Federalism is integral to our democracy. Our decentralized governance system—distributed across multiple layers of government—stands like a building always under construction, a constant work in progress, functioning on a usually
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To a degree unprecedented in recent American history, the environment, especially but not limited to climate change, has moved to the front rank of our public policy concerns. Even more
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The COVID-19 crisis has drawn increased attention to government data, and to the ability to quickly link important data sets across diverse sources. Certainly, there have been some disappointments in
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The debate over COVID-19 aid for state and local government revealed a broad range of opinions that were only partially informed by the facts. Lacking complete information about the history
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As America’s counties prepare for a historic federal investment to help mitigate the virus and aid the nation’s economic recovery through the American Rescue Plan, the National Association of Counties
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DONALD F. KETTL, OCTOBER 15, 2020 The crippled response to COVID-19 is just one example of why we need to revive our ability to sort out the roles of the
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In recent years, newspaper headlines and commentators have bemoaned a growing “urban–rural divide,” characterized by stark differences in political and social attitudes that appear to be fueled, at least in
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Cities, counties, and towns are on the front lines of America’s most pressing problems. Local governments today are responsible for protecting our health and safety and are increasingly called to
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A research study published in the latest issue of Public Administration Review analyzes Americans’ preferences for making policy at the national versus the subnational level. Relying on a Pew Research
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According to the U.S. Constitution, neither the President nor Congress have the power to remove a state governor or state official. At the state level, however, legislation often permits a
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The Census of Governments occurs every 5 years, covering all active state and local government units in the U.S. The 2017 Census of Governments, similar to those taken since 1957,
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Alice Rivlin, who passed away earlier this month, was best known as a federal policy trailblazer — inaugural director of the Congressional Budget Office, first female director of the Office
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