Orlando might be America鈥檚 tourist epicenter, and it鈥檚 working mightily to . But it鈥檚 one thing to open the doors. It鈥檚 quite another to convince people to travel and walk through.
The virus is a massive public health crisis, but recovering from it will take one part public health strategy鈥攁nd one part public trust in the government鈥檚 leadership to guide our way through. And it鈥檚 there that our biggest crisis lies.
The , which looked at trust in government across 11 of the world鈥檚 largest countries, found that trust in America鈥檚 government was second lowest, ahead of Japan but lower than France, the U.K., Germany, Canada鈥攁nd even Saudi Arabia and China.
And, to make things worse, the gap between trust in the federal government versus local government is larger in the U.S. than in any of the other countries surveyed鈥攂y a lot. The average for the 11 countries surveyed was 5 points. In the U.S. the trust gap was four times larger鈥�20 points. Americans trust their state and local governments much more than the federal government, but still less than most other governments.
We rightly celebrate the remarkable lasting power of American democracy. Madison, Jefferson, Hamilton, Washington, and the other founders really got so much right back in 1787. As we struggle to deal with COVID-19, however, it鈥檚 hard not to conclude that we haven鈥檛 been very faithful to their legacy. There鈥檚 a nagging sense that we鈥檝e got just the wrong kind of government for the problem of this鈥攐r any鈥攃entury.
Trust in our government is low. We invented modern federalism, with a special division of power between the federal government and the state and local governments. But we鈥檝e driven a sharp wedge between Washington and state capitals, with incessant carping about who鈥檚 in charge鈥攁nd with fierce competition between the states for scarce testing supplies and personal protective equipment that鈥檚 only driven up the price and put more Americans at risk.
After having squandered the opening innings of the game with these battles, we鈥檙e going into the middle innings with new squabbles between state capitols and city halls around the country. Wisconsin鈥檚 efforts to steer through reopening the economy got blown up by the state supreme court鈥檚 decision to throw open the doors, and Badger Staters responded by . In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton on rules in Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin about wearing masks and reopening churches. That followed President Trump鈥檚 for jailing a hair salon owner who opened her business in violation of local stay-at-home orders.
Madison鈥檚 truly essential invention was the plan to balance power between the federal government and the states. Without it, in fact, there simply wouldn鈥檛 have been anything like a united collection of states in America, and we might well have all ended up speaking French or Spanish or saluting the Union Jack. The balance has always been perilous and, at one point, ended up in civil war.
But we鈥檙e at the point now where these tensions have boiled over. They鈥檝e not only eroded trust in our government, compared with any other major nation in the world. These tensions are also costing lives. Consider the death rate in the United States, compared with the world鈥檚 other leading governments with federal structures. It鈥檚 higher in the U.S. than anywhere. By a lot.
So as we near the country鈥檚 244th birthday, we can toast Uncle Sam and celebrate our founders. But we have to ask whether we can look them in the eye and tell them that we鈥檙e true to the legacy they took such risks to establish. It鈥檚 hard to escape the conclusion we鈥檝e got precisely the wrong government at the very time we need government most.
What can we do? We can continue to careen down the road, bouncing among battles between the federal and the state and local governments. But that鈥檚 only going to put more of us at risk, especially because the genius of the founders might have created the country but they didn鈥檛 give it any guard rails. We now have a divided states of America, and it鈥檚 doing us great harm.
Or we can stop and think carefully鈥攂ut quickly鈥攁bout just what each level of government needs to do in this crisis to make us safer. We鈥檝e surely celebrated the remarkable leadership of first responders, in local hospitals and clinics. We know that the governors have lead authority to make the tough decisions about when to lock down their states and how to reopen them.
But we haven鈥檛 figured out the answer to the big question that Alexander Hamilton focused most on: putting the federal government in charge of things that truly need to be national, and ensuring that the federal government can prevent competition among the states from pulling us apart and dragging us down.
The founders would have recognized our struggles with this crisis. Jefferson would have celebrated the local health systems working so hard on the front lines. There鈥檚 even a in his home town, named after his wife Martha. Madison would point to the importance of sorting out who鈥檚 in charge of what across the complicated boundaries he helped create. And Franklin certainly would have wanted to have a long conversation over ale with Anthony Fauci.
But Washington would be enormously saddened by our failure to 鈥減roperly estimate the immense value of your national Union to your collective and individual happiness.鈥� He in his farewell address about 鈥渆very attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts.鈥�
What we鈥檙e doing now isn鈥檛 what any of them had in mind. But it鈥檚 not too late to follow their counsel.
Donald F. Kettl is a professor of public affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, and the author of (av福利社, 2020).