Something stinks in America, and that something is not the American people. The
reality is that the policies of the federal and state governments do not
reflect the views of most Americans. Such certainty can only lead to
instability. The saving grace of the U.S. system of government is supposed to
be its ability to respond to and absorb popular demands. Mired in Iraq, lost in
the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the system appears unable even to absorb popular
pressure, much less change in response to it.
At the community level, local democracy is the name of the game. Community
organizers, elected officials, and political parties involved in the Local
Democracy Network are shifting control over lawmaking and budgeting from
elected officials to the voting public through the use of “direct legislation”
and the introduction of “participatory budgeting.” They are working to
democratize their localities by establishing community control over policing
and by strengthening local equal protection guarantees. And, at the same time,
they are working to bring more power down to the local level – to localize
democracy - by expanding “home rule.”
excerpted from Liberty Tree Foundation - found here
Federal Preemption
There are two types of federal preemption:
Ceiling preemption and Floor preemption.Historically, preemption was limited in scope, allowing states more
latitude to be more protective of their citizens.In 2005 and 2006, federal preemption became a hot topic due to
federal agencies asserting their regulations over the regulations of specific
states.Ceiling Preemption (“unitary
federal choice” preemption) can be described by any federal action that lowers
the level of protective legal requirements or incentives created by other
states or local governments.Floor
preemption means that federal agencies allow states to regulate more
stringently than federal agencies, but regulations may not be more lenient than
the federal requirement.
Cities for Progress is a project of the Institute for Policy Studies. For more than four decades, IPS has transformed ideas into action for peace, justice, and the environment as the nation's oldest progressive multi-issue think tank. http://www.ips-dc.org.
Local Democracy 
