Policy Topics

Domestic policy

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News

Detroit unemployment rate drops, but 1 in 5 residents in financial trouble

Aug 13, 2020

More Detroiters have returned to work amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but many families continue to have difficulty affording basic necessities and worry more hardship is ahead. That's according to the latest representative survey of Detroiters from...

News

Students from Ford School, School of Information help communities with COVID-19 challenges

Aug 13, 2020

Summer Citizen Interaction Design Fellows - students from across the university, including from the Ford School- are paired with civic leaders across Michigan to work on enhancing community engagement. Led by the School of Information, students on...

News

Meet our new faculty: Mara Ostfeld

Aug 13, 2020

Mara Ostfeld recently joined the Ford School of Public Policy as faculty by courtesy, adding to her faculty roles at the Center for Political Studies at the Institute for Social Research and at LSA Political Science. It is a return to the Ford...

News

Barr seeks financial inclusion for underserved communities

Aug 12, 2020

Throughout his career in academia and in government, Ford School Dean Michael S. Barr has sought ways to help low-income people get better access to the financial system, and to change the financial system to work better for low-income...

In the Media

Economic future of Michigan "an incredible question mark", Shaefer tells Free Press

Aug 11, 2020 Detroit Free Press

While Michigan’s economy didn’t “fall off a cliff” in April, and the state acted quickly to help children and families access a federal meals program, more income support is required, Shaefer says in an article in the Detroit Free...

News

Dean Barr publishes new paper to assist teaching about pandemic financial response

Aug 7, 2020

Michael Barr, Dean of the Ford School, has been observing the financial response to the COVID-19 pandemic closely, as the Fed, the Treasury Department and Congress (especially through the CARES Act) have worked to prop up the economy. To help...

News

Goldenberg calls for advanced handling of absentee ballots

Aug 6, 2020

The August 4 primary election in Michigan saw a record 1.4 million absentee ballots, according to Mlive. Two million ballot requests had been processed in 2020, compared to only 500-thousand in 2016. 6,500 poll workers were recruited for the vote...

News

New Faculty Funding Opportunity for Action-Based Research to Combat and Confront Racism

Jul 30, 2020

Poverty Solutions and the Center for Social Solutions announce the inaugural faculty grants competition to pursue action-based research aimed at ending systemic and institutional racism. The awards, which range from $10,000 to $50,000, are open to...

News

Davenport calls for a “Movement of movements” to end police violence

Jul 30, 2020

Ford School faculty by courtesy Christian Davenport writes in Business Insider that curbing police violence will require a sentiment more radical than what occurred at the end of the Civil Rights movement in the '60's. At that time, he says, "there...

Alumni spotlight

Brandy Johnson (MPP ‘09) makes college accessible in Michigan

Jul 29, 2020

Increasing college access has been a top priority for Brandy Johnson (MPP '09). What started as a $2 million grant application Johnson was asked to write during her Ford School internship with Governor Granholm evolved into the highly successful...

News

Michigan local government leaders back expanded absentee voting, ballot reforms

Jul 28, 2020

Amid the national debate over the safety and efficacy of absentee voting, Michigan can offer an example of how election reforms will play out in the 2020 election. And the battleground state's local officials have an overall positive outlook...

Alumni spotlight

Alan Cohen (MPP ‘75) improves U.S. social security under 7 administrations

Jul 27, 2020

Alan Cohen (MPP '75) has led an impressive career in social security policy, means-tested programs, and federal budget policy. Working for both the executive and legislative branches, Cohen has transformed aspects of social security, means-tested...

News

Ali: Trump’s use of DHS for political agenda weakens national security

Jul 22, 2020

Ford School Towsley Policymaker in Residence Javed Ali argues in an opinion piece in Newsweek July 22 that the deployment of personnel from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Portland, Oregon, rightly has caused widespread concern and...

Alumni spotlight

DiGiovanni (MPP ‘00) emphasizes the critical role of budgeting in policymaking

Jul 21, 2020

After being awarded a Presidential Management Fellowship with the State Department, Antony DiGiovanni (MPP '00) didn’t expect his career trajectory would focus on federal budgeting. When explaining to a prospective employer he was interested in...

Alumni spotlight

Steve Tobocman (MPP/JD ‘97) advocates for immigrant economic inclusion

Jul 20, 2020

Steve Tobocman (MPP/JD '97) has been a leading advocate for immigrant inclusion in Detroit over the past two decades. After serving in Michigan’s House of Representatives for six years–his final term as the second highest ranking legislator–he...

News

Ford School PhD Phoenix receives Ralph J. Bunche Award

Jul 20, 2020

Ford School graduate Davin Phoenix (PhD, U-M Political Science and Ford School, 2015) has just won APSA's Ralph J. Bunche award for his 2019 book, The Anger Gap: How Race Shapes Emotions in Politics (Cambridge University Press). The award goes to...

News

Some Detroit suburbs reckon with history as anti-Black ‘sundown towns’

Jul 20, 2020

An article in Bridge Detroit on July 9 looked at suburbanites engaging with the history and policies of their communities in the wake of Black Lives Matters demonstrations. Some of these suburbs were developed as anti-Black "sundown towns". Ford...

Among the houses in this residential neighborhood, a wall wall erected to segregate by race has been reclaimed and turned into a large community art project.

News

Local leaders' mixed messages and fading outlook in annual Michigan Public Policy Survey

Jul 20, 2020

Michigan local government officials’ attitudes about the direction of the state, and the performances of the governor and the legislature have improved from last year, but remain more negative than positive. The 2020 Michigan Public Policy Survey...

News

Combating poverty and inequality amidst a pandemic

Jul 19, 2020

Ford School Dean Michael S. Barr, Associate Dean and Poverty Solutions Director Luke Shaefer and Alford A. Young Jr., Professor of Sociology and African and African American Studies and courtesy faculty at the Ford School, discussed some of the ways...

Luke Shaefer, Michael Barr, and Al Young

News

Bohnett fellows experience a summer of change and resilience in Detroit

Jul 19, 2020

Managing the fight against homelessness, creating employment opportunities, and reforming law enforcement in Detroit are complex issues at any time. Add an economic recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the increased activism of the Black...

Safiya Merchant, Kevin Naud, and Alyshia Dyer

Alumni spotlight

Fernandes-Alcantara (MPP ‘06) addresses barriers facing vulnerable youth

Jul 15, 2020

As a specialist in social policy at the Congressional Research Service, Adrienne Fernandes Alcantara (MPP '06) addresses the barriers vulnerable youth face, including youth who experience homelessness, foster care, sex trafficking, challenges in the...

News

Making sense of the complex unemployment numbers

Jul 10, 2020

On July 2nd, the Labor Department reported that 4.8 million jobs had been added, and unemployment stood at 11% - still higher than it was at the peak of the Great Recession in 2008 — with 17.8 million Americans still out of work. Ford School...

News

U-M awards grants to address poverty, impact of COVID-19 across Midwest

Jul 9, 2020

The Midwest Mobility from Poverty Network, led by Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan, awarded six grants totaling $150,000 for projects to improve economic mobility and address the impact of COVID-19 throughout the Midwest. The grant...

News

Dean Michael Barr addresses International Students

Jul 8, 2020

International students are full members of our Ford School community. We support efforts by the University of Michigan and other schools to reverse or substantially change the short-sighted, egregious policy announced yesterday by the U.S....

Alumni spotlight

Interdisciplinary studies and applied learning prepare Fernandes (MPP/MS ‘08) to protect environment

Jul 8, 2020

As a policy analyst for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Nicole Fernandes (MPP/MS '08) analyzes the environmental, political, and programmatic impacts of proposed coastal resilience and science policies, including those...

News

Alemu argues that “Solidarity is not acknowledging your white privilege, but relinquishing it”

Jul 7, 2020

Ford School PhD candidate Matthew Alemu (MPP '09) says that while he appreciates support from white friends when racist incidents occur, something deeper needs to occur. In an opinion piece in the Detroit Free Press on July 7, he notes that...

News

Dodd-Frank achievements assessed on its 10th anniversary

Jul 2, 2020

The Center on Finance, Law and Policy co-hosted a day-long conference with the Brookings Institution on June 30 to mark the Dodd-Frank Act 10th Anniversary. Former Senator Chris Dodd and former Representative Barney Frank participated, as did...

Politicians gather around President Obama as he signs the Dodd Frank Act

News

Democracy & Debate Theme Semester launches

Jul 2, 2020

This week marks the launch of the Democracy & Debate Theme Semester, a unique opportunity for teaching and learning about free speech and the exchange of ideas, democratic engagement from a global perspective and what it means to be a member of a...

News

Lowande comments on police force "militarization"

Jun 30, 2020

Kenneth Lowande, assistant professor of political science and a faculty by courtesy at the Ford School, is quoted in an article on Bridge June 29 that looks at the militarization of police forces around the state of Michigan. He has studied the...

News

Ford students assist Detroit small business owners with re-opening challenges

Jun 29, 2020

The economic havoc caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has been especially disruptive to small businesses, which often depend on foot traffic and operate on smaller profit margins than their larger counterparts. As Michigan prepares to reopen its...