[mturmon]

"Even small or distributed government should foster innovation if possible."

Yes, but it turns out that big governments are much more effective at some kinds of innovation and expertise than small governments. There is no Missouri Institutes of Health, or if there is, you have not heard of them, but you sure know of and expect the best from the NIH.

So in effect, decentralization implies the a retrenchment of the scope of government.