Making Laws Uniform Across the Country

Making Laws Uniform Across the Country

Should we make all laws uniform across the country and eliminate state-to-state differences in policies? What can we gain from such a change and what would we lose?

As our current system of laws exists, a single idea for a law can be applied differently to each individual state. Interpretations, enforcement, and the consequences of the law can vary within the United States as each separate state is allowed to create their independent laws as long as they remain constitutional and meet the federal minimum consequences. They must follow federal law but are allowed to implement new ones as they see necessary. With laws differing across the country, one might propose establishing a selection of uniform rules to erase variations and standardize our limitations. The question then becomes whether or not this would be beneficial or detrimental to our society. I believe that this decision would have more negative connotations than positive ones.

By creating a set collection of uniform laws, we can hope to establish standards and attempt to eliminate controversial variations between laws. A uniform set of laws would limit any confusion on state interpretations and create a stronger sense of unity between the states because it would establish national law. People would feel more connected because they live under laws recognized by everyone and not just by the state they inhabit. Equality would be established because everyone lives under the same laws no matter where they reside. Creating a uniform set of laws for the country would also increase responsiveness to problem solving. Since concerns or problems would not be addressed on a state level there would be less time spent in debate or review...

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...the individual states. Whereas local governments often control land use and development in a manner consistent with that region, a national government would have a harder time determining at what rate we should develop since it could not view small regions as divided states can. We could encounter over-development or over-production, which could deplete resources or ruin large plots of land.

Overall, creating a uniform set of laws for our country would be a detrimental decision that could have far-reaching effects. The will of the people would not be upheld to its potential, only matters of bearing importance would be addressed and the government would become more of a scapegoat than a mediator. Besides being inefficient in recognizing individual needs, this system would also be ineffective in negotiating laws and applying limitations where they're needed most.