Republicans love to bash the federal government and assert that social and economic policy out to be developed by and implemented by the 50 states. They shower states with accolades such as \u201claboratories for experimentation.\u201d<\/p>\n
They may be right that 50 states can take 50 approaches, but frequently they\u2019re dead wrong about the contention that this results in good policy. When it comes to civil rights, a century after the 15th Amendment stated \u201cThe right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude,\u201d southern states were still busy as laboratories trying to determine how best to prevent African-Americans from voting. Some states required an African-American to memorize 8,624 words in the U.S. Constitution. Other states used tactics of fear \u2013 physically threatening African-Americans who tried to exercise their right to vote. Some states took names for future retribution. Voting by African-Americans in Dixie did not take place until after 1965, when the federal government passed legislation authorizing federal registrars to manage voter registration and elections in any locale in which African-Americans had faced discrimination.<\/p>\n
The laboratory system has not worked for Medicaid,\u00a0 where some states have essentially eliminated the eligibility of many citizens in need. Every state continues to operate with an educational funding system that provides far more resources for children from wealthy families than for those from poor families.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Some Republicans many know of the terrible history of states\u2019 rights but don\u2019t particularly care, because it has not had a negative impact upon them. However, for Republican presidential ,candidates, the anarchy of the states in establishing a calendar for caucuses and primaries<\/a> in 2011-2012 has created great confusion and uncertainty. Though they won\u2019t say it, they probably would be happy with some of the reforms advanced by progressives, including regional primaries that would take place on dates closer to the party conventions.<\/p>\n How bad is it now?<\/p>\n