" only 35 percent of Americans trust the federal government, while 72 percent trust their local governments."

If I had riffed so well on the tyranny of majorities, I wouldn't be so quick to cite one as proof of sound policy. Polycentricity made more sense when populations and factories couldn't shop for more hospitable venues. Advances in communication and transportation have enabled states (and nations) to engage in a race to the bottom, making centralization more important than in the past.

I like this article, and the Electoral College, and the arguments made here for divided power are important. But the structure of a government is a technology, and technologies tend to render each other obsolete.