreign policy issues. Virtually no aspect of moral, social, economic, or political life in America today is beyond the scope of local government.

Although many Americans feel an almost nostalgic attachment to the towns and cities in which they live, the specter of grassroots tyranny is omnipresent, and where it strikes it can destroy the sense of security and belonging that is essential to the concept of community. The clout of local government is enormous, and when abused, it can have a devastating impact on individuals—sometimes more so, in fact, than abuses of power at higher levels of government. Local governments tend to affect the lives of individuals much more directly, through taxation, control of public schools, regulation of property and businesses, and law enforcement. Yet, the officials who wield local government powers are typically far less visible than national officials. The local zoning or planning board commissioner, the school board member, the police commissioner—each possesses tremendous power over individuals in the community. Often, however, these government officials are un-elected, largely unaccountable, and nearly invisible to the people over whom they exercise authority.

These factors are buttressed by the wide dispersion of local government powers among a wide variety of entities and officials. As a result, individuals are subject to a multiplicity of authorities regulating their lives and day-to-day affairs. In addition to state, county, and city governments, most citizens are taxed and regulated by one or more boards of education, special districts, and regional authorities. The sheer volume of local governments is remarkable. As of 1985, more than 82,000 separate units of local government were in existence. Included among this number were 40,000 municipal governments (cities, counties, etc.), 15,000 school districts, and 26,000 special districts. These entities encompassed 500,000 elected officials and 13 million employees—more than six times the number of federal civilian employees.1

There exists a broad array of government agencies and quasi-gpvernment entities that possess the powers but rarely the limits of elected government entities. They are the places where the fabled "nameless, faceless bureaucrats" reign, exercising enormous control over individual citizens while largely hidden from view and only indirectly accountable to the public. These agencies and boards regulate virtually every area of economic life and many areas

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