THE WASHINGTON UNION PAPERS: NO. 32

THE ROLE OF STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN NATIONAL REFORM

To the People of the United States,

A nation is not built from the top down, but from the ground up. The foundation of democracy is not laid in Washington, D.C.; it is laid in every statehouse, in every county seat, in every city hall where the people govern themselves long before their voices ever reach the halls of Congress. The states were not meant to be mere administrative districts under federal rule, nor were local governments intended to be powerless subdivisions of the state. They are the lifeblood of a functioning republic, the laboratories of democracy, the first and strongest line of defense against tyranny, corruption, and decay. Yet, for too long, they have been treated as afterthoughts in the grand theater of national politics. This must change.

If true reform is to be achieved, it will not begin in the marble corridors of Washington—it will begin in the town halls and legislatures of the states. It will not be dictated from a podium in the nation’s capital but demanded from the streets of America’s cities and towns. Change has never come from the top down; it has always been forced upon the establishment by those who refuse to accept stagnation as fate. It was not the British monarchy that granted America its independence—it was the relentless will of the colonies. It was not Congress that ended segregation—it was the fire of the Civil Rights Movement. And it will not be Washington that restores this republic—it will be the states and the people who refuse to wait for permission.

It is the states that must reassert their rightful role in the governance of this republic. The Founders designed a system where power was divided precisely to prevent the kind of centralized, bloated federal bureaucracy that now dominates American life. Thomas Jefferson warned that "when all government, domestic and foreign, in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the center of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated." That warning has gone unheeded. The federal government has become the exact kind of distant, disconnected ruling body that the Founders fought to escape. And it is the states that must now restore the balance.

Local governments must take back the power that has been siphoned away by an overreaching federal bureaucracy.

The people are tired of waiting for Washington to act. They are tired of watching lawmakers fail year after year to pass basic reforms while their communities crumble. They are tired of watching federal agencies dictate policies that serve corporate interests rather than local economies. And they are tired of being told that their only power comes once every four years at the ballot box, when in truth, the greatest power has always rested closer to home. It is the states and cities that must lead the charge, that must show what real governance looks like when it is not drowned in red tape and beholden to special interests.

It is here, in the places where government is closest to the people, that the great work of national renewal must begin. The people do not live in Washington. They live in communities that need real solutions, not endless partisan debates. They do not need the permission of Congress to rebuild their industries, to reform their schools, to clean up their streets, and to create local economies that are not strangled by federal overreach. They need leadership that understands that governance is not a theoretical exercise—it is action. And if Washington will not act, then the states and cities must.

The true strength of America has never come from Washington—it has come from its states, its cities, its people. It was local governments that built the first public schools, that established the first trade laws, that laid the groundwork for the infrastructure that made this nation great. And it is local governments that must now take up the mantle of reform. Washington will not fix itself. It will not willingly relinquish power. It must be forced to do so, not through speeches, not through empty promises, but through the undeniable force of states and communities proving that government works best when it is in the hands of the people.

Let no one say that change is impossible. Let no one say that power is too entrenched to be reclaimed. The revolution will not come from Washington—it will come from the towns and cities, from the statehouses and county meetings, from the people who refuse to be governed by dysfunction any longer. The time for waiting is over. The time for action is now. And it is the states, the local governments, and the people who must lead the way.

The power of state and local governments is not a relic of the past—it is the very essence of a constitutional republic. The Tenth Amendment, often ignored, states unequivocally that all powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states and to the people. This was not an accident. It was not an afterthought. It was a safeguard against exactly the kind of centralized, detached, and unaccountable governance that has taken root in Washington.

The Founders understood that a government too far removed from its people becomes blind to their needs, deaf to their cries, and indifferent to their struggles. A republic survives not because of distant rulers, but because of engaged citizens governing themselves at the most immediate level.

It is the states that must take the lead in breaking the stranglehold of the two-party system. If Washington refuses to allow open elections, then the states must do so themselves. If federal lawmakers will not enact ranked-choice voting, independent redistricting, or meaningful ballot access for third parties, then the states must do it first. If national campaigns are drowned in dark money, then states must establish clean elections at home. Every state that reforms its elections sets a precedent, proving that democracy is not just a federal matter but a state responsibility. The people of each state must demand that their legislatures make these changes, for a single reformed state can become a model, and a movement that begins with one can spread like wildfire.

It is the states that must reclaim economic independence from the corporate stranglehold of Washington. The people do not need federal permission to rebuild their industries, to revive local manufacturing, to foster small business growth, and to free themselves from monopolistic control. The economic power of a nation does not reside in the backrooms of Washington lobbyists—it resides in the hands of the people who build, produce, and create. It is not dictated by the interests of global corporations but by the ingenuity of American workers and the resilience of local economies. If Washington will not break the grip of corporate greed, the states must do it first.

State and local governments have the power to rewrite the rules of their economies—to end tax breaks for corporations that outsource jobs, to create state banks that invest in local communities rather than Wall Street, to establish trade policies that protect workers rather than exploit them. The Constitution does not grant Washington a monopoly over economic policy. The states have always had the authority to take control of their own economic futures, but for too long, they have been made to believe that their only option is to wait for Congress to act. That waiting has led to nothing but decline, as the same industries that once built this nation have been gutted, shipped overseas, and sold off to the highest bidder.

The poorest states in this nation have been treated as sacrificial zones, left to stagnate while Washington funnels wealth into a handful of economic powerhouses. Rural communities, once the backbone of American prosperity, have been abandoned, their industries dismantled, their economies hollowed out. But the answer is not, and never has been, federal handouts. The answer is state-led investment, cooperation between states to uplift one another, and economic policies designed to empower workers rather than corporations. If Washington will not rebuild these economies, then the states must.

State and regional partnerships can achieve what Washington refuses to even attempt. There is no reason why states must compete against each other for scraps from the federal table when they can work together to create shared prosperity. Stronger states must extend their hand to those that have been left behind, not through bureaucratic redistribution schemes, but through direct investment in trade, infrastructure, and innovation. Manufacturing hubs in the Midwest can be rebuilt by forging economic ties with energy-producing states in the South. Agricultural states can strengthen their economies by forging new intrastate markets rather than relying on the volatility of global trade deals written in Washington. Instead of waiting for federal programs to trickle down, states must take control of their own economic destinies, forming coalitions that break the cycle of dependency and replace it with self-sufficiency.

The economic power of the states has been deliberately weakened by a federal system that encourages reliance rather than independence. But history proves that when states take control of their own economic fate, they thrive. The early American republic was not built on centralized economic planning—it was built on state-led innovation, local industry, and communities that understood that economic power must reside closest to the people. Alexander Hamilton’s vision of a strong American economy was rooted not in Washington's bureaucracy, but in the power of the states to foster their own financial institutions, their own industrial policies, their own economic ecosystems. That vision must be reclaimed.

It is the states and cities that must reform law enforcement and criminal justice, not waiting for a dysfunctional Congress to debate solutions while people suffer. Washington has spent decades turning crime into a political talking point, using fear to win elections while failing to enact policies that serve justice. The people cannot afford to wait any longer. The crises of policing, incarceration, and rehabilitation are not theoretical discussions to be settled in committee rooms—they are daily realities for families, neighborhoods, and entire communities across the nation. If the federal government will not lead, then the states and cities must seize the initiative and take action themselves.

Policing in America is broken, not because law enforcement is inherently flawed, but because it has been shaped by policies designed to control rather than to protect. The system does not serve the people when officers are burdened with duties beyond their training, when communities are treated as adversaries rather than partners, and when accountability is a distant afterthought. If Washington refuses to implement national standards for law enforcement transparency, then states must enact them themselves. They must mandate body cameras, establish independent review boards for officer misconduct, and create policies that prioritize de-escalation over brute force. A badge is not a shield against accountability, and states must ensure that those who swear to serve and protect are held to the highest standard of conduct.

The injustice of cash bail must end, and if Congress will not act, then the states must. Cash bail is not a tool for public safety—it is a weapon used against the poor, a system that punishes the working class while allowing the wealthy to walk free. It does not determine guilt or innocence; it determines who can afford to buy their freedom. Across the nation, thousands of Americans sit in jail not because they have been convicted of a crime, but because they lack the money to pay for their release. The states have the power to abolish this predatory practice, replacing it with risk-based assessments that ensure public safety while upholding the presumption of innocence.

Asset forfeiture, one of the most egregious abuses of state power, must be dismantled at the state level. The idea that law enforcement can seize property from citizens without proving a crime has been committed is an affront to justice. The Constitution guarantees due process, yet civil asset forfeiture allows the government to take property based on mere suspicion, forcing innocent individuals to fight in court to reclaim what is rightfully theirs. If Washington will not put an end to this legalized theft, then state legislatures must step in and abolish it within their jurisdictions. Property rights cannot be contingent on the whims of law enforcement agencies seeking to fund their operations through confiscation.

The prison-industrial complex, fueled by outdated sentencing laws and profit-driven incarceration, must be dismantled not from the top down, but from the ground up. America has turned incarceration into an industry, filling cells for corporate profit while communities are torn apart. If national leaders are too afraid to confront mass incarceration, then governors and mayors must take up the fight. Sentencing reform, alternatives to incarceration, and investment in rehabilitation programs must be implemented at the state level. States have the power to reduce mandatory minimum sentences, to expand parole and clemency programs, and to ensure that incarceration is not a cycle that destroys families for generations.

Public defenders’ offices must be fully funded to ensure that justice is not just for those who can afford it. The Constitution guarantees the right to an attorney, yet across the country, public defenders are overworked, underpaid, and stretched beyond capacity, turning legal defense into a privilege rather than a right. If Washington will not act, then the states must. They must allocate resources to ensure that every citizen, regardless of wealth, has access to competent legal representation. A legal system that disproportionately punishes the poor while shielding the powerful is not a system of justice—it is a system of oppression.

Rehabilitation must replace retribution as the guiding principle of criminal justice. The goal of a justice system should not be endless punishment, but reintegration into society. The states must lead the way in expanding vocational training programs, mental health services, and reintegration support for former offenders. They must break the cycle of recidivism by providing pathways to employment, education, and community support. If Washington is too beholden to private prison interests to act, then states must dismantle the profit motive behind incarceration themselves, ending contracts with private prisons and reinvesting in rehabilitation-focused corrections.

Criminal justice is not just about laws—it is about people. It is about the communities that have been overpoliced and underserved, about the families that have been shattered by a system that prioritizes punishment over healing. It is about ensuring that justice is not a privilege of wealth but a right of citizenship. The states have the power, the responsibility, and the moral imperative to act. If Washington will not lead, then the people must demand that their states and cities take up the fight.

The power to restore trust in elections does not lie solely with Congress. States control their own election laws. Local governments oversee their own election processes. Every county clerk, every election board, every state legislature has the authority to implement the reforms that Washington refuses to enact. It is the states that can guarantee automatic voter registration, that can ensure hand-counted paper ballots, that can outlaw gerrymandering and the corporate takeover of elections. And when enough states act, the federal government will have no choice but to follow.

The path to true reform is not one of waiting. It is not one of pleading with a dysfunctional Congress to fix itself. It is one of action, and that action begins where government is still within the people's grasp—at the state and local level.

Let no one say that real change is impossible when the tools for change are already in the hands of the people. If the federal government will not be reformed from the top, then it must be reformed from below.

This is not a call for division. It is not a call for states to isolate themselves or retreat from national governance. It is a call for them to lead where Washington has failed. It is a call for local communities to reclaim their role in shaping the policies that affect their daily lives. It is a call for citizens to demand that their statehouses and city halls become the engines of national renewal, the proving grounds for a government that works, the blueprint for a country that serves its people rather than ruling over them.

The time for waiting on Washington is over. The time for action is now. The American people have been conditioned to believe that reform is a top-down process, that change must be dictated from the marble halls of Congress, that the solutions to their struggles rest in the hands of career politicians who have long since abandoned their duty. But history tells us otherwise. The greatest transformations in this country did not come from Washington; they came from the states, from the cities, from the people who refused to accept that their fate must be decided by distant rulers who neither know nor care about their struggles. And it is through this same decentralized revolution that national reform must now be forged.

Let the people demand that their state and local governments take up the work that the federal government refuses to do. The Washington Union Party recognizes that real reform begins where government is closest to the people. It is a party not bound by the false promise of federal salvation but rooted in the principle that true power must reside at the state and local level. It does not seek to consolidate power—it seeks to return it. It does not aim to impose top-down mandates—it aims to liberate communities to govern themselves according to their own needs and priorities. This is not radical. This is what America was meant to be.

Let them demand election integrity, economic sovereignty, justice reform, and an end to the stranglehold of corruption. The Washington Union Party does not merely speak of reform—it provides the blueprint. It calls for an end to corporate control over elections, for the dismantling of gerrymandering at the state level, for the adoption of ranked-choice voting and open primaries so that the people, not party elites, decide their representatives. It supports state-run public banking systems to break the stranglehold of Wall Street, local trade policies that protect American workers, and infrastructure investments that do not require approval from Washington bureaucrats.

It demands an end to mass incarceration, the abolishment of civil asset forfeiture, and a justice system that serves the people rather than preying upon them for profit.

Let them remind the federal government that it exists not to dictate, but to serve. Washington is not the master of the states; it is their creation. The federal government was never meant to be the engine of national progress—it was meant to be the safeguard, ensuring that the states retained the power to govern as they saw fit. But over time, that relationship has been inverted. Washington has become a beast that consumes all authority, leaving states as little more than administrative arms of an overreaching bureaucracy. The Washington Union Party stands as a direct challenge to this federal overreach. It stands for state sovereignty, for local autonomy, for the right of communities to govern themselves without the interference of distant rulers who do not understand their needs.

And if Washington will not listen, then let the states act boldly, let the cities lead fearlessly, and let the people reclaim their power one community at a time. The two-party system thrives on federal control because it is easier to manipulate a single governing structure than it is to suppress the will of 50 independent states and thousands of local governments. The Washington Union Party understands that to break the system, the people must not wait for Washington’s permission to act. They must take the power that is already theirs. They must pressure their state legislatures to enact reforms without waiting for congressional approval. They must force their local governments to sever ties with corrupt federal institutions that prioritize corporate interests over the needs of the people. They must recognize that Washington will not fix itself—so the states must fix the nation from the ground up.

For this is how true national reform begins—not in the offices of the powerful, but in the hands of the people who refuse to be ignored. Let the message be clear: the era of Washington dictating the course of this nation is over. The future belongs to the states, to the cities, to the communities that recognize their own power and seize it. The Washington Union Party is not a party of permission—it is a party of action. It does not wait for the system to correct itself—it builds a new system that serves the people. And it is through this decentralization of power that America will rise again, not as a nation ruled by disconnected elites, but as a republic restored by the will of its people.

The choice is here. Washington will not change. The states must force it to. The cities must lead where Congress has failed. The people must reclaim what has always been theirs. And the Washington Union Party stands ready to lead this charge. The only question left is: who has the courage to take up this fight?