Departments and Research Centers

Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy

The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) conducts, supports and fosters applied academic research to inform local, state, and urban policy issues.

Showing 211 - 240 of 651 results

News

Raimi asks if "energy dominance," an emerging catchphrase, is the right goal for U.S. policy

Jun 28, 2017

In a new Conversation piece, “Is ‘energy dominance’ the right goal for U.S. policy?,” Daniel Raimi explores a catchphrase that has recently made its way from DC to a number of states across the nation: “American energy dominance.” Raimi describes...

Michigan News release: Local views on state government preemption

Jun 15, 2017

ANN ARBOR—Statewide, 70 percent of Michigan's local government officials believe the state government is taking too much decision-making authority away from local governments, according to a new survey by University of Michigan researchers.The data...

Michigan News release: In climate policy, Americans want states to pick up federal slack

Jun 9, 2017

A majority of Americans across the political spectrum believe states are responsible for addressing climate change in the absence of federal policy, according to a new survey by University of Michigan researchers.The National Surveys on Energy and...

Rabe examines Pennsylvania's unorthodox resistance to energy taxes in new journal article

May 31, 2017

A new publication by Rachel Hampton and Barry Rabe, titled "Leaving money on the table: Pennsylvania exceptionalism in resisting energy severance taxes," was published in Commonwealth this month. In it, Hampton and Rabe reflect on Pennsylvania's...

Rabe’s influential book on climate change policy to receive prestigious APSA award

May 31, 2017

Barry Rabe’s influential book about the politics behind U.S. climate change policy, Statehouse and Greenhouse: The Emerging Politics of American Climate Change Policy (Brookings 2004), will be honored with the American Political Science...

Michigan News release: In CLOSUP survey, Michigan's local leaders ask Lansing to listen

May 4, 2017

Many local government leaders across Michigan aren't content with their jurisdiction's relationship with state government, according to a new survey by University of Michigan researchers. The latest Michigan Public Policy Survey explored factors...

State & Hill

A voice for local governments: CLOSUP and the M's, the power of partnership

Apr 29, 2017

It's been eight years since the Ford School launched the Michigan Public Policy Survey, which collects data and opinions about a broad range of state and local policy challenges from local government leaders across the state. After 16 surveys, 60...

State & Hill

Ford School faculty members share seven key strategies for effective collaboration

Apr 28, 2017

Ford School faculty members often engage in collective problem-solving--with other scholars, of course, but also with policymakers and practitioners all around the world. The goal of these collaborations? Finding better solutions, and mutually...

Americans warming up to the idea of a carbon tax in latest energy and environment survey

Mar 24, 2017

According to "Moving the needle on American support for a carbon tax," a Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) report by Daniel Puskin (American University) and Sarah Mills (Ford School), Americans are 'increasingly warming' to the idea...

Rabe in MLive on Trump's plan to review auto industry fuel economy targets

Mar 17, 2017

An MLive article published on March 15, “University of Michigan professors discuss Trump’s fuel economy review,” discusses President Trump’s plan to challenge the current Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) emissions targets that were central to...

Chamberlin: Lax conflict-of-interest regulation fosters ethical problems in MI legislature

Mar 16, 2017

Quotes from Professor Emeritus John Chamberlin were featured heavily in the March 13 MLive article, "For Michigan lawmakers, conflicts of interest go self-policed and undisclosed," by Emily Lawler. The article examines examples of state legislators...

Ivacko: Michigan state legislature should make emergency manager reform a top priority

Mar 15, 2017

An op-ed by CLOSUP program manager, Tom Ivacko (MPP '93), was published by the Detroit Free Press on March 11. In "Fixing EM law should be legislators' top priority," Ivacko makes the case that Michigan's laws regarding the appointment of emergency...

Michigan News release: MPPS finds localities support emergency manager reforms

Feb 22, 2017

An overwhelming majority of local government leaders in Michigan support reform of the state's controversial emergency manager law, according to a new survey by University of Michigan researchers.Officials from more than 1,300 cities, counties,...

In Brookings, Rabe asks “What will Scott Pruitt do if he cannot sue EPA?”

Dec 14, 2016

While we know a great deal about President-elect Trump’s EPA nominee, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Barry Rabe writes for the Brookings Institution that it is highly unclear "just what he will do in his role.” The article, titled “What...

News

Michigan local leaders assess drinking water issues in latest Michigan Public Policy Survey

Nov 29, 2016

Over a quarter of local officials from Michigan jurisdictions that provide shared water infrastructure believe funding levels are not sufficient to maintain those systems, according to the latest Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), "Local...

Mills surveys Michigan farmers, finds wind turbines have positive impact on landowners

Nov 17, 2016

Sarah Mills of the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy surveyed more than 1,200 farm landowners throughout 14 townships in Michigan to find out how farmers are impacted by wind energy turbines on their land. Mills found landowners with wind...

News

CLOSUP survey: Local leaders concerned about property tax appeals, "dark stores" assessing

Oct 26, 2016

Findings from the most recent Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), published by the Ford School’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), reveal broad concern by local leaders and administrators over property tax appeals. The survey...

Mills and Gore: “Public and local government leader opinions on environmental federalism”

Oct 7, 2016

An article by Sarah Mills and Christopher Gore, “Public and local government leader opinions on environmental federalism: Comparing issues and national contexts,” was published in the September 2016 issue of State and Local Government...

New MSU/U-M policy survey will track attitudes, opinions of Michigan political insiders

Sep 14, 2016

Michigan State University’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (IPPSR) and the University of Michigan's Center for Local, State and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) are launching a new public policy survey designed to tap the attitudes and...

Local leaders tell Lansing, state system of funding local government is broken

Sep 12, 2016

Nearly two-thirds of Michigan’s local leaders believe that the state’s system of funding local government is broken and in need of reform. This belief is shared by a majority of local leaders from jurisdictions large and small, from every region of...

News

Barry Rabe discusses the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline on Wisconsin Public Radio

Sep 8, 2016

Wisconsin Public Radio’s John Munson interviewed Barry Rabe for "A look at the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline," about the controversy over the multi-state Dakota Access Oil Pipeline on September 6. Rabe provided extensive background information and...

News

Michigan Radio's "Stateside" highlights CLOSUP's latest, and troubling, fiscal health findings

Aug 24, 2016

Michigan Radio’s Cynthia Canty interviews Tom Ivacko (MPP ’93), CLOSUP program administrator, for the segment “Declining fiscal health “an early warning sign” for local governments, report says.” The program focuses on CLOSUP's latest Michigan...

Register for our free webinar, “Is Michigan’s system of funding local government broken?”

Aug 23, 2016

The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy’s (CLOSUP) most recent Michigan Public Policy Survey finds a reversal in the trend of improving fiscal health among Michigan local governments.Despite an improving economy, fewer local governments say...

There’s been a shift in thought on climate change, Mills tells CSM, Michigan Radio, more

Aug 3, 2016

Sarah Mills spoke with the Christian Science Monitor about results from the latest National Survey on Energy and Environment (NSEE), which found that only 15 percent of Americans now deny that there is solid evidence of climate change, in contrast...

Latest CLOSUP survey shows declining confidence in Michigan’s leadership, direction

Jul 20, 2016

The latest Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), published by the Ford School's Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), finds that local leaders are less optimistic about the state’s direction.Statewide, only 44 percent of local leaders...

Latest Michigan Public Policy Survey report focuses on emergency medical services

Jul 6, 2016

One of the core functions of Michigan’s local governments is ensuring public safety. As such, the Ford School’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) focused its latest Michigan Public Policy Survey on police, fire, and emergency...

New undergrad politics, policy course offers opportunities to work with survey research data

Jun 28, 2016

The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) is offering a new undergraduate course for students looking for opportunities to work with survey research...

Latest Michigan Public Policy Survey addresses local firefighting challenges, approaches

Jun 15, 2016

CLOSUP’s latest policy report, released today, examines Michigan local government leaders’ opinions on fire protection services in their communities, including satisfaction with fire services and funding of fire protection at the local...

Police funding reportedly lags behind in Michigan’s big jurisdictions, CLOSUP survey

Apr 29, 2016

ANN ARBOR—Nearly half, or 47 percent, of local leaders from the largest jurisdictions in Michigan say they lack sufficient funding to fight crime in their areas, according to the latest Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), "Most local officials are...

Tom Ivacko on emergency financial management and the Flint water crisis

Apr 12, 2016

CLOSUP program manager Tom Ivacko’s “What is lost when a state takes over a city,” was published on April 13 by Governing.com. The piece, which ran in "Voices of the Governing Institute," describes Michigan’s restrictive local government finance...