The purpose of this article is to determine on which policy topics the Green Party and its supporters are most committed to decentralization. Decentralization is one of the Green Party's Ten Key Values.
gp.org/four_pillars_ten_key_values
I put this article together after the party's last presidential nominee, Howie Hawkins, ran on a platform that called for increased centralization of the regulation of energy and transportation affairs into the hands of the national government.
This platform prompted me to ask, "If Hawkins is leading the party to support more centralization on energy and transportation, then on which other issues is the Green Party still whole-heartedly committed to decentralization?"
I have sorted thirty-one major topics in politics, into seven categories: Centralize More, Keep Centralized, Mostly Centralized, Promote a Mix (...), Mostly Decentralize, Keep Decentralized, and Decentralize More.
[Policy Topics Which Most of the Green Party Wants to] Centralize More
-
State Department / diplomacy
(centralize through growing and
properly funding, and demilitarize by transforming into a
Department of Peace)
- Interstate regulation of commerce
-
Energy, and provision of public utilities
(centralize, but
eliminate influence of businesses, lobbyists, and monopolies)
-
Transportation
(centralize, but streamline, and eliminate
business & lobbyist influence)
- Campaign finance
reform
(centralize, but streamline, and eliminate business &
lobbyist influence)
- Labor Department
(centralize in order to
create a jobs guarantee)
- Justice Department & the Attorney
General, incl. courts
[...] Keep Centralized
-
International trade, including tariffs
- Establishing uniform rule
of naturalization of immigrants
Mostly Centralize
-
Elections
(cooperative or corporative federalism; national
government should supervise more)
- State public worker
benefits
(increase national supervision of public sector
employees' affairs, benefits, and bargaining)
Promote
a Mix of Centralization and Decentralization, inc through Cooperative
or Triple Federalism
-
Military / Department of Defense / Pentagon / common
defense
(centralize its administration, but reduce its use, and
demilitarize it, while decentralizing public defense)
- Social
Security / retirement
(centralize by growing S.S. into Social
Security for All, i.e.,
a U.B.I. to every American, which would decentralize the
distribution of U.S. Dollars)
-
Agriculture
(cooperative or triple federalism, but eliminate
business & lobbyist influence)
- Education
(cooperative or
triple federalism, but eliminate business & lobbyist influence)
-
Child welfare
(cooperative or triple federalism)
-
Health
(cooperative or triple federalism, but eliminate business
& lobbyist influence)
- Housing & Urban
Development
(cooperative or triple federalism, but eliminate
business & lobbyist influence)
- Taxation
(both states and federal government should have taxation power)
Mostly
Decentralize
-
Treasury
(keep Treasury Dept., but decentralize through a UBI)
-
Veterans' Affairs
(decentralize, or abolish, or make unnecessary
by putting its activities under Defense Dept. &/or H.H.S.)
-
Native American affairs
(localize through increasing tribal
autonomy)
- Patents / intellectual property
(keep
administration centralized, but reduce durations)
- Gun control
laws
- The
internet
(centralize regulation as a public utility in order to
foster a decentralized or polycentric creative / collaborative
commons)
Keep Decentralized or Balanced
- Law enforcement and policing, prisons and
jails
Decentralize More
-
Interior Dept. / land management
(decentralize to the
bioregions)
- E.P.A. / environment & ecology
(decentralize
to the bioregions)
- Homeland Security
(decentralize, shrink,
and abolish)
- Sanctuary cities and sanctuary states
- Mutual
aid, direct action. and charity
