(Originally published in Greater Democracy)

When the Federalist Papers were written in the early days of our country, the total population of the United States was less than four million people. Today, over half the States in the union are larger than that. The country has gotten much larger. However, when the Federalist Papers were written there was not the instantaneous communications that we have today. You could not call, fax or email your representative, and it was a long and arduous trip to get to the to nations capital. So, as the country has gotten much larger, it has also gotten much smaller at the same time. Do we need to move more power away from Washington because the States are that much bigger or should we move more power to Washington because it is now only a phone call away. What does this tell us about Federalism in the twenty-first century?