The greatest agent of democracy is City Hall. And if it weren't for States, siphoning off funding from cities to build up suburbs, you'd have a real market that allowed for cities with the best policies to prosper.
Imagine if schools were funded based on the number of students that were enrolled only. Which schools would have the most funding? The schools with the most students. But this isn't the case because the State apparatus takes from population-dense cities and gives it to the gated-community schools.
Same goes for all infrastructure. Municipalities get money on a per mile basis. If one town has 50 people per mile, and another has 5000, the latter would be wealthier. But this isn't how it is in America today. Furthermore, cities would rise and fall based on preference. Don't like a cities policies, move to the one up the road. People could vote with their feet. But sadly, the Constitution favors geography over people.
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