Opening Remarks: The States and Cities as Federal Laboratories of Democracy

Mr. Schwarz’s opening remarks address the function of local and state governments in stimulating more widespread change. He begins by providing examples of such inspiration to change throughout American History. First, Mr. Schwarz discusses the role of states in forging both institutional process reforms and social, substantive, and economic changes. Next, he discusses the advantages of using localities as grounds to test social experiments.

Lastly, Mr. Schwarz discusses the relationship between experimentation in localities and federalism values, both generally and with specific regard to the role of minority interests. These remarks were made at From the Ground Up: Local Lessons for National Reform, a national conference on campaign finance reform held on November 9, 1998, sponsored by the New York City Campaign Finance Board and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.