I’d actually argue that the increasing centralization of power in the U.S. is due to the increasing nationalization of political issues and the requirement for nation-wide resolutions to problems. The way it has expressed itself (strong presidential executive instead of parliamentary democracy) is probably due to the way the U.S. constitution was originally framed and some random events asking the way.
But that's the thing - why are these all suddenly "national issues"? Even healthcare can be done state by state (Canada of all places did it that way, and their system is still fundamentally province-centric), never mind all the culture war stuff. Is it really the most local level on which these matters need to be resolved? Or are they deliberately pushed there for political games?
