The Perils of Federalism

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In the past dozen years, a number of American cities plagued by gun violence have tried to enact local laws to stem gun-related crime. Yet policymakers at the state and federal levels have frequently stymied their efforts. This upends the conventional wisdom that emerged in the Civil Rights era: that higher levels of governmentùand the federal level in particularùbest serve the disadvantaged, while localities are more likely to ignore the social problems resulting from racial and economic inequality. Lisa L. Miller argues that recent crime policy teaches us an opposite lesson. As policy control migrates to higher levels, the priorities of low-income minority communities are ignored, and citizens lose their voices. The Perils of Federalism not only challenges what we think about the advantages of relying of federal and state-level power for sensible and fair solutions to longstanding social problems. It also highlights the deep disconnect between the structure of the American political system and the ideals of democratic accountability. --Book Jacket.