To be quite honest, I am surprised by the thoughtfulness of the responses here. My theory is that power is like gravity; it tends to congregate (using this analogy there are plenty of object lessons that can be drawn). In the United States, at least, we have a central point where power has been gradually been pooled largely in contravention of supreme law of the land. Without getting into a long diatribe, I believe that self-government, i.e. Democracy, works best when power is decentralized. If power is centralized there cannot be self-government and self-government must be, by definition, federalized and decentralized. Democracy and centralization are polar opposites. Granted, both must give a little in the practice of economic and social stability, but we should do this only to a minimal extent. Once people learn that they force other people to give them what they want through the force of politics we have lost the ability to self-govern and Democracy becomes a Cronyocracy.