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Ford School launches new video series, Policy Points
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Ford School Policy Points is a new series featuring short videos of Ford School faculty members discussing recent research or current events. Policy Points is emailed to journalists and analysts worldwide for use in decision making-, research, or media-related activities. Each video is produced by U-M News Service and includes captions and transcripts.
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Graduate students tackle real-world policy problems with Applied Policy Seminar
Monday, May 7, 2012
Could your organization use the analytic, problem-solving, and communication skills of top-notch MPP students? Join the distinguished list of clients to take part in the Applied Policy Seminar (APS).
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NPC: Three in five young adults receive financial support from parents
Thursday, May 3, 2012
A new study by the Ford School-based National Poverty Center headlined a USA Today article on the financial assistance college-age adults receive from their baby-boomer parents.
The study, lead authored by postdoctoral fellow Patrick Wightman, found that 62 percent of young adults receive financial help from their parents. Eighty-two percent of high income-earning parents provided some assistance, while 47 percent of lower-income parents did as well. Both groups transferred about the same share of their overall income to their children, about 10 percent.[More]
How much money parents give to college-age kids: U-M study
Thursday, May 3, 2012
More than 60 percent of young adults between the ages of 19 and 22 received some financial help from mom and dad, according to a new University of Michigan study. The average amount they received—including help with college tuition, rent, and transportation—was roughly $7,500 a year.
The study is the first to use nationally representative data to calculate parental assistance to young adults and to analyze how help varies by family and individual characteristics. It is based on data from 2,098 interviews conducted between 2005 and 2009, with young men and women and their families, part of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics Transition to Adulthood Study at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR).[More]
Spring edition of the Ford School's magazine, State & Hill, explores American electoral politics, tsunami recovery in Japan, Marina Whitman's forthcoming memoir, and more
Thursday, April 26, 2012
In this issue of the Ford School's magazine, State & Hill, readers will learn about American electoral politics through the eyes of the Ford School: faculty studying campaign financing and gerrymandering, students interning in Washington, DC, and alums running for office or working on campaigns. Click through the magazine below to read an interview with Marina Whitman about her forthcoming memoir (with a passage from her book), a story about an MPP's work with the tsunami recovery effort in Japan, an examination of the impact of divorce on health insurance for women, and Barry Rabe's reflection on Gerald Ford as "The Global President."
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Battle of the Super PACs: Campaign financing impacts American electoral politics
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Much of America is mesmerized by the recent and remarkable torrent of money flowing into the 2012 elections by organizations with buoyant names like Restore Our Future and Make Us Great Again. These contributions have dramatically overshadowed expenditures by the candidates and political parties that have traditionally run campaigns. It wasn't always so, explains Ford School Professor Richard L. Hall, who has written extensively on the influence of money in politics and policy.
Prior to the rise of Super PACs, Political Action Committees (PACs) "could contribute such small sums of money to candidates that it was hard to imagine these contributions had much of an impact at all," says Hall. "The better hypothesis was not that PAC contributions were buying something from members, but that they were signaling something to them."[More]
Gerrymandering, then and now
Thursday, April 26, 2012
It was the summer of 1971 when the first mandated round of redistricting was taking place across the nation. A series of Supreme Court decisions in the '60s had directed states to create new legislative districts every ten years to reflect population shifts revealed in decennial census counts. The goal was honorable enough: one person, one vote; but so little instruction was offered on how to accomplish the task that it practically invited abuse.
A group of faculty and graduate students led by Ford School instructor and U-M research professor Steve Pollock spent the summer experimenting. The challenge they addressed: could linear programming help craft districts with population equity and contiguity, as well as objective qualities like compactness or competitiveness?[More]
Staging a comeback
Thursday, April 26, 2012
"I believe Detroit is too big to fail. We must bail out Main Street, and so we need an all-hands-on-deck approach to help us turn the city around," said an impassioned community activist at a Detroit Financial Review Board meeting in March. The governor-appointed review board had just declared a financial state of emergency, while city and state officials played tug-o-war over a consent agreement that might—or might not—keep Detroit from bankruptcy.
Few would disagree that, even in economic distress, the city is worth saving. The question is how. If Detroit is to change its fate from casualty to comeback, what are some of the long-term policy solutions that might bolster revitalization?[More]
Barry Rabe on Gerald Ford: The global president
Thursday, April 26, 2012
The University of Michigan invited Professor Barry Rabe to address the 89th Honors Convocation of the University, an event that celebrates and recognizes outstanding academic achievement by undergraduates. The theme of this year's Convocation: "Making a Difference in the World: Do We Need to Travel to Understand Global Affairs?" Rabe was named a Thurnau Professor in 2011 in recognition of his teaching excellence and commitment to enhancing undergraduate academic opportunities. Here is the speech he delivered to a crowd of 3,300 at Hill Auditorium on March 18, 2012.
Some 12 years ago, this marvelous auditorium was similarly packed. There was another celebration—and a bit of tension. Standing where I am today was Dr. Henry Kissinger. Then, as now, a controversial figure. One of the most influential 20th century Secretaries of State. As he began, so did heckling. A rather unflattering banner was unfurled from the balcony. (I can only hope that history does not repeat itself today.)[More]
CLOSUP's Michigan Public Policy Survey on state funding incentives for local collaborations appears in local, regional news outlets
Monday, April 9, 2012
Findings from a recent Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS) published by the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) were cited in an Associated Press story published in a number of local and regional news sources including the Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, CBS Detroit, Lansing State Journal, WTOL TV 11 in Toledo, and the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune.
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CLOSUP survey: State funding incentives foster collaboration but also raise concerns
Thursday, March 29, 2012
A new policy in Michigan that encourages local governments to collaborate and combine operations appears to be working, but it also carries a risk of producing unintended consequences, a new survey by the University of Michigan reports.
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Michigan media cover Ford School discussion of controversial "Emergency Manager" law
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Media throughout Michigan reported on the Ford School panel discussion regarding the state's new "Emergency Manager" law, technically known as Public Act 4 of 2011, the Local Government and School District Fiscal Accountability Act.
The panel examined the law's impact on citizens, public employees, local governments, and communities in Michigan. Panelists included key leaders from all sides of the issue: Roger Fraser, Deputy State Treasurer, who plays a key role in implementing the law; Brandon Jessup, Chairman and CEO of Michigan Forward, the group leading the charge to repeal P.A. 4; Joseph Harris, Emergency Manager for the City of Benton Harbor, MI; and the Honorable Dayne Walling, Mayor of the City of Flint, MI, which was recently placed under the power of an emergency manager.[More]
International Policy Center announces new International Politics and Policy Seminar
Thursday, March 15, 2012
The Ford School's International Policy Center (IPC) is pleased to announce the International Politics and Policy Seminar (IPPS), a new series of academic talks that will bring together University of Michigan faculty, doctoral students, and outside scholars to discuss key developments in the theory and practice of international politics. Participants will present original unpublished research on topics including international security, international institutions, and foreign policy analysis.
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America's best graduate schools: Ford School earns high ranks in social policy, policy analysis, and environmental policy
Thursday, March 15, 2012
The Ford School is tied with Harvard's Kennedy School for the #1 ranking in "social policy" among U.S. schools of public affairs, according to the U.S. News & World Report. The school was also ranked third in "public policy analysis" and third in "environmental policy and management." In overall rankings, the Ford School tied for #12, down from #7 in 2008.
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The Nation cites National Poverty Center report in post about welfare reform
Friday, March 9, 2012
Greg Kaufmann, a blogger for The Nation, cited a National Poverty Center (NPC) report in his post, "This Week in Poverty: Welfare Reform—From Bad to Worse."
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National Poverty Center study cited in "Off the charts" blog
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
A National Poverty Center study, "Extreme Poverty in the United States," was cited in a series of blog posts from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
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National Poverty Center study cited in USA Today article about extreme poverty in the U.S.
Friday, February 24, 2012
A new study by researchers from the National Poverty Center was cited in a USA Today article about the number of Americans living in extreme poverty.
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Extreme poverty: 2.8 million children in the U.S. live on $2 per day
Friday, February 24, 2012
A new report indicates that one in five households with children in poverty are surviving on the cash equivalent of a half gallon of milk per person per day in a given month.
The National Poverty Center has just released a report that examines poverty trends between 1996 and 2011. The number of households with children who are in extreme poverty in a given month—living at $2 or less in income per person per day— in 2011 totaled roughly 1.46 million households, including 2.8 million kids. This number is up from 636,000 households in 1996, nearly a 130 percent increase.
The study finds that in-kind public programs are having an effect, though. The number of children living in extreme poverty is cut in half to 1.4 million in 2011 when the statistics take into account benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program).
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Cooperation, Coordination, and Conciliation: John D. Dingell spells out what's lacking in Congress
Thursday, February 23, 2012
"Congress is an extremely well-designed institution," observed Rep. John D. Dingell at the Ford School event "What's gone so wrong with Congress?" on February 22. "But it's unfortunately run by human beings." Nearly 200 people attended the conversation with Dingell, which was hosted by Ford School professor Richard L. Hall.
Dingell fielded questions from Hall, and audience queries presented by MPP students, on a range of policy issues from the Affordable Care Act to whether gay marriage should be a part of the 2012 DNC platform. He also noted more than once that Congress should try to diffuse partisan bitterness and work across the aisle.[More]
MPPS report on Gov. Snyder's Economic Vitality Incentive Program gives insight into what local leaders may expect from his second budget announcement
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Local governments who saw their funding level from the state decrease under Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's Economic Vitality Incentive Program in 2011 sometimes regained portions of that funding by enhancing accountability tools.
The latest Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), published February 1 by the Center for Local, State and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), suggests many of them would be prepared to do so again as the governor prepares to announce his second budget this week.[More]
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