Federalism, Devolution, and Liberty LUKE PHILIP PLOTICA ABSTRACT For much of the twentieth century the landscape of American federalism was charac- terized by accumulation of power by the national government. In recent decades influ- ential political and legal thinkers have called for devolution of governmental power to the states and localities, where, they argue, such powers properly belong and are more effectively exercised. One of the recurrent argumentative tropes in the devolutionary lit- erature maintains that devolution is more desirable than centralization because it better protects and enhances individual liberty, and not merely the sovereignty of the states. The project of this essay is to challenge this alleged linkage by examining four of its most com- mon and compelling manifestations. Utilizing Isaiah Berlin’s distinction between negative and positive liberty, the essay offers critical analysis of claims that devolution serves indi- vidual liberty by (1) facilitating policy experimentation, (2) spurring interjurisdictional com- petition, (3) promoting local self-government, and (4) enforcing the limits of governmen- tal power. A field that has been so often and sedulously plowed leaves few if any new facts to be gleaned; instead controversy revolves around interpretations of the available facts. (Berger 1987, 5) Since its inception, American federalism has been dynamic. Both the scope and distribution of powers among national, state, and local governments have been on the move, responsive to both necessity and opportunism. The most visible and consequential trend of this complex dynamism has been the gradual centraliza- tion of growing institutional powers in the national, federal government. Yet during the 1980s and 1990s, this trend slowed and began to reverse, animated and articulated by political and legal ideologies that counseled a return to the ‘original’ model of federalism that had been displaced by decades of centraliza- Luke Philip Plotica is assistant professor, Department of Political Science, Virginia Tech, 526 Major Wil- liams Hall (0130), 220 Stanger Street, Blacksburg, VA 24061 (luke.plotica@vt.edu). For their thoughtful comments, I would like to thank Bryan-Paul Frost, Ryan Holston, Wayne Moore, and my colleagues at Virginia Tech, as well as the editor and reviewers of American Political Thought. American Political Thought: A Journal of Ideas, Institutions, and Culture, vol. 6 (Winter 2017). 2161-1580/2017/0601-0005$10.00. © 2017 by The Jack Miller Center. All rights reserved.