The Decentralist Papers · Paper VI of XX
Local IS Federal
One Representative, Not Five Layers
Current structure:
- Federal (Congress)
- State (Legislature + Governor)
- County (Commissioners)
- City (Mayor + Council)
- Special districts (school boards, utilities, etc.)
This is redundancy. This is confusion. This is 500,000+ elected officials.
Decentralist structure:
- President
- State CEO
- Representative per 30,000 people
The representative IS local government.
30,000 people is already local. It’s a town. A few neighborhoods. A rural county.
The rep handles:
- Voting on federal legislation from the district office
- Representing local concerns to State CEO
- Being the single point of contact for their community
Operational roles become professional positions:
- Fire chief: Hired professional, reports to State CEO
- Police chief: Hired professional, reports to State CEO
- School superintendent: Hired professional, reports to State CEO
- Utilities: Contracted or hired, reports to State CEO
These are jobs, not elected offices. Professionals, not politicians.
The rep doesn’t run anything. They just vote.
They read the bills (there aren’t many). They talk to their neighbors. They vote their conscience.
No chief of staff, no 20-person office. A small clerical staff, and a citizen who reads the bills and makes a call.