There's Been a Massive Change in Where American Policy Gets Made
About this episode
Jacob Grumbach argues that American policymaking has quietly migrated from Washington to the states. As Congress gridlocked, state governments became the main locus of action — yet public attention, fundraising, and activist energy stayed national, leaving state politics under-covered and unusually exposed to interest groups. He traces how nationalized parties collided with federalist institutions: the collapse of local news, the power of donor networks, gerrymandering that insulates majorities, and democratic backsliding in states like North Carolina. He argues the old 'laboratories of democracy' ideal has broken down — states now copy each other within partisan camps, as in the Minnesota-Wisconsin contrast. The conversation also covers abortion politics after Dobbs, the geography of migration and remote work, and a gerontocracy problem: the median campaign dollar comes from a 66-year-old, skewing candidates and policy toward the old.