“Laboratories against Democracy” and the Case against Federalism

Abstract

We are living through a renaissance in studies of politics and policymaking in the American states, and Jacob Grumbach’s pathbreaking book Laboratories against Democracy extends this remarkable streak. This important book tracks questions about nationalization, federalism, policymaking, and democracy across the traditional subfield boundaries of American politics. Indeed, the book’s attention to the role of political parties and federalist institutions in our nationalized politics provides a critical counterweight given prior research’s emphasis on political behavior. Grumbach’s book also expands the scope of outcomes under consideration, as it takes up the relationship between nationalization and democratic backsliding. While I voice some skepticism about the claim that federalism exacerbates contemporary threats to American democracy, this incisive book demands consideration, and is in many respects a model of synthetic scholarship.