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It should be noted that this effects the House as well as the Senate. Federalism is ingrained in the US Constitution. The degree to which power has flowed to

It should be noted that this effects the House as well as the Senate. Federalism is ingrained in the US Constitution. The degree to which power has flowed to DC is something that's happened despite the Constitution not because of it. There's a line in the Constitution that says everything that's not explicitly granted to the Federal government is in the hands of the State governments. Think about that. Can anyone name anything that a State government can do that the Federal government can't? I'm not saying things that it doesn't do but things that it cannot do. As long as that's the case having an undemocratic Senate - and that's what it is - is trouble. It will in the long run end up weakening the Senate as an institution. To the degree the US system is a federated one you can make an argument for the Senate but as things become more centralized the arguments for the Executive and the House - indeed for changing the House into a genuinely proportionally elected body become more and more plausible.

rz2k 8y ago
My guesses offhand would be marriage licenses, birth and death certificates. States register real estate and collect property taxes, and you need a state to allow you to incorporate a business.
- mnm1 8y ago
  You can do all these things in D.C., however so they are not the exclusive rights of states.
  - rz2k 8y ago
    I understand why one would think that the federal government does these things, but the District of Columbia and other analogs to state governments do generally serve these purposes. There are things like a "Consular Report of Birth Abroad" in some cases for children of military service members. I guess it depends on the spirit of the question and definition of what constitutes "anything that a State government can do that the Federal government can't". Generally speaking, I get the impression that most people dramatically underestimate the role of state and local government authorities in their daily lives.
- hackeraccount 8y ago
  Clearly the federal government asserts a fair amount of control over marriage - See DOMA or Obergefell but beyond that, do you think congress couldn't pass a law creating a national marriage license? Or say a minimum marriage age? I wouldn't argue that the Federal government doesn't delegate a lot of things to the States - see Medicaid - but that's not the same thing as the States doing something only because they can do it.
  - megaman22 8y ago
    We really need to step back and take a hard look at what the federal government is constitutionally allowed to stick their fingers in and what they do. One way or another, that discrepancy ought to get ironed out

rz2k 8y ago

My guesses offhand would be marriage licenses, birth and death certificates. States register real estate and collect property taxes, and you need a state to allow you to incorporate a business.

mnm1 8y ago
You can do all these things in D.C., however so they are not the exclusive rights of states.
- rz2k 8y ago
  I understand why one would think that the federal government does these things, but the District of Columbia and other analogs to state governments do generally serve these purposes. There are things like a "Consular Report of Birth Abroad" in some cases for children of military service members. I guess it depends on the spirit of the question and definition of what constitutes "anything that a State government can do that the Federal government can't". Generally speaking, I get the impression that most people dramatically underestimate the role of state and local government authorities in their daily lives.
hackeraccount 8y ago
Clearly the federal government asserts a fair amount of control over marriage - See DOMA or Obergefell but beyond that, do you think congress couldn't pass a law creating a national marriage license? Or say a minimum marriage age? I wouldn't argue that the Federal government doesn't delegate a lot of things to the States - see Medicaid - but that's not the same thing as the States doing something only because they can do it.
- megaman22 8y ago
  We really need to step back and take a hard look at what the federal government is constitutionally allowed to stick their fingers in and what they do. One way or another, that discrepancy ought to get ironed out