What is the distinction between a state registry and a national registry? Besides the ever popular fallback to a founding document, is there any real difference in implementation if it's done either way?
I'd say a big difference would be some system where there is no central registry at all vs. a system where one does exist. But a pseudo-central vs. central system hardly seems like a different solution.
Perhaps one benefit of a segmented or partitioned system is that it can be 'disconnected', but that would also mean that if you need to interact with anything non-local that is now also not possible. And the other way around it would do the same thing (i.e. "depeering" a partition) where you wouldn't be able to verify any identity within that partition.
> What is the distinction between a state registry and a national registry?
The difference between centralisation and decentralisation. States can fight back against the federal government's requests in a way that is simply not feasible for almost any person.
> a pseudo-central vs. central system hardly seems like a different solution
Under this model, the e.g. TSA wouldn't be allowed to keep a copy of your ID. It would have to poll for it anew each time.
Looping back to the above: the TSA making this promise to us is almost meaningless. The TSA making this promise to the states could create real problems for it if it were found to be breaking the law.
> that would also mean that if you need to interact with anything non-local that is now also not possible
> The difference between centralisation and decentralisation. States can fight back against the federal government's requests in a way that is simply not feasible for almost any person.
I don't understand this idea. Usually there is more variance in the behavior of lower-level governments, while higher-level governments will be closer to the mean. If there is a real risk that the federal government will abuse its power in a certain way, many state governments must already be abusing their powers that way. And the same also holds between state governments and local governments.
The smaller the administrated population, the more likely the government is either really great or really bad. But because the government can more easily do harm than good, lower-level governments are worse on the average.
It can be argued that while the average state/local government is worse than the federal government, your government is special. But that is only plausible if there are persistent cultural differences between your area and the rest of the country. And I don't mean differences in political opinion but in things like corruption and respect to the rule of law. That could happen if there is little immigration from other areas to your area, or if immigrants must live there for a long time and prove that they fit in before they gain full rights.
Which is why the sanest level of government is usually the one corresponding to citizenship.
> many state governments must already be abusing their powers that way
The point is in shattering that power. If it's all at the federal level, there is nobody who can realistically check its mis-use. While at the state level, mis-use will be (a) contained and (b) checkable.
I’m a fan of Americas federal system because of the dual level. The federal level helps ensure a certain level of protection from local corruption or ineptitude while the state level prevents the federal level from too much easy power. Well in theory, the federal level has garnered way too much power IMHO.
I'd say a big difference would be some system where there is no central registry at all vs. a system where one does exist. But a pseudo-central vs. central system hardly seems like a different solution.
Perhaps one benefit of a segmented or partitioned system is that it can be 'disconnected', but that would also mean that if you need to interact with anything non-local that is now also not possible. And the other way around it would do the same thing (i.e. "depeering" a partition) where you wouldn't be able to verify any identity within that partition.