Washington, DC has no voting representation in Congress. Yet Congress legally oversees our government, finances, and laws. Members of Congress can tell us what to do, or what not to do, in order to score political points with their constituents at home. This situation has fueled years of calls to make DC a state, where our citizens would have the same rights as those in every other state and not be subject to the whims of federal legislators. But, until that day, we occupy the uneasy space of 'colony of the United States.'
When a congressman or president decides to test out an idea (say abolishing slavery, or imposing urban renewal), DC is a handy place to try it out with limited fallout for the politician, because DC residents can’t vote that official out of office if we don’t like the idea. That’s why DC became known as a “laboratory for federal experiments.”
This idea extends also to actions by national legislators that are not so much experiments but rather direct nullifications of the will of the people who live here. For example, in 1998, the city setup a free needle exchange program as a proven method of reducing the spread of HIV and other infectious diseases. Congress then passed a law banning the use of federal funds for needle exchanges on the false assumption that availability of safe needles would promote drug use. This legislation could not stop localities from using their own funds for the purpose, except in DC, where the city could not bypass the Congressional mandate in this way. (The restriction was overturned in 2007.)
Without a voting representative in Congress, Washingtonians have no ability to trade votes. Trading votes on legislation, building coalitions, and influencing other legislators is how the American national legislature operates. This applies to much more than local issues. Today, more than 700,000 people are without a voice when the country’s lawmakers decide to go to war or rewrite its rules.
How did this happen? The founders thought that, because Washingtonians lived within walking distance of the national government, they would have easy access to those law makers when necessary. But that proved not to be the case, as the intricacies of governance have become more and more complex over time.
The resources below are intended to offer insight into how the system has worked, and how it has been perceived by Washingtonians.
"A Laboratory for Federal Experiments" is an installment in the DC History Center’s Context for Today series of online conversations with thoughtful and thought-provoking historians, activists, journalists, and community members.
Sam Smith is a native Washingtonian who covered his first Washington story in 1957 as a 19-year-old radio news reporter. He has edited alternative journals for over 56 years, most recently the online Undernews. An activist and social critic, Smith is also the author of four books, including Captive Capital: Colonial Life in Modern Washington and, in the 1970s, was a co-founder of the DC Statehood Party. Smith now lives in Maine with his wife, historian and author Kathryn Schneider Smith.
Derrick Ward is a native Washingtonian. He lived through the 1968 riots and attended HD Woodson High School and the University of Maryland. Ward's journalism career began in radio. He worked for WPFW, WAMU and WTOP, covering major stories such as the Iran-Contra hearings, the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon, and the Washington-area sniper shootings. He has been reporting for NBC News 4 since 2006.
On November 18, 2020, the DC History Center presented activist Samuel Jordan and journalist Martin Austermuhle in conversation about how grassroots civic activism defeated the plan for federal highways cutting through DC.
Washington Post and New York Times articles are free with your DC Public Library or other local library card. To access the full list of newspapers available through DCPL click here.
Washington History Magazine can be viewed and downloaded from JSTOR after making a free account. Current and past issues are available for purchase from the DC History Center's online store.
Captive Capital by Additionally, Teaching Black Lives Matter in School and Context for Today: Police Brutality and Reform in DC both include more information on the Pilot District Program.
Help us keep the DC History Center's guide up-to-date. Send additional resources and/or edits to library@dchistory.org. We appreciate your efforts and contributions!
