The Devolution Tortoise and the Centralization Hare
نویسنده
چکیده
There has been much talk in recent years of devolving powers and functions from the federal government to the states. Some observers even proclaim a “devolution revolution” (Nathan 1996), the result of which will be a more efficient and effective federal government and more robust and responsive states. The generally recognized objectives of devolution include (1) more efficient provision and production of public services; (2) better alignment of the costs and benefits of government for a diverse citizenry; (3) better fits between public goods and their spatial characteristics; (4) increased competition, experimentation, and innovation in the public sector; (5) greater responsiveness to citizen preferences; and (6) more transparent accountability in policymaking. These are ambitious objectives, although, to date, no consensus on direction is apparent, no plan of execution is in place, and examples of devolution are scarce. Indeed, there are only two commonly cited examples of devolution: congressional repeal of the national 55-mph speed limit and welfare reform. The prospects for significant devolution during the foreseeable future are not bright, largely because federal officials are reluctant to relinquish powers they have acquired in the twentieth century to advance national policy objectives. Consequently, devolution is plodding along at a turtle’s pace while centralization is still racing ahead at a rabbit’s pace.
منابع مشابه
A tortoise-hare pattern seen in adapting structured and unstructured populations suggests a rugged fitness landscape in bacteria.
In the context of Wright's adaptive landscape, genetic epistasis can yield a multipeaked or "rugged" topography. In an unstructured population, a lineage with selective access to multiple peaks is expected to fix rapidly on one, which may not be the highest peak. In a spatially structured population, on the other hand, beneficial mutations take longer to spread. This slowdown allows distant par...
متن کاملQuestion answer relationship strategy increases reading comprehension among Kindergarten students
The Question Answer Relationship (QAR) strategy equips students with tools to successfully decode and comprehend what they read. An action research project over 18 days with twenty-three kindergarteners adapted exposure to QAR’s “In the Book” and “In my Head” categories with similar questions for each of two popular Aesop’s fables. The challenges and outcomes are presented with sp...
متن کاملThe tortoise and the hare revisited
Optogenetics and electron microscopy reveal an ultrafast mode of synaptic vesicle recycling, adding a new twist to a 40-year-old controversy.
متن کاملThe tortoise or the hare? Impacts of within-host dynamics on transmission success of arthropod-borne viruses.
Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) are maintained in a cycle of alternating transmission between vertebrate hosts and arthropod vectors. Arboviruses possess RNA genomes capable of rapid diversification and adaptation, and the between-host trade-offs inherent to host alternation impose well-documented constraints on arbovirus evolution. Here, we investigate the less well-studied within-host t...
متن کامل