Laboratories of Democracy? Brandeis, Federalism, and Scientific Management

Although Louis Brandeis is rightly regarded as a champion of federalism, this article suggests that his famous depiction of the American states as “laboratories” of democracy in fact has little to do with federalism and in fad rests on an understanding of public policy inimical to federal diversity. More specifically, it argues that Brandeis's choice of metaphor largely reflects his hope for scientifically based public policy, which in turn reflected the influence of Scientific Management upon his thought. The article concludes that abandoning Brandeis's metaphor would be useful in rethinking the relations among states in the diffusion of innovations.