In October 2025, 50 bipartisan legislative leaders from 16 states gathered in Salt Lake City for the inaugural Federalism Summit, convened to examine how stronger cooperation among states could improve domestic policymaking The event brought together a distinguished roster of speakers, including Ford School political scientist Jenna Bednar, Utah Governor Spencer Cox, the Utah attorney general, the Democratic candidate for governor who challenged Governor Cox, and several members of the Utah state legislature from both parties.
The summit's stated aim was to "lower the political temperature in our nation by returning governing focus to structure over politics."
Reflecting this theme, Bednar's presentation challenged attendees to think beyond political affiliation in their effort to overcome polarization.
"In short," she said, "federalism could reduce polarization if it lowers the perceived stakes of national politics, fosters cross-cutting identities, and sustains arenas for diverse policy expression.
"But whether it does so in practice depends on the degree of nationalization and whether citizens maintain multiple, overlapping identities instead of purely partisan ones."
Bednar explained that federalism is not simply a mechanism for accommodating geographically diverse interests; it is a system that fragments authority, sustains diversity, and creates multiple arenas for norm development.
Zooming in on the ambient forces undermining democratic cooperation, Bednar described "affective polarization," the corrosive hostilities that lead partisans to dislike their rivals. Social scientists, she noted, attribute this to geographic sorting, fragmented media ecosystems, and the rising influence of polarizing rhetoric among party leaders and pundits.
She pointed out that trust and restraint, not laws or courts, uphold the informal agreements on which democracy runs. "They're enforced by us—by ordinary people, who partner to put democracy above any partisan or private interest. These norms require trust—but polarization erodes the very conditions that make trust possible."
Federalism as a remedy and an opportunity
Historically, Bednar noted, federalism has acted as a laboratory for policy and rights—renewable energy, voting reforms, Medicaid expansion, and marriage equality began in the states before becoming national norms. Politics is not wholly nationalized, and at these other levels, it often takes on a more pragmatic, human character.
"The robustness federalism nurtures in ordinary times becomes democracy's bulwark in extraordinary ones," Bednar said.
While authoritarianism depends on the consolidation and alignment of institutions, parties, and publics behind a single authority, federalism makes that task harder by multiplying centers of power, creating veto points, and sustaining diverse publics.
"The key insight is that the ordinary work of federalism—fostering diversity, sustaining wide bridges, cultivating civic trust and a tolerance for pluralism—is what makes democracy robust in extraordinary times. Without the variation, trust, and experimentation that federalism sustains day-to-day, there would be little resilience when a crisis strikes."
"With it, democracy possesses a double security: the capacity to evolve in ordinary times and the robustness to resist tyranny in extraordinary ones."
About the National Federalism Initiative
The National Federalism Initiative (NFI) and the National Federalism Commission (NFC) are a bold effort focused on re-balancing the foundational State-Federal governing partnership to enhance diversity among the States, reduce political friction and uncertainty, and strengthen our national union for the next 250 years.
It is a movement based in education, engagement, and leadership to re-establish functional American federalism—the structural protection that secures to Americans the liberty that derives from the healthy allocation of powers between State and Federal governments.
The 2025 Federalism Summit was organized by the Center for Constitutional Studies at Utah Valley University and co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Federalism, with funding provided by the Utah State Legislature.
