There's an argument gaining currency that American federalism has proven its worth in the pandemic but I find it hard to believe when the president is comparing himself to Captain Bligh and governors to mutineers. Also threatening to withhold medical supplies. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1250075668282576898

I think a more productive conversation about the American federalist system might focus on comparisons with other systems, especially Canada and Germany. Canada in particular, has enough commonalities with USA to make some interesting comparisons.

Canada like the USA has a federalist system. Canadian provinces actually have more power than USA states & there are starker regional divides (real secessionists movements in Canada). Trudeau, prior to COVID-19, has had big fights with provinces.

The interesting thing in Canada is that so far you haven't seen the kind of meltdown of Federal/provincial relations that is happening in USA. Notably, the right-wing populist Doug Ford has gone out of his way to work with Trudeau's government. https://twitter.com/kkirkup/status/1247577177245331456

Anyways, here's a free story idea: compare Canadian & American response to pandemic as a way to gauge role of leadership & political systems.