The legislation also illustrates also how states, not the federal government, are increasingly the place where major policy initiatives are being adopted, because of the divide between President Obama and congressional Republicans in Washington. Officials in local government are already executing some of the ideas that candidates like Sanders, Trump and Hillary Clinton are promising if elected president.
“It is all an example of the kind of expressive politics that is so prevalent. The purpose of all of this isn’t policy — or even a good business decision — but to make a statement,” said Bill Bishop, whose 2008 book “The Big Sort” argues Americans are increasingly moving to areas where their neighbors are politically aligned with them.
“In a world where identity construction is a primary consideration of everything, more and more politics and neighborhood choice is about expressing who you are,” he added.
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