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 241 - 270 of 653 results

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...

Davis and independent Flint panel cite environmental injustice, EMF system, and other key factors

Apr 11, 2016

An independent panel convened by Gov. Rick Snyder in the wake of the Flint water crisis concluded that government disregard for low-income residents and people of color contributed to the delay in action, according to a recent New York Times...

News

Apply now to inaugural Detroit Data Fellowship and use stats for social impact

Mar 30, 2016

Want to use your data skills to develop solutions to social challenges facing the city of Detroit? The Detroit Data Fellows Program is a two-year, full-time post-graduate fellowship during which participants work with city agencies to analyze...

C.S. Mott Foundation grant allows Mills and colleagues to research wind energy in MI

Mar 18, 2016

Last month, CLOSUP Program Manager Sarah Mills received an $80,000 award from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to investigate community attitudes about wind energy in Michigan. Mills will work in collaboration with CLOSUP Director Barry Rabe...

News

Ford students take on income inequality at annual Ford + U. of Toronto case competition

Mar 16, 2016

On Friday March 11, 23 Ford School master’s students traveled to the University of Toronto’s School of Public Policy and Governance for "Ford + SPPG," our annual student-led policy conference and case competition. Each year, the event brings...

News

In Brookings, Barry Rabe sees policy potential in renewed U.S.-Canada relations

Mar 10, 2016

Barry Rabe’s latest blog for Brookings explores how President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau might leverage their new relationship to make progress on climate, water and infrastructure. “Methane may offer some real opportunity for...

News

Michigan Radio interviews Brian Jacob about latest research on MI high school curriculum reforms

Mar 9, 2016

Last week, Brian Jacob, Susan Dynarski and two colleagues from Michigan State released a new paper, "Are expectations alone enough? Estimating the effect of a mandatory college-prep curriculum in Michigan." The paper examines the effect of the 2006...

Ford School panel discussion focuses on Cincinnati's innovative model of police reform

Feb 24, 2016

On Monday, February 22, the Ford School hosted “21st Century Policing: Lessons from Cincinnati,” as part of the University of Michigan's 2016 Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium. The event brought together a roundtable of community leaders to talk...

CLOSUP MPPS survey, officials in large Michigan cities worried about potential unrest

Feb 24, 2016

While local leaders say police forces across Michigan have good overall relations with their communities, those in larger cities worry about the possibility of civil unrest after well-publicized incidents in Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore.In...

News

CLOSUP Survey: Attitudes about Clean Power Plan implementation shaded by partisan affiliation

Dec 17, 2015

A majority of Americans (54 percent) want their state to submit an implementation plan to comply with the Clean Power Plan, according to CLOSUP’s latest survey. Another 22 percent would prefer their state not submit a plan and instead allow the...

State & Hill

Fall 2015 State & Hill magazine, “Motor City Remix, an iconic American city races forward”

Dec 10, 2015

The fall 2015 issue of State & Hill magazine was mailed to alumni and friends of the Ford School on November 18, 2015. This edition of the magazine, titled “Motor City Remix,” highlighted stories about some of the work Ford School faculty,...

"Responding to budget surplus vs. deficit," reviews citizen, leader preferences

Dec 10, 2015

As the Michigan economy improves, some local leaders are facing the welcome task of deciding how to allocate funds from budget surpluses. A University of Michigan Ford School survey, "Responding to budget surplus vs. deficit: the preferences of...

State & Hill

Latest CLOSUP survey explores Michigan public safety

Dec 9, 2015

I had to really drum up interest a decade ago; nobody gave a rip,” says David Thacher of his course, “Thinking about Crime.” These days, there’s a lot more interest in public safety—at the Ford School and elsewhere. Reflecting those concerns, the...

Seefeldt shares new research on poor single motherhood in The Atlantic

Dec 3, 2015

According to “How Poor Single Moms Survive,” an article by Alana Semuels for The Atlantic, the number of single-parent households in the US has soared since 1960, just as the amount of government assistance available to these largely female-headed...

Rabe comments on new U.S. climate and security task force in VOA

Nov 12, 2015

In the lead up to the UN Climate Change Conference in December, the U.S. will organize a task force to incorporate climate and security analysis into its foreign policy agenda. Secretary of State John Kerry announced the new group at a speech in...

Newsweek features Barry Rabe, CLOSUP survey on climate change acceptance

Nov 9, 2015

Barry Rabe is quoted in a November 7 Newsweek article on climate politics. The article by Emily Cadei, “After Keystone rejection, climate politics are just heating up,” focuses on political reactions—left and right—in the wake of President Obama’s...

Rabe and Mills discuss “the Francis effect” on global warming beliefs

Nov 3, 2015

According to a new CLOSUP report, more Americans than ever have accepted global warming, influenced in part by Pope Francis’ recent Papal Encyclical on climate change.American acceptance of global warming is at its highest level since 2008, with the...

News

Local leaders worry about retiree health care benefits, says latest CLOSUP MPPS report

Oct 29, 2015

ANN ARBOR—Health care benefits for retirees of Michigan's local governmental units are presenting significant fiscal challenges, and more than half of local officials surveyed indicate they are concerned they won't be able to fulfill their...

Gov. Snyder appoints Dr. Matthew Davis to new Flint water crisis-response task force

Oct 22, 2015

In a press release on Wednesday Gov. Rick Snyder appointed a task force to review "actions regarding water use and testing in Flint" and to make recommendations for future guidelines. Among those appointed is the Ford School's own Dr. Matthew...

CLOSUP climate belief poll results covered by a number of global news outlets

Oct 16, 2015

Only 16 percent of Americans currently believe that there is not solid evidence of global warming, according to the latest CLOSUP survey on energy and the environment released earlier this week. This is one percentage point less than the previous...

Barry Rabe to co-chair EPA subcommitee on Clean Water Act dredge-dumping regulations

Oct 8, 2015

Last month, Barry Rabe was nominated to co-chair the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Assumable Waters Subcommittee.The subcommittee will take on the Clean Water Act's (CWA) Section 404 program, which enables states and tribes to regulate the...

ACLU's Kary Moss petitions EPA calling for immediate action on Flint’s water crisis

Oct 8, 2015

Kary Moss, a lecturer at the Ford School and executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan, worked with a coalition of groups behind the Flint Water Study to petition the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take...

News

In latest CLOSUP survey, local leaders say fiscal stress is low, but see red flags

Sep 22, 2015

ANN ARBOR—About two-thirds of local governments in Michigan rate the levels of fiscal stress as relatively low in their jurisdictions today, while just 7 percent rate the stress as high. While the latter percentage is low, the figure represents...

David Thacher comments on the Black Lives Matter agenda for police reform

Sep 10, 2015

“We are in the middle of the most important social movement for police reform in a half century,” writes David Thacher in “Don’t End Broken Windows Policing, Fix It” published on The Marshall Project criminal justice news blog. “The focus and moral...

News

CLOSUP wins Third Century Initiative grant to bring data to the classroom in a big way

Sep 8, 2015

CLOSUP, the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, is ready to bring real-world data to the classroom in a big way. Through a recently awarded Quick Wins/Discovery grant, part of the University of Michigan's Third Century Initiative,...

News

Local leaders' confidence in state's direction erodes, CLOSUP MPPS reveals

Aug 26, 2015

ANN ARBOR—For the first time since 2012, fewer than half of Michigan's local leaders believe the state is headed in the right direction—chief culprits include road funding fumbles, state tax policies and general dysfunction in Lansing, according to...

Rabe speaks with NPR about changing attitudes on climate action and Obama’s Clean Power Plan

Aug 8, 2015

In “Obama's Climate Plan Faces Huge Political Challenges,” which ran on Monday, NPR reporter Scott Horsley outlined the President’s “ambitious new climate regulations” and the political opposition to them. He turned to Barry Rabe to provide insight...

Global warming skeptics cite personal weather observations as the key reason for their views

Jul 8, 2015

The number of Americans who believe there is evidence of global warming rose to 63 percent after a memorable winter that included record cold and snow in the Northeast and historic warmth and drought in the West, according to a University of...

News

Internship field report, Sandy Mervak from the National Conference of State Legislatures

Jul 7, 2015

That old trope about states serving as "laboratories of democracy" has become much more real for me this summer. I am working as a research intern in the energy program at the National Conference of State Legislatures—a national, bipartisan NGO that...