Federal agencies have a growing say over state and community self-governance. Much of it occurs behind the scenes, without the awareness or approval of our elected representatives. Federal dollars comprise a growing share of state budgets, and federal regulations affecting state and local operations have grown precipitously, as have the little-understood and poorly tracked subregulatory directives known as federal guidance. The Center for Practical Federalism developed this Scorecard to raise awareness of the gradual outsourcing of representative democracy to unelected federal officials, and to identify practical remedies state and local leaders can embrace to change this.

Your state legislators have the greatest ability to reduce your state’s vulnerability through the simple, commonsense reforms this report outlines. Your local elected officials also labor under a growing weight of federal mandates and directives, so we encourage you to share this resource with them. Consider sharing our Scorecard with other engaged citizens and journalists who might have an interest in this underreported topic. The more people who are awakened to the slow degradation of representative democracy—and what can be done about it—the better!

The Scorecard will be updated annually and released in January.

Yes, state-specific Scorecards will be released throughout the year.

Please contact us! As we try to make clear in our report, we welcome feedback and correction. Our goal is to make each iteration of our Scorecard stronger and more reliable, so please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have suggestions or questions.