Michigan Public Policy Survey

Publication

Michigan's local governments make progress on budgeting, but many lag on long-term planning

May 6, 2026

In a time of economic volatility, relatively few local governments in Michigan report they are doing long-term financial planning—though many say they'd like to be doing more—according to the latest Michigan Public Policy Survey report.

Illustration with a house and money symbols balanced on a scale

State & Hill

25 years of CLOSUP

Apr 11, 2026

When the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission faced a tidal wave of public input—more than 30,000 comments—the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) and Ford School students stepped in. Their analysis helped the commiss...

News

Government of, by and for people? Sure, but it needs more people to serve, U-M survey finds

Apr 8, 2026

The latest installment of the Michigan Public Policy Survey, conducted by CLOSUP, found that Michigan leaders believe not enough residents are running for elected office.

Michigan State Capitol is the legislative government of Michigan State, at 100 N Capitol Ave, Lansing, Michigan MI, USA.

In the Media

Leiser discusses CLOSUP at 25 and the Michigan Public Policy Survey to Washtenaw County

Apr 7, 2026 WEMU

CLOSUP's MPPS shows that Washtenaw County fiscal health remains steady.

News

Concerns about elected officials’ budgeting expertise emerges from survey of Michigan community leaders

Feb 4, 2026

A majority of Michigan city and village officials say they are concerned about the lack of budgeting expertise among the elected officials in their communities as they deal with rising economic and political uncertainty and challenging state and fede...

In the Media

Local democracy is holding strong, but rural communities are falling behind - Leiser

Dec 20, 2025 The Conversation

CLOSUP's Stephanie Leiser reflects on local democracy in Michigan

Publication

Fiscal stress rising among Michigan communities, particularly in small, rural towns, U-M survey finds

Dec 17, 2025

Fewer than half of Michigan’s smaller and more rural communities report good fiscal health, reflecting a trend of rising financial stress among local governments across the state and growing concerns about having enough money to keep up with increase...

Road closed sign and barriers blocking a road under construction, with railway crossing and clear skies in the background.

Policy Matters

To shore up American democracy, look to city hall

Nov 20, 2025

CLOSUP's Stephanie Leiser, Debra Horner, and Natalie Fitzpatrick discuss the Michigan Public Policy Survey and how it has shown that, although there is concerns over the state of democracy in the United States, democracy remains strong at the local l...

Photo of a stone building with a large "City Hall" sign

News

Trust falls among Michigan’s local officials that residents can be responsible partners in policymaking

Nov 19, 2025

Recent results from CLOSUP's Michigan Public Policy Survey show that local leaders have less trust in residents responsibly participating in the policymaking process while the health of democracy at the local level has improved slightly

Publication

Local officials in Michigan report plummeting engagement with residents despite myriad methods

Oct 28, 2025

Officials across Michigan report alarming declines of engagement with their constituents despite more widespread use of various outreach methods and activities in the latest installment of the Michigan Public Policy Survey.

Publication

Local governments in Michigan concerned about problems spurred by state, federal funding cuts

Aug 13, 2025

Many of Michigan’s local government officials—especially at the city and county level—believe a temporary or permanent loss of public funding will cause financial problems, though fewer are preparing for such cuts. The findings come from the latest i...

Photo of a road and crosswalk in Flint near the University Pavillion

Publication

Michigan's local leaders express lingering pessimism, entrenched partisanship about state's direction

Jul 22, 2025

Despite improvement since the COVID-19 pandemic, more than half of Michigan local officials say the state is on the wrong track. These findings are from the latest installment of the Michigan Public Policy Survey conducted by the University of Michig...

Publication

Michigan's local leaders support database tracking police misconduct, far fewer favor public access to it

Jul 8, 2025

Michigan's local leaders strongly support a law enforcement database for keeping track of officer misconduct, though far fewer are in favor of that database being accessible to the public. That's a key finding from the latest installment of the Michi...

News

Local Officials: Residents trust police more where there are policies to improve relations

May 22, 2025

More Michigan communities are adopting policies to improve police-community relations, and local officials see increased trust among residents for law enforcement officers where certain practices were in place. The latest Michigan Public Policy Surve...

Publication

Many local officials in Michigan uncertain about the use of AI or other predictive policing tools

Apr 23, 2025

The Michigan Public Policy Survey, conducted last spring by U-M’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, found most officials are unsure about the accuracy of public safety risk assessments made by automated tools such as AI. However, sheriffs an...

News

Most Michigan law enforcement officials back some use of mental health workers, others in 911 response

Feb 26, 2025

Most of Michigan’s county sheriffs and local police chiefs support some type of alternative or hybrid approach for responding to 911 calls beyond traditional law enforcement officers. However, a majority of them believe it would be difficult to imple...

News

Nearly half of Michigan law enforcement officials concerned about funding, according to U-M survey

Jan 23, 2025

Among Michigan law enforcement agency leaders, concerns about funding levels are widespread, with almost half of chiefs of police and county sheriffs saying the local governments they serve do not provide sufficient money for their agencies.

News

Law enforcement leaders view pretrial diversion programs as a source for positive change

Nov 20, 2024

A majority of Michigan sheriffs, police chiefs and county prosecutors support programs that allow certain offenders to participate in alternative paths to standard criminal prosecution, according to a new University of Michigan study. The broad suppo...

News

Majority of local officials in Michigan lack confidence in ‘red-flag law’ aimed at reducing gun violence

Oct 31, 2024

A majority of local government and law enforcement officials in Michigan say they lack confidence the state’s new “red-flag law” aimed at reducing gun violence will do so, according to a University of Michigan survey.

Wayne County Courthouse in Detroit, Michigan

Publication

The functioning of democracy at the local level

Oct 29, 2024

The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) has released a new resource that summarizes Michigan local government leaders' views on democracy and democratic governance. The findings come from the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), a pr...

Publication

Local leaders in Michigan sound alarms over hiring, keeping law enforcement officers

Sep 17, 2024

Concerns about hiring and keeping law enforcement officers have skyrocketed among local government officials in Michigan in the past decade. Local law enforcement officials themselves are even more pessimistic about recruitment and retention within t...

Publication

Fewer local leaders in Michigan feeling positive about how democracy is functioning in state, U.S.

Aug 15, 2024

Local leaders in Michigan are slightly less optimistic in their views on the health of democracy at the state and national levels, according to an ongoing survey by the University of Michigan. Although assessments of civic health at the national leve...

Photo of an American flag backed by a gray sky

Publication

More Michigan communities developing renewable energy goals, CLOSUP survey finds

Jul 17, 2024

The percentage of Michigan local governments that say they have or are considering renewable energy goals has doubled since 2019. Local officials also report that a variety of energy issues, such as energy infrastructure zoning and planning for elect...

Publication

Most local officials support rooftop solar, a majority opposes nuclear power

May 22, 2024

Michigan’s local leaders overwhelmingly support adding rooftop solar infrastructure in their communities, while a majority strongly oppose developing nuclear power. Those are among the key findings in the latest Michigan Public Policy Survey conducte...

Publication

More local officials see relevance of electric vehicle planning

May 2, 2024

Local officials across Michigan increasingly view electric vehicle infrastructure planning as relevant for their governments, though many cite too few public charging stations and costs associated with adding them as barriers to expansion. The findin...

Gray Electric Car Parked on a Charging Bay

News

Michigan local government leaders’ assessments of fiscal health remain unchanged despite federal initiatives

Feb 16, 2024

Despite significant opportunities for infusions of federal funding over the past two years, Michigan local officials report little change in the fiscal health of their local governments and feel concerned about their governments’ long-term financial ...

News

Ford school faculty available to weigh in on 2024 elections

Jan 28, 2024

The University of Michigan has published an experts guide to the 2024 elections. Ford School faculty are available to offer insights on relevant issues impacting the elections, including the following: Economics Betsey Stevenson, professor o...

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News

Michigan local government leaders’ assessments of democratic functioning improve from 2021 low, but first signs of trouble at local level emerge

Dec 11, 2023

Michigan local leaders’ assessments of democracy at the national level have improved marginally for two years in a row after a sharp decline in 2021, largely due to fewer local officials rating American democracy as poorly functioning. Similarly, the...

News

Challenges continue for state-local relations, according to Michigan local government leaders

Nov 10, 2023

Over half of Michigan local officials currently rate their jurisdiction’s overall relationship with the State government as just fair or even poor, while 34% of local officials say it is either good or excellent. It is an important relationship becau...

News

Michigan’s smaller local governments need help accessing state and federal grants

Oct 11, 2023

As unprecedented state and federal funding opportunities have emerged over the past 18 months with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, Michigan local government leaders have expressed their concern about...